THE LAKES-TO-THE-GULF DEEP WATERWAY. I During the past six years much attention has been given to the problem of waterway development in the United States. Proposals for a general improvement of waterways have been agitated, but the chief interest has centered around the Lakes-to-the-Gulf project. Within this period the Lakes-to-the-Gulf Deep Waterway Association has held its six annual conventions; two national commissions have spent almost the entire period in investigating rail and water transportation at home and abroad; and a number of special boards of engineers have made reports on various waterway projects. Among the many documents put forth by commissions, associations, and engineers, none presents an adequate study of the traffic conditions on the proposed route. This article and the one to follow are offered as a contribution to the study of the traffic side of the problem. The viewpoint is that of the economist and the traffic man. No discussion of the lowering of the lake levels, of power development, or of other strictly engineering problems is offered. Several boards of engineers, state and national,2 have reported plans and estimated costs for obtaining different depths of channel on the several sections of the route; and have estimated 'The Illinois Waterway Report, 1909, Internal Improvement Commission of Illinois. 'H. Doc. 263, 59th Cong., 1st sess. (Lockport to St. Louis); H. Doc. 50, 61st Cong., 1st sess. (St. Louis to the Gulf); H. Doc. 1374, 61st Cong., 3d sess. (Lockport to the mouth of the Illinois River). |