fz KREPOK I OF VHIE TE SHIP AND W ATER I RANSPORTATION 3 wl Bi & i> WF Bik + CCOMMISSION 1O24 REPORT OF THE STATE SHIP AND WATER TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION Authorized by the General Assembly of North Carolina Chapter 94 of the Public Laws of 1923 Ratzien, May 23, 1924 RALEIGH Epwarps & BROUGHTON PRINTING COMPANY 1924 THE COMMISSION R. M. Miter, Jr., Chairman, Charlotte Banker and Manufacturer D. D. Carroxy, Secretary, Chapel Hill Dean of the School of Commerce, University of North Carolina Existing Situation with regard to North Carolina’s ssi Ports and Waterways Emmett H. Bettamy, Wilmington . State Senator and Attorney at Law JoserH A, Brown, Chadbourn Railway Discriminations Against Manufacturer, Farmer and State Senator North Carolina W. A. Hart, Tarboro ¢ ° Fe - M . . : . Cotton Manufacturer, armer, ember State A Review of What is Being Done in Highway Commission Other States J. Y. Joyner, Raleigh Farmer, Educator, and Director. Tobacco APPENDIX Growers’ Oodperative Association A. ‘Chapter 94, Public Laws 1923, Creating the State A. M. ScaLEs, Greensboro Ship and Water Transportation Commission Attorney at Law B. Chronology of the Activities of the Commission. CHARLES E. WappeELt, Asheville Consulting Engineer, Mem. Am. Soc. ©. E. CuHar_Les S. WatLaAce, Morehead City Manufacturer of Ice and Fertilizer LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL To His Excellency, Governor Cameron Morrison, and Tue Covuncit or State. Srrs:—In accordance with chapter 94, Public Laws of 1923, I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of the State Ship and Water Transportation Commission. Respectfully, R. M. Mrrtimr, Jr. Chairman. RALEIGH, May 28, 1924. PART I THE REPORT oDubli . — F)IZABETHTOWN aD E N Pe are. 2... NAVIGABLE WATERWAYS HIGHWAYS RAILWAYS BROWNELL PHOTS.!| ITHOCRRBACW COMPANY DLA oC. 9 °) 1 Coos WY ADKINVILLE Os ae © commen coll 5 4 - —- — - —— at Q PORTS AND WATERWAYS of NORTH CAROLINA SCALE MILES 2 THE REPORT OF THE STATE SHIP AND WATER TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION To His Excellency, Cameron Morrison, Governor of North Carolina, and Tur Councrt or Strate: Under the authority of chapter 94 of the Public Laws of North Caro- lina of 1923, the State Ship and Water Transportation Commission was duly organized on March 27, 1923, after each member had taken the oath prescribed by the statute. R. M. Miller, Jr., of Charlotte, N. C., was elected chairman, and D. D. Carroll, of Chapel Hill, N. C., was elected secretary. The Commission at once entered upon its duties, and for more than a year has devoted its best thought and much of its time to an exhaustive study of the economic conditions of North Carolina, of the transportation problems confronting her, and of the solution of these problems. The Commission made an inspection of the navigable waters of the state and of the sites suggested for ports and terminal facilities. A Revenue Outter of the United States and the boat of the North Carolina Fish Commission were tendered and were used for this purpose. Public hearings were held at all cities and towns where such hearings were desired and all persons wishing a public hearing were given an attentive audience. Questionnaires were sent to various persons and organizations to elicit information and many valuable letters and briefs were received, considered and filed. The Commission invited many leading citizens of this and other states, including rate, transportation and port experts, to address it, and im this way received many valuable suggestions. It conferred freely with the Corporation Commission and other publie officials, Through the active interest of Senator Simmons, the War Depart- ment of the United States assigned Major Oscar O. Keuntz, of the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army, as advisor to the Com- mission, and his services to the Commission were of great value. To all who have thus helped in this arduous undertaking the Com- ‘mission desires to render its thanks and, as far as it may, the thanks of North Carolina. In his message to the General Assembly on the matter under consid- eration the Governor said that this state has more miles of navigable inland sounds and rivers than any other state in the union, and Major Keuntz says: “The State of North Carolina is peculiarly adapted by 10 Report oF THE State SHIP AND uature to the development of a system of water ways as is no other state on the Atlantic seaboard.” Upon actual inspection of these, however, the Commission found that the use of these God-given water ways was almost negligible and that as far as their usefulness in build- ing a greater, richer and more powerful state is concerned, it would have been almost as well for North Carolina to have been an inland state. This, however, has not always been true. There was a time when our waterways were considerable factors in the life of the state. By reason of our failure to provide proper facilities for docking, loading and un- loading; by reason of the hostility of the railroads who determined to build up ports in, other states; and by reason of the dismemberment of our railroad running from Wilmington through the Cape Fear valley to the west, the use of our water ways has been discontinued and we have sat upon the shores and watched our commerce driven from the waters. The state has become transportation “territory” of Norfolk and sea ports in other states, and it is small wonder that we have been exploited. In transportation circles we have become “the Congo” of the states. THE PROBLEM Let us consider the problem that confronts us. The rate situation is one that concerns every citizen of North Carolina whether he dwell on the seaboard, in the Piedmont or in the mountains. It is a state issue. We made no progress in the building of roads until we realized that it was a state function, and so with education and so with public health and public welfare. When we broke the bonds of & narrow provincialism and thought in terms of the state, the whole state, all for one and one for all, we progressed and began to attain our destined greatness. RATE DISCRIMINATIONS North Carolina has made such remarkable strides in agriculture and in manufacture that it is hard for us to realize the great injury done to the state by the rate discriminations against her. We have prospered notwithstanding our handicaps, but let us not hug the delusion that this will always be the case. We have progressed largely because of our natural resources and endowments and the indomitable will and cour- age of our people. The day will come when we will face the law of diminishing returns. The margin of, advantage in natural endowments in manufacture and agriculture is rapidly being reduced as we exhaust our richest resources or, through growth in industry, are forced to utilize less productive elements. For example, we have already prob- ably used our best water power sites and from now on will be forced to make use of inferior sites and naturally will be forced to pay higher rates, Water TRANsPorTATION Commission 11 As we approach this condition in agriculture and manufacture a very small margin of unfairness in freight rates may become the determining factor in settling the fate of our industries. When our natural ad- vantage is thus reduced to a parity with that of the manufacturers and farmers in other states, their advantage in freight rates and service will then appear even deadlier than it is now. These discriminations against us will then be a veritable mill stone about our necks. These discriminations have built up the Virginia cities at the expense of the North Carolina cities. Yet, notwithstanding this, in the last few years we have begun to build some cities in North Carolina. This is partly due to our natural resources and to our grim determination to succeed in spite of the discriminations. But we have for over a half-century been paying a tremendous tribute to other states, and the time will cer- tainly come in the history of the state when we will carry these burdens less jauntily, _ The real test of a state’s position is seen in her commerce and trade in which natural endowments play little part and right here is our weakest point. We have progressed marvelously in agriculture, in manufactures, in insurance, but our trade and commerce have lan- guished. We have built up no great wholesale distributing centers, and this is due not to the lack of ability on the part of our people, but to the deadly incubus of freight rate discriminations. What could be more iniquitous than that a shipment from an outside state should be carried entirely through our State to Virginia and re- shipped to a’ North Carolina city at a cheaper rate than if it had been stopped in North Carolina? Yet we have endured that humiliation for many years. ; North Carolina is a long state running east and west, and our trunk line railroads run north and south. It would be a misnomer to call them “our” trunk lines—we have no part or parcel in them for they have consistently built up the cities and commerce of other states at our expense and they have robbed and stripped naked the only railroad we had that gave promise of affording an east to west trunk line. Because of this radical defect in our transportation system, North Carolina is in a tragic condition of being itself dismembered and of having most of the communications of its people north and south instead of east and west, and it has been made as difficult as possible for the people of the east and the people of the west to trade with each other. And thus it is that we have “lost provinces” in the west and lost provinces” in the east. The great state highway system has al- ready been of much service in mitigating these conditions, but N. cette Carolina will never really come into its own, in the opinion of this mission, until we have a trunk-line railr Fear basin to the coal fields of the west Com- oad running from the Cape and the transportation gate- 12 Report or tue State Suip anp ways of the middle west coupled with up-to-date and adequate water competition. In the supporting documents will be found instances and details of the discriminations practiced upon North Carolina by the railroads and the existence of these discriminations and their baleful influence will be confirmed to you by the wholesalers and other shippers of the State. The treatment of this sovereign State by the railroads is in the opinion of the Commission not only a deadly blow to our economic life but an offeuse and an affront to our just pride. TIDEWATER NORTH CAROLINA The navigable inland water ways of North Carolina pass directly through or lap twenty-eight counties—more than one-fourth the total number in the state. Some of the rate experts claim that the effects of water competition on freight rates would be felt only about seventy miles inland. Granting for the moment that this would be true, we ask you to consider the twenty-eight counties above spoken of and those other counties contiguous to them and in easy reach of them by truck—the great eastern section of the State. Considering the natural advantages of this section, it is notoriously backward in its economic life. There are few sections, in the world that compare with it in natural endowments—a rich soil easily tillable, a bountiful rainfall, a long growing season, a mild and equable climate, waterways penetrat- ing it in every direction, a section that could almost feed and clothe the nation. This portion of the state is wonderfully adapted to the growing of truck, and yet we found that this promising industry in this section had actually decreased and the Commission finds as a fact that this decrease was largely due to unfavorable freight rates and a deficiency of facilities for shipping perishable freight. Instead of a great trucking industry, rivaling that of California, Florida, Idaho, and other states, we found the whole business sick and declining. A great agricultural, industrial and commercial advance in this sec- tion of the State would be felt throughout the Piedmont and the moun- tains. The whole body economic would profit thereby. If, however we should agree that water competition with freight rates would be felt only in this great eastern section, the state should proceed to unshackle it and give it a chance. The few million dollars expended would bring large returns. OUR PROBLEM WILL GROW WORSE Let no one think that time will heal our troubles in the matters under consideration. Time is indeed a great healer in many things, but in this matter unless we take heroic action our condition will grow steadily Water Transportation Commission 13 worse. The longer the remedy is delayed the harder it will be to apply. Trade channels will become fixed; the more we feed our rivals the more powerful and exacting they will become. Access to markets through cheap transportation channels become more vital as specialized and large scale industries develop. North Carolina grew a million bales of cotton last year and will manufacture over a million, having more textile mills than any state in the Union; she grew the second largest amount of tobacco of any state and manufactured more than she raised; she stood fourth among the states in the value of the leading crops of the United States; she had about as many laborers employed in manufactures as Virginia and South Carolina combined, and the value of her manufactures was equal to the combined manufactures of both of those states. And with all this and ranking thirteenth in manufactures in the United States, yet she does not export a dollar’s worth of finished products through her Own ports. If we are to pay an unjust freight rate tribute of ten or fifteen million dollars per annum now, what will we pay ten years hence? Great as has been our progress while in commercial bondage, it would have been fur greater had we been free from injustice. Specialized agriculture, fruit growing, as well as the growing of staples, creating an ever growing surplus, demand ready access to markets at rates which will allow farmers to compete with those of other states. Expanding industries will stagnate unless freight rates will allow their products to flow to the outside world in fair competition with those of other states. Cheap transportation is usually the deciding factor in commercial development; the location of a new industry is frequently determined by the matter of freight rates and transportation service. THE SOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM After considering these questions from every angle, the Commission unhesitatingly declares that we should begin at once the construction of modern terminals so that we may get the benefits of the vast water ways of the state. We have a long ocean front, two spacious inland seas, thirteen hundred miles of navigable rivers, and the inland water way which connects with Hampton Roads, the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River. The proper terminals and port facilities for a great se ocean traffic should be provided in the Cape Fear basin. should be modern and so constructed as to appeal not only to the coast- wise traffic but to sea going ships. ‘ The ocean lanes swing in nearer the coast just off the mouth of the Cape Fear River than at any other port, and this should make this port an attractive fueling station and encourage making it a port of call for a port for This port 14 Report oF THE State SHIP AND the vast amount of shipping which passes that point from the Panama Canal and the Gulf ports to Europe and return. This traffic is very large and is growing every year. The tonnage through the Panama Canal has multiplied ten times in the last four years and Wilmington and Southport are nearer the canal than any other Atlantic port. Smaller ports and terminal facilities should be constructed at other points in the state for coastwise traffic. Sites have been offered for these structures at Southport, Wilmington, Morehead City, New Bern, and a number of other ports, and ample land suitable for the purpose will be available at all of them. The Commission does not at this time express any preference as to the sites for these ports, but feels that this matter should be left to the Port Commission recommended herein and the engineers whom they would employ to build and operate them if the General Assembly should adopt these recommendations. WATER RATES Every one admits that water transportation is much cheaper than rail. In fact, experts estimate that the cost is less than one-half. Water transportation is the one outstanding competitive factor recog- nized by the rate regulating authorities as justifying an equalization of rail rates, and this competition, together with volume of traffic, is the only combination which will compel a reduction of rates. As to the second reason North Carolina can more than qualify. Her volume of traffic is greater than that of any of her neighbors. We must create a condition which will compel a proper rate structure, and in the opinion of the Commission we will never obtain justice until we build our own ports and have a trunk line railroad connecting our leading port with the great middle west. In the opinion of the Commission North Carolina will continue to beg for crumbs from the rate-making authorities until they realize that we are entitled to sit at the table. PUBLIC TERMINALS NECESSARY Some profess to think that terminals should be provided by private interests. The Commission finds that the whole trend of the times is the other way. States and cities are feverishly constructing public ports and facilities for shipping. One port—that of Portland, Oregon —has been built 113 miles from the sea; and Los Angeles, California, has gone twenty-five or thirty miles to the sea and built a port, and the port of Houston, Texas, is being built fifty miles from the gulf at an ex- pense of more than thirty millions of dollars. If we expect to have our ports and water ways improved by the United States Government we must have public terminals. Water Transportation Commission 15 For your information we quote the United States law on this subject: “Every United States Port should own its own water front, and this should be controlled by a port authority composed of business men who have an excellent grasp of the export and import business and who are willing to devote sufficient time to the subject. These should be appointed without regard to political affiliations, and should take the broad view that the Port is the property of the people at large, and that the provision of the best facilities will promote quicker ship dispatch, attract more ships, and thus enlarge the commerce of the port; that while the port terminal should be self supporting, the charges should be adjusted to produce this result, without injury to business, and that the growth of the port will mean the growth of the city and increased material prosperity to the individuals of the city and state. THOSE STATES WHICH HAVE ONLY ONE MAN PORTS SHOULD IN PARTICULAR EXERT THEMSELVES TO DEVELOP IT ALONG THE MOST MODERN LINES. AND THE FIRST STEP IN THIS DIRECTION IS THE APPOINTMENT OF A COMPETENT PORT AUTHORITY.” And further, in the River and Harbor Act of March 2, 1919, appears the following: “It is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress that water terminals are essential to all cities and towns located upon harbors or navigable water- Ways, and that at least one public terminal should exist, constructed, owned and regulated by the municipality, or other public agency of the State, and open to the use of all upon equal terms, and with the view of carrying out the policy to the fullest possible extent, the Secretary of War is hereby vested with the discretion to withhold, unless the public interests would Seriously suffer by delay, moneys appropriated in this act for new projects adopted herein, or for the further improvement of existing projects, if, in his opinion, no water terminals exist adequate for the traffic, and open to all on equal terms, or unless satisfactory assurances are received that local or other interests will provide such adequate terminal or terminals.” What is the use of the United States Government expending millions of dollars on our channels and harbors if we allow them to remain un- used? If we use them the Government will improve them, Then, too, it must be a public port because private enterprises cannot be expected to finance so great an undertaking. The initial expense in constructing terminals is so large that few private organizations can afford to undertake it. Small boat owners are certainly not able to do 1t and their competition is very necessary. Then, too, it has been learned that when large interests develop a port they frequently make terminal charges and transfer rates so high as to give them a monopoly. Ships usually go, other things being equal, where they have the lowest charges and the best facilities, and public ownership of port facilities is the only guarantee of equal and just treatment to all. STATE TERMINALS There is no city in the state able to build, equip and maintain proper port facilities. If there were such a city it would searcely be just to 16 Report oF THE STATE SHIP AND expect her to make such expenditures for the public good. We have waited over a hundred years for some city or some person or corpora- tion to build us a port and as a consequence we have fallen into commer- cial slavery to the trunk line railroads. The Commission believes, also, that it is better for the State to build, own, equip, and operate its own terminals, for the reason that the State is powerful enough to protect herself from hostile railroads and rich enough, if necessary, to buy the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Rail- road or otherwise provide a western outlet. Some have thought that: such a program would be socialistic, but the Commission does not believe that there is any merit in such contentions. Putting our waterways in condition to be used by the citizens of the state would be but a continuation of our highway system. We would link the two together. The highway beginning at an inland town would run to the port and thence to the ends of the earth. The state saw no objection when it built the North Carolina Rail- road and helped to build the Atlantic and North Carolina, the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley and Western North Carolina railroads. Almost every state and country that has an ocean port, or that can connect in any way with an ocean port is doing so regardless of the cost. These states deem no expense unreasonable if thereby they may gain access to the ocean, and shall not North Carolina, with its wonderful opportunity for building a great port and subsidiary ports, spend the few millions of dollars necessary to this end, thanking God meanwhile that it does not have to spend ten or twenty times as much, as is the case with some other states ? The public ports throughout the United States are uniformly suc- cessful and are not only self-supporting but are remunerative. BENEFIT TO THE WHOLE STATE The Commission has purposely refrained from the use of technical language and from the intricacies of rate structures. A volume could be written on the subject of gateways, differentials, short hauls, long hauls and water hauls; on parity rates and proportional rates and com- bination rates; on zones and on basing points, but in the language of the street they would not get us anywhere. If language was given to man in order that he might conceal his thoughts, so freight rate terminology was invented by the railroads to conceal their acts. The rate structure seems to us a wonderful machine, well oiled and smooth running, built in order that the railroads may get all the traffic will bear, and in some cases a little more. Some experts insist that the benefits of water competition will be evident only seventy miles from the coast. The Commission believes they are mistaken and that the benefits, direct and indirect, will be felt all over North Carolina. One of the experts admitted that the benefits Water Transportation Commission of the Virginia ports extended even into West Virginia, a distance of some 400 or more miles, but we are told that seventy miles is about the limit in North Carolina. A majority of the Commission resides inland and more than seventy miles from the water and they are willing to take the chance. In this connection, let us call attention to the fact that we are fortu- nate in having the Cape Fear River run inland from the port for over one hundred miles, and that when the third lock projected in that river 1s completed we will have a depth of eight feet as far as Fayetteville all the year round. The Commission would also call your attention to the great importance of a coaling station in the Cape Fear basin. Not only would this be a great factor in making our port a port of call for ships passing near the Cape Fear basin needing coal but it would cause a great lowering in our rates on coal for domestic consumption. It is estimated that rate reductions resulting therefrom on this commodity alone would amount to more than $400,000 a year; enough to pay the interest on the total bond issue recommended to carry out the far-reaching constructive purposes provided for in this report. This lower coal rate would be the very tonic required to maintain and stimulate our industries as our other advantages become equalized with those of other states. It would give us what Virginia and many of. the other states already have. MAGNITUDE OF THE PROJECT The proposition is a large and important one, but not at all an im- Possible one. The cost is not as large by any means as that of the highways. _ When in 1919 the Bill for fifty million dollars for high- ways was introduced many were they that claimed that it could not be done. But in 1921 the Bill was passed, and it is doubtful if one could find 5% of the people of the State who are not happy and enthusiastic over the highway program. The cost of the waterways program would be infinitesimal compared to its benefits direct and indirect. The cost of the waterways, even if the state is obliged to operate ships, will be very small in comparison with the highways, and yet the Waterways program will probably mean more in the long run in eco- nomic savings than the highways. OPERATION OF SHIPS The Commission does not believe that it will be necessary to operate ships, but unquestionably it should do so if others will not. The rail- roads have discouraged by every means in their power the operation of boats in our waters. On occasions they have even bought up stock in ship companies and then discontinued operation of the boats. These are arin charges, but such is the evidence before the Commission 18 Report oF THE State SHIP AND We believe that when the State provides safe and proper and adequate terminal facilities at our ports, with suitable loading and unloading devices, shipping companies will be glad to make use of our ports. There is now great congestion in many of the larger ports, in the country, and, therefore, there is more room for new ports. The United States has fewer developed ports considering its trade than has western Europe. If North Carolina is ever to act, now is the accepted time. Increasing congestion at the great ports makes new ones necessary, and as a nation becomes a greater exporter and importer of raw materials and manufactured products, the need for other ports will be accen- tuated. As the volume of our produce in North Carolina increases, so also, should our water borne traffic increase and we should be ready in order that this traffic may flow through our own ports. We have carefully investigated this phase of the subject and we are satisfied that there will be no lack of ships run by private companies to make our ports successful. But if private companies will not run ships, then the state should do so and could, we believe, do so at a profit. TRUNK LINE RAILROAD A hundred years ago our fathers were dreaming of and laboring for a railroad connecting the west with tide-water. Several efforts were made to achieve this purpose, but all were frustrated. Finally this great vision culminated in the construction of the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad. The crying need of a trunk line from the sea coast to the great middle west could no longer be denied. By the aid of the State, counties and cities along the route, they built the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad from Wilmington to Mt. Airy, with certain branches. Before the great plan of building it far into the middle west or se- curing connections with the middle west could be consummated, the road was forced into bankruptcy by interested parties, was bought in and dismembered. This road could still be used to materialize the great vision of our fathers. It already touches the Norfolk & Western, and it is said in the public prints that the Pennsylvania Railroad, probably the greatest road in America is considering the absorption of the Norfolk & Western. If this plan is successful so much better for North Carolina, and so much more important is it for the state to have this road as a trunk line. The Commission believes it would pay the state, if it is necessary, to purchase this road and thus provide such a trunk line from our State port to the west. In time we believe this road would become a most valuable property and prove a good investment for North Carolina in addition to the indirect benefits that would accrue in the Water Transportation CommissIon 19 saving of freight rates and the building up of the sections through which it runs. This road would furnish the shortest route from the middle west to the Atlantic. CONCLUSIONS Therefore, having considered these matters fully and to the best of our ability, the Commission would respectfully answer the questions propounded in the act constituting the Commission, as follows: 1. “If it is feasible and will be reasonably profitable to operate freight rates and other advantages considered, one or more lines of ship and water transportation on the navigable rivers, sounds, and other navigable waters within the boundaries of the State and be- tween the towns located on such navigable waters and towns and cities located beyond the boundaries of the State to the north and to the south along the Atlantic Seaboard and elsewhere.” The Commission believes that it is imperative for the good of the State that a maritime industry be created on the waters of the State. and that said industry will be both profitable in itself and will tend to reduce the freight rates throughout the State and place said freight Tates on a parity with those of other states and localities. The Com- mission believes that this can be accomplished without the State em- barking upon the shipping business. 2. “The cost of purchasing suitable and adequate boats and ships and the cost of maintaining and operating the same.” The Commission finds that coastwise ships and inland freight boats of varying types can, at this time, be purchased at very reason- able prices, and believes that, if private enterprise does not provide adequate shipping Service, the State could undertake such purchase and operation to the great advantage of the 1 Mab yb g people and eventually on _ 8. “The practicability of obtaining docks, wharves and other land- ing places along the banks of said navigable rivers, and towns located thereon within the State and the possibility of obtaining terminal facilities at towns or cities without the boundaries of the State and the cost of building, buying or renting the same.” Docks, wharves, and landing places are available at some 25 or 30 towns within the State and the Commission has been tendered sites through gift at Southport, Wilmington, New Bern, Morehead Ci and Manteo, and others are promised. Docks and wharves are bes able in ports outside of th inning } pis Pp utside of the State on equal terms for all shipping in- 20 Report oF THE State SHIP AND 4, “The reasonable estimate of the earnings of said one or more lines of water transportation to be operated and maintained by said Commission.” We find that at this time boats suitable for inland traffic can be pur- chased at prices ranging from $75,000 to $150,000 each, and operated at costs from 50 to $100 per day. Ships for coastwise traffic can be purchased for prices from $150,000 to $300,000 each, and operated at costs from $100 to $250 per day. The purchase prices and costs of operation vary, as to type and tonnage of boats and ships. As a further answer to the questions submitted to the Commission, the Commission finds that— Without exception State-owned terminals have been self-support- ing in every State where they have been built. That such terminals have not only been self-supporting but have paid off their bonded indebtedness and have effected a reduction in freight rates to the interior of the States that built them. In the opinion of the Commission, the remedy for the present freight rate situation and the serious conditions that are likely to confront the State in the future can be obtained by the people only through definite and positive action by their General Assembly, and without such united action and patriotic endeavor our situation will continue to grow worse as compared to other sections of the country, and owing to the lack of port facilities of our own, we will be compelled to pay tribute to the upbuilding and enriching of other localities. RECOMMENDATIONS Further responding to the spirit of the act, the Commission would make the following recommendations: 1. That the General Assembly create a Port Commission of five members, vested with full authority to select sites, construct port terminals with all necessary equipment, and that the said Port Commission be given full power to establish a traffic or- ganization, to enter and prosecute complaints, either through the Corporation Commission or otherwise, in connection with rates and traffic regulations, and to do all things necessary to carry out the purposes of its creation and to bring relief in freight and traffic matters to the citizens of the State. 2. That $7,000,000.00 be appropriated for the use of said Port Commission, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the pur- poses enumerated above. Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION 21 3. That the Port Commission be authorized to purchase or lease ships and operate the same, if in its opinion adequate ship- Ping is not provided by private enterprise and that $1,500,000.00 additional be appropriated for this purpose, or so much thereof as may be necessary. 4. That the State acquire the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railroad as a basis for a trunk-line railway from the Cape Fear basin to the Middle West, or otherwise provide such a trunk line. The Commission believes and concludes that if the General Assembly will put these recommendations into effect, at a relatively small cost immense relief will be given to the State; that instead of begging for fair rates, we will be in position to demand them; that instead of fear- ing that we may lose the concessions already grudgingly given, we will be in position to secure as favorable rates as other States that have prospered at our expense. Up to the time of the Civil War, North Carolina was almost entirely agricultural. She had prospered because of her natural endowments and had built up an economic system based on slave labor. After the war she found this economic system shattered and began laboriously to work out her salvation. The progress at first was slow and disheartening. By the hardest kind of toil she has improved her agriculture so that she now takes high rank among her sister states. ‘ She has developed a manufacturing system chiefly in her native prod- ucts, such as textiles, tobacco manufacturing and furniture making. She has succeeded in these because of her rare advantages in raw material and because of her water power. North Carolina has not prospered adequately in trade and commerce, she has been out-stripped by many of the other states. She has built up no distributing centers. North Carolina has made all of this progress notwithstanding the most flagrant discrimination against her in freight rates; she has become a commercial territory of other states; she holds the remedy in her own hands; the remedy is at least one trunk line railway run- ning east and west in addition to the trunk lines now running north and south across the State; and these roads ‘should connect with a great port adequately equipped for sea-going ships with a system of smaller Ports at suitable places along the coast and the sounds and rivers of the State for coastwise connections. The Commission believes and so finds that this program is a necessary POEs of the great program of development undertaken by the State. ion ee meres oe regen public health, in public We erases g’ duea people of the State, in the great iy in the oes together in a homogeneous whole, fe ansportation problems. Report oF THE STaTE SHIP AND If we have expressed ourselves in strong language at times, it is be- cause we feel deeply the importance of this subject and are convinced that this program will give us relief in our transportation problems and that, instead of an unbalanced and possibly temporary progress, we will put our State on the road to an abounding, well balanced, permanent, and until now undreamed of prosperity, and in this faith and deep conviction we unhesitatingly and unanimously recommend that the General Assembly adopt and carry out these recommendations. Respectfully submitted, Chairman Secretary RALEIGH, N. C. PART I EXISTING SITUATION WITH REGARD TO NORTH CAROLINA’S PORTS AND WATERWAYS a. EXISTING SITUATION WITH REGARD TO NORTH CAROLINA’S PORTS AND WATERWAYS The Vision of the Fathers Governor Morrison's Message of 1923. Deliveries from North Carolina Norfolk in 1922. The Panama Canal as a Factor. Statement of Senator Simmons. Territory to Water Carriers in Analysis of North Carolina Ports. a. Southport b. Wilmington c. Fayetteville d. Morehead City Cape Fear River. Neuse River. Pamlico and Tar Rivers. Roanoke River. Waterway Norfolk to Beau- fort Inlet Waterway Beaufort to Jack- sonville, N. C. Scuppernong River. Manteo Bay. Swan Quarter and Deep River Waterway. South River. Bay River. Swift Creek. Contentnea Creek. e. Cape Lookout Harbor of Refuge f. New Bern g. Manteo h. Winton i. Beaufort . Waterways within the State of North Carolina. Trent River. Channel connecting Thorough- fare Bay with Cedar Bay. Beaufort Harbor. Waterway connecting Core Sound and Beaufort Harbor. Harbor at Morehead City. Beaufort Inlet. Cape Lookout Harbor of Refuge Northeast Cape Fear River. Black River. Shallotte River. Meherrin River. Newbegun Creek. Edenton. Elizabeth City. Brief of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce concerning Third Lock in Cape Fear River. ’ Statistics on Improvement of Rivers and Harbors in the Wilming- ton District. Abstract of Mr. C. 8. Wallace on Coastwise Steamers. Depth of Water in the Cape Fear Basin, and Draft of Vessels Engaged in Ocean Shipping. Statistics of North Carolina’s Trade and Industry. (1) THE VISION OF THE FATHERS WISDOM OF DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDED TO THE LEGISLATURE ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO [Quoration From REporT OF THE COMMITTEE ON INLAND NAVIGATION, DECEMBER, 1815] (From Senate Journal, December 6, 1815) The Committee to whom was referred the resolution on Inland Navi- gation and so much of the message of his excellency the governor as re- lates to the same subject, Report, that the time has come when it be- hooves the legislature of North Carolina to provide efficiently for the Improvement of the inland navigation of the State. To delay this pro- Vision, is to postpone that national wealth, respectability and importance which follow only in the train of great internal improvements, With an extent of territory sufficient to maintain more than ten millions of inhabitants, under a system which would develop the possible resources of our agriculture, we can only boast of a population something less than six hundred thousand; and it is but too obvious that this popula- tion, under the present state of things, already approaches its maximum. We have as good a soil as any of the southern Atlantic States can boast of—fine rivers intersect our State in different directions, furnish- ing superior means and facilities for an extensive internal commerce, to those enjoyed by any of our neighboring States; but hitherto we have not availed ourselves of the means which Providence has thrown in our way—We have suffered year after year to pass by without seizing oppor- tunities to improve our condition; and whilst we admit that internal im- provements are essential to our prosperity, we seem to act upon a con- trary principle, and to expect that national prosperity will come without national labor. It is surely worse than folly to expect the rewards of industry without its toils, or national prosperity without exertion; and We ought always to bear in mind, that it is the duty of the government to aid the enterprise of its citizens, and to afford to them facilities of disposing, to advantage, of the products of their industry. It is real economy to expend the public money upon these objects. The blessings of the government are thereby brought home to every man’s door—the comforts, the conveniences of life are increased—the public labor is rewarded, and the wealth of the State keeps pace with the wealth of its citizens. The growth of our commercial towns is of peculiar importance to the character of the State. Whilst we continue to send our products to the markets of other States, we shall be destitute of that independence of character which it should be the pride of our citizens to cherish. One 26 Report or THE State SHIP AND species of dependence begets another; and having hitherto been depen- dent upon Virginia and South Carolina, for markets for the greatest part of our produce, we have in some measure become dependent upon those States for our opinions and our prejudices. It is the duty of the legislature to contribute as far as possible to break the spell that binds us to this dependence, and so to change the political orb of North Caro- lina, that she shall move as a primary and not a secondary State in the system of the confederacy. Your committee can see no reason why this great work should be any longer delayed; it is a duty which the members of the legislature owe to the State, to themselves, their children, and to future generations, to delay it no longer. Upon this subject let party spirit be hushed into silence; and uniting together in one feeling for North Carolina, let us all aspire to the honor of laying the foundations of her glory and her prosperity. Your committee therefore recommend to the two houses the adoption of the following resolution : “Resolved, that it is expedient to provide by law for carrying into effect the plan proposed in this report, for improving the internal navigation of the state.” Respectfully submitted, A. D. Murpeuey, Chairman. [QuoTATION From REporT OF THE COMMITTEE ON INLAND NAVIGATION, DECEMBER, 1816] That having commenced the great work of Internal Improvements, it is the duty of the Legislature to persevere until the whole shall be ac- complished. No consideration of local policy, no paltry considerations of expense, should divert our views for one moment from the destiny to which we are aspiring, and to which we shall certainly attain, if we cease not our efforts. Rising above the influence of little passions, let us devote our labours to the honor and glory of the-State in which we live, by establishing and giving effect to a system of policy which shall develop her physical resources, draw forth her normal and intellectual energies, give facilities to her industry, and encouragement to her enter- prise. It is only by persevering in a systematic course of elevated policy that the prosperity of the State can be reared up and be made stable. Isolated measures, without plan and without system, have never yet made a State great, nor a people happy: They bafile the efforts of honest industry by often giving to them a wrong direction; they disappoint the expectations of enterprise by their frequent abortion. The true founda- tions of national prosperity and of national glory, must be laid in a liberal system of Internal Improvements, and of Public Education; in a system which shall give force to the faculties of the mind, and estab- lish over the heart the empire of a sound morality. It does not fall Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION 27 within the province of the duties assigned to your committee to submit their views upon any parts of this general system, except those which re- late to the Inland Navigation of the State. A CENTRAL RAILROAD CONNECTING THE INTERIOR OF THE STATE WITH AN OCEAN PORT AS CONCEIVED IN 1827-28. (The following extracts were taken from a series of anonymous articles Supposed to have been written by Dr. Joseph Caldwell under the curious title “The Numbers of Carlton.” These articles appeared in the newspapers of the state beginning September 1, 1827 and continuing at intervals for about a year. They set forth the vital importance of an east and west rail- road through the state connecting with an ocean port in achieving the fund- amental proposition that “The Rights of freemen is an open trade,” which was the text of the series.) “The rights and opportunities of unimpeded commerce we have al- ways esteemed essential to a high degree of prosperity. The past hist- ory of our country has shown that we have not been mistaken. North Carolina, in her natural state, is shut up by obstructions, altogether unexampled in other parts of the union. It is mortifying, but cer- tainly undeniable, that a corresponding humiliation and impoverishment in comparison with other States, has continued to be our lot to the present moment. The companionship of these facts, furnishes evidence too striking to be evaded in confirmation of the principle, that without an open commerce, we cannot flourish in enterprise and wealth. It is corroborated no less by the universal opinion of the world, and above all by the efficacy of every experiment already made by others, in burst- ing the shackles that restrained their commercial privileges. We should proclaim it an oppression to be deprived of them by any human power that should keep us under a perpetual embargo, prohibiting a market for almost every article we can produce. We are no less the authors of oppression to ourselves, if we con- tinue enchained by restrictions that would fall off at our bidding. There is no difference between privations, sufferings, degradation and misery, arising from restrictions, which it is perfectly easy to remove, and an infliction of them by the edicts of an enemy. . “Not a State in the union has suffered detriment from the cost of transportation in comparison with our own .... So ardent has been the spirit of South Carolina on one side, and of Virginia on the other, that they have scarcely been withheld from extending their public works into our own State. How is it with us?.... It seems as if we Stood, and looked on with listless gaze, while our neighbors, after their Wwonted manner, are scrambling for our spoils. We hear a bustle around us, we start up with sudden amazement, we look for the move- ment that has disturbed our repose, we see that provision is already 28 Report oF THE State SHIP AND commenced and almost completed for the appropriation of our goods. It is too late, say we; we cannot help it; and again compose ourselves to our accustomed tranquility. We might have a commercial city. But how shall it spring into existence, so long as the site of it, upon one of the best harbors, is inaccessible from the interior country ? The contrast then is complete, between the commercial opportunities of other states, and the destitution of them in our own “That the farmer of North Carolina is laboring under disadvantages in comparison with the farmer of other States, is not imaginary, but an ungestionable truth. “In what our disadvantages consist, and whether it is in our power to remove them, are questions of the weightiest import. That we are almost totally abridged of the intercourse of trade, is notorious to our- selves and to the world. In this is the primary cause of our straits and sufferings. Other things may and certainly do contribute to them, but if we would begin well, here we must commence the application of a healing hand. All other disorders, as physicians express them- selves, are but symptomatic, and will give way, when a healthful action is effected in this originally diseased part. No foreign enemy invades, no domestic tyranny of government oppresses us. No climate is genial to a greater variety of productions than ours. Where is our best com- mercial port? Open it to us. Let our distance from it be annihilated. Let it cost us nothing to send every production of our farms into the market of the world. Let it cost as little to import every thing we want from abroad. Let the time, labour and expense now wasted and sunk in marketing, be frugally devoted to the improvement of our lands, the preparation of our crops, and the multiplicity of our pro- ductions. Let it be in our power to obtain a profit upon every thing, instead of one or two articles only. Place us in full possession of these privileges from the sea to the mountains, and a vivifying power will be put into action, which from the lowest depression will, in a few years, raise us to an elevated and brilliant prosperity. “The happiness of a people, next to public and private virtue, con- sists in a perpetual growth into better circumstances. This happiness is eminently in our power, in proportion as we have been subjected to long and great privations. We may turn that which has hitherto con- tinued our heaviest curse, into the occasion of a copious and quick suc- cession of the richest blessings. But it will be impossible to realize all at once the effects of this great and mighty change, and if no un- forseen reverse befall, which may a gracious God forefend, we shall advance in perpetuated vigorous growth to greater maturity and per- fection.” Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMIssION 29 [Extract from an address issued by a mass meeting held in Chatham County on August 1, 1828. The same theme of the need of a Central Rail- road to the coast, and its relation to state prosperity was urged. James Mebane presided, and Dennis Heartt served as secretary.] “Fellow-citizens: These things, and others also which it were easy to suggest, have occurred to our reflection, and they intimate to us the operation of a cause different in its nature from any which we have mentioned. While other States of this union have for many years actively and successfully exerted themselves in opening the opportunities of commerce to their people, North Carolina has unhappily languished under a spirit of despondency in regard to the possibility of ever attain- ing to similar privileges. Time was when a vast portion of the in- terior settlers of other States were in a situation similar to our own. They were intercepted from the market of the world by immense dis- tances, and almost insuperable obstacles. So long as this continued to be the case, they and we went into that market upon some terms of equality. If we had to overcome difficulties, it was in a greater or less degree necessary to them also. The labour and expense of transpor- tation were alike to them and to us, and so also were the profits by which they were remunerated. But this no longer continues to be the case. The different States of the union have for many years augmented their population, and while they extended their settlements far into their interior territories, two consequences have resulted which it is important to distinguish. One is the vast abundance of agricultural productions of every description which have been thrown into the market, and the other, a prevention of increased expense and labour in transportation, by making the improvement of their roads and rivers, and the opening of canals keep pace with the extension of their settlements. In our State these improvements have never been realized. The consequence is at length experienced by us to be such as naturally results from such a change of circumstances. We must now continue to carry through all the original difficulties of transportation, every article we produce, into a market that is stocked and glutted with the same articles, trans- ported with no more difficulty than if the market were within a few miles of their own doors. Efforts, it is true, have been sometimes made by ourselves to obtain the same facilities of conveyance, but they have failed for want of concentrated and well directed application. Our resources and exertions have been limited in supply, inefficient by dis- persion, and we are left to contend with all the primitive obstructions of a natural state. Others have been rapidly advancing, but we have continued stationary. They in throngs, with their lands improved by every stimilus to industry, carry their exports into the general market with little cost, while under every discouragement, with our lands im- poverished for want of excitement to the cultivator, to us it remains to sustain the same labour and the same burthen as at the first. 30 Report or THE State SHIP AND “And is this a time, fellow-citizens, for us to continue in supineness and inaction, when even the last remaining prop of our interest in the market of the world is ready to be undermined, and to leave us pros- trate in the dust? It is to no purpose to raise our voice in outcries against the odious subject of internal improvement, as that which our neighbors have practised to our mischief and overthrow. It may be, nay, it certainly is, the grand cause of all our evils, in comparison with which all other causes and evils are of little moment. But though it brings these consequences upon us, it is the source of prosperity to them, and they are unquestionably at liberty to carry it on to the uttermost of their discretion and ability, notwithstanding all its consequences to us in cheapening and destroying our market. The only method we can now take, and it is happily a sure one, is to shake off the lethargy that locks up our senses and our powers in listlessness and languor; to cast away our apprehensions and our disheartening fears; to gird our- selves with strength, and arm with a resolution and perseverance worthy of the elevated rank we hold in population and power in this distinguish- ed confederation of republican states. No sooner shall we open a grand central thoroughfare, annihilating distance, and bringing the sea into a proximity to every man’s dwelling, than we shall realize that we are upon a level with the rest of the union and of the world, in all the im- munities of commerce, and in the means of individual and national prosperity. Then a spirit of activity and elastic force will be breathed into the bosoms of our desponding and helpless people. Then will every man see, that instead of its being useless to produce more than a bare sufficiency for his subsistence, every supernumerary article he can accumulate by his industry, his frugality and his skill, will multiply his riches, and swell the means of knowledge, enjevment, usefulness, and respectability to himself, his children, and to society. “By constituting this great artery for circulating the vital principles of commerce through the State, it is not to the western and interior parts of the country only that these and similar effects are likely to be produced. The eastern and western counties have their peculiar pro- ductions, by the easy and costless transmission of which, each will re- ciprocate benefits equivalent to such as it will receive. Even the mari- time commerce created to the State, would soon promote into quickened action and profitable employment a large portion of the population around the waters of our coast, and through the counties bordering on the sea. They would grow into a body of seamen, manning our numer- ous ships, and rivaling the north and east in outriding the billows of the ocean. Multitudes that now languish without occupation or inter- est would then find both, on an element for which they are fitted by all their early habits and pursuits. By concentrating the commerce of the east and west, such a commerce as would result from the exports and imports of half a million of people, upon a single seaport on our Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION 31 coast, a maritime city must speedily spring into existence, inspiring with new enterprise, and with energies unfelt before, the bosoms of all, but especially of numbers that now linger without motive, and drag out a life of pining penury.” (2) GOVERNOR MORRISON’S MESSAGE OF 1923 Water transportation is cheaper than rail transportation. This is recognized by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and most basic freight-rate points are water towns where rail meets water competition. From such basic points the freight rate is radiated to the interior points by a combination of the rate to the basic point plus the local rate from the basic point to the destination of the freight. Under the law the interstate rate cannot exceed the combination to the basic point plus the rate from there to the destination of the freight. So, water trans- portation is desirable to any state, not because of its own cheapness alone, but because it makes cheaper rail freight rates to all the towns with water transportation and to all towns nearer to them than to any other basic freight rate or water transportation town. Our freight rates are nearly all based on the rates to the Virginia cities plus the rates from the Virginia cities to our towns. This results in a high freight rate from and to North Carolina, and in our being commercially handcuffed by Virginia cities, because we cannot get freight from or to anywhere without paying the rate to the Virginia cities plus the rate from such Virginia city to the North Carolina town to or from which the freight moves. We are allowed a certain de duction called a “differential”, that is a small crumb thrown to us in recognition of our enslaved condition. Through this system we have largely builded the Virginia cities and in commercial life they call us, and we are known as, “Their territory.” We have no basic freight-rate points in North Carolina. All rates are hoisted to us from some other more fortunate state. So we must do business necessarily as the bondmen of the states where the base of our freight rates is situated. We have no water transportation worthy of the name. So we have no basic freight rate towns, because there is no water competition. When we demand equality we are told conditions are different and that we have all we are entitled to under the law; that our water trans- portation is merely potential and not actual; that there is no water transportation for the railroads to meet, and therefore they have not asked for cheap rates to any North Carolina city; that the cheapest basic rates near us are the Virginia cities rates, and, therefore, they 32 Report or THe Stare SuHip anp base our rates on them, which is all we are entitled to. They give us a little “tip” called a “differential”, and tell us to get out. We are helpless, and will be forever unless we make our water com- petition actual instead of merely potential. What are we going to do about it—remain Virginia territory, or be- come free and independent? I am for freedom. The reactionary and the railroad lobbyist will whisper you cannot achieve it; you have al- ways been slaves commercially and must remain so. The railroads doing business in North Carolina could not help us if they desired to, because they would be stopped as Henry Ford was by the Interstate Commerce Commission when he tried to cut rates on his own railroad. But we can produce such a change in our basic con- dition that the railroads doing business in our State will beg the Inter- state Commerce Commission to let them reduce rates on the Hornet’s Nest State to save them from destruction, and they will tell the Com- mission that conditions are such that they are entitled to the relief. They will be, and they will get it. How can we do this? By establishing water competition in the towns and cities of our State situated where it can be established, of a character so dangerous that the railroads will ask the Interstate Com- merce Commission to let them meet it. This is exactly the way the Virginia cities acquired the rates with which they long ago “hand- cuffed” us. Suppose we establish water transportation from Wilmington, Fay- etteville, New Bern, Washington, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Belhaven, Morehead City, Beaufort, Southport and other water towns with barges and small boats feeding them from twenty-five counties situated on navi- gable waters. What would happen? The water rates would be very much cheaper than railroad rates. The Interstate Commerce Commis- sion could not help it, and would not desire to. The boats would take the freight cheap to the water towns, and it would go out over our good roads on trucks for seventy-five miles around. The incoming freight would land on the cheap water rates in the town, and for a radius of seventy-five miles our people on our own good roads with trucks would go in and get it. About this time our railroad friends would commence to “holler for help”. We need not worry about the freight rates. They would go to the Interstate Commerce Commission with great lamentations, crying out that the good roads and trucks and water competition were ruining them; that they must be allowed to lower rates and treat their former slaves like free men and the equal of Virginians and Marylanders. I hope the Commission will have mercy on them and give them their legal rights to meet competition and fight for their lives. When the cheap rail rates are established they will, as a matter of law, radiate to every point nearer to them than the Virginia cities. Water TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION 33 I urge this General Assembly to set up for all the people of the State water competition with the railroads. This is the way all cheap rail rates have been obtained. We can do it. We must do it, if we are to have an equal chance with the other seaboard states in commerce. We create on our farms and in our factories more tonnage than any state from Pennsylvania going south, to Texas. We move less of our tonnage to market from our own waters than any seaboard state. We have a long seaboard front, and more miles of navigable inland sounds and rivers than any other state in the union. Why not use them ? Along these waters are the finest farms in the Union, paying $5.00 per bale to get cotton to Boston or New York, from where it can be sent to France, Germany or England for less than $1.25 per bale. Capable of producing enough foodstuff to feed Massachusetts, but un- able to move it on account of heavy freight rates and sorry rail service. We must strike. The times are propitious for heroic action. The world, for the first time, is full of cheap ships. The dangers of old Hatteras are destroyed by the completion of the Inland Canal from Boston to Morehead City. Our tonnage is immense, in spite of all our difficulties. The railroads are trying now to raise rates on us to an amount vaulting into the millions annually. The danger is omin- ous. Maxwell and the other members of the Corporation Commission, with Judge Clark, formerly of the Interstate Commerce Commission, as chief counsel, are making a great fight, but the issue is in doubt. We are fortunate in having the brilliant Maxwell to lead this fight. Eastern North Carolina is an agricultural and commercial section. It is handcuffed commercially. Give me, gentlemen, two millions of dollars to establish some North Carolina State-owned terminal facilities, and to purchase a fleet of ships; then give me the authority to operate them, and I promise you to save the State more money annually than it costs to run the State Government now, and to make it commercially free and independent. I appeal to you to create the North Carolina Ship and Port Com- mission, with appropriate and ample powers to acquire terminals by lease or purchase, and to acquire and operate a fleet of passenger and commerce-carrying ships. We should act without delay. The cheap ships can be had now, and it is important to act promptly. Let me appoint the commissioners, and the Senate confirm them. I promise you a great Commission. Let the bonds issue when the Commission say in writing to the Governor and Council of State that they are ready to proceed. If you think caution requires it, insert a provision that if the Com- mission finds it cannot arrange the practical details in a way their judgment approves, they may report their findings to the Governor and 3 84 Report or tue Stare Sure anp Council of State, and they may, if they think wise, suspend further action until the next meeting of your Honorable Body. They say “Give us the details.” We are ready to place them before your committee, when appointed, through practical men acquainted with the situation, the waters, the ships, and freight rates. Water transportation and good roads and truck transportation, com- peting with rail transportation, will save this State more money before the first serial bond is due, ten years from their issue, than both the roads and ship company will cost the State, and, in addition, build ten cities in the eastern and Cape Fear section of the State. You hazard little, and the possibilities are immense. The hazard is two millions, and the prospect ‘ten millions profit annually. But we could not lose anything like two millions before we quit. I am satisfied the boat line would pay in its direct operating account, and I know it would if the North Carolina Corporation Commission will use its undoubted power in making rail rates from the water towns into the State. The Interstate Commerce Commission, if it will, can force through joint bills of lading to be issued, and if they did, as I believe they would, the boat line would make more money until the railroads gave us justice in freight than any corporation of like size in the State. Gentlemen of the General Assembly, we can win with the boat line and State-owned port facilities, and I beg your prompt consideration of the whole subject. If we can find relief through this plan, then I urge you to evolve from your own councils a plan through which we can be relieved from the difficulties I have mentioned. The duty of finding a remedy is yours, not mine. I offer my best thought on the subject. If you do not approve my recommendations, then I beg you to give the State a better one. Our commerce must not forever languish. We must not forever re- main Virginia territory commercially. (3) DELIVERIES TO WATER CARRIERS AT NORF OLK IN 1922 digs sett spony.” OEE OL PGE LI 5 BGR 442,112 tons Atlantic Coast Line Southern Railway Seaboard Air Line An interesting feature of the above statistics, take Charles Churchill read before the American Society of Civil Engineers’ n from the paper of Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION 35 ; ; : 5 so aie = Convention held in Richmond, Va., October, 1923, is that the } * folk-Southern Railroad, whose territory is confined to eastern pact Carolina, with its line to Charlotte, receives from and deliv ers to Ps carriers at Norfolk more freight than the Southern, Atlantic Coast ae or Seaboard Air Line. Owing to the limited territory of the Norfolk- Southern it is naturally assumed that the great bulk of this traffic comes from eastern North Carolina and perhaps its single Piedmont connec- tion. (4) THE PANAMA CANAL AS A FACTOR The transportation of commodities between the Atlantic and bres coasts is increasing at an unusually rapid rate. The cheapness of t ea method of shipment as compared with the trans-continental rail hau is demonstrated by the fact that commodities are being shipped through Baltimore via the Panama Canal to the Pacific coast from as far in- land as St. Louis and Minneapolis. In other words, the cost of ship- ping by water a much longer distance is so much less, that the traffic can afford to move by rail almost half way across the continent, and thence by boat over the longer distance through the canal. The efficacy of water competition in creating a desire among railway officials to reduce their rates, is seen in the plea of the trans-continental lines to the Interstate Commerce Commission to be allowed to lower their charges on coast-to-coast shipments to meet this water competition. The growing demand of North Carolina for lumber and Be canned goods, citrus fruit, oil and other products from the Pacific coast, and of crude rubber, nitrates, coffee, molasses, sugar ete. from South America and the West Indies will create an increasing volume of traffic which should flow into this State through our own port in the Cape Fear basin. All natural advantages operate in one aa : this important trade as compared with the ports further north. An likewise of course, an equally favorable set of circumstances would favor the development in the opposite direction of an export trade from our industries. It is in such a period of changing trade cur- rents that new ports have their best chance of development. A few years of neglect will see this growing volume of traffic, a large share of which we will ultimately consume, flowing through other ports and enriching them at our expense. 36 Report or tue Stare Sure anp The suddenness of this trade development through the Panama Canal which is passing right by our doors to other ports, was recorded in the recent announcement that during last year (1923) more tonnage passed through the Panama Canal than through the Suez Canal, the figures being as follows: No. of Vessels Net Tonnage 4621 22,730,162 5037 24,737,437 The growth of coast-to-coast traffic through the Panama Canal dur- ing the last three years is indicated below: Cargo Tons 1,793,524 4,032,369 13,061,382 These figures do not include the trade between the east coast of the United States and the west coast of South America, which increased from 793,123 tons in 1922 to 2,054,523 in 19238. Chilean nitrates, NEWBERN iron ore and Peruvian oil were the most important items in this traffic and all of these are of growing importance to North Carolina. PORT OF THE (5) STATEMENT OF SENATOR SIMMONS ‘Nore—Senator Simmons appeared befor New Bern, expressing in no uncertain ter development. e the Commission at its meeting in ms his views on port and waterway WATER FRONT OF In recent months Senator Simmons has made two speeches, one at New Bern at the hearing held by the State Ship and Water Transporta- tion Commission appointed to consider the question of establishment of terminals and boat lines, and one at Goldsboro at the meeting of the Eastern Carolina Shippers Association, In both of these speeches Senator Simmons discussed the possibilities of the wonderful inland waterway systems of the State and the feasi- bility of the establishment within the State of one or more great sea- ports. He discussed the effect of the development and utilization of these waters both in reducing freight rates and developing resources of the State, as well as what the general government had done in the way of improvement and preparing these waterways for this purpose, and gave assurance that the Federal Government stood ready to make such additional improvements as were found necessary to accommodate de- veloped and potential commerce. NEUSE RIVER Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION 37 He discussed the failure at this time of the State to make anything like adequate use of its navigable waterways and water transportation possi- bilities. He stressed the inestimble value as an asset of the State of our three thousand miles of navigable inland waterways and our natural ports. He deplored the fact that this great natural asset of the State was now and had for some time been neglected, or only used as local convenience. He insisted that a proper utilization of these waterways would inure as much to the benefit of the interior of the State as to the sections in which they are located and he declared that something should be done to give the people of the State the full benefit of this great asset. He said that for various reasons, individual initiative had utterly failed to meet the needs of the situation and did not seem to hold out promise of much better accomplishment in the future. In these condi- tions he said he believed State action was justified, if not imperatively demanded, and that the State-wide interest in the result was so clear that the wisdom of State assistance should appeal to the people of every section of the State. He argued that one of the first essential condi- tions to the utilization of these waterways was terminal and dock facili- ties adequate to the requirements of potential commerce and declared that these facilities at the several established shipping points, with few exceptions, were hardly adequate to the requirements of the purely local traffic. He said the situation in this respect was so bad that it could hardly be said, with slight exception, that on this vast stretch of navi- gable waters there were any transportation facilities worth while, cer- tainly none even in a measurable degree adequate to the requirements for the establishment of a regular waterway transportation system. For these reasons he heartily approved the establishment by State of terminal facilities at leading shipping points upon our waterways. He commended the Governor for his advocacy of this project and expressed the hope that the Commission would report in favor of the construction of these terminals by the State. Coming to the question of State owned steamboats the Senator said he believed that if the State should take hold of the situation and pro- vide adequate terminal and docking facilities, that it would be a warning to the selfish interests that have exerted such a powerful influ- ence in stifling water transportation in the State, and at the same time such an encouragement to private capital that it would not be necessary for the State to operate ships in order to meet the needs of the situation. He said after the State has provided these facilities, if within reason- able time private capital does not provide the boats necessary to accom- modate and develop the traffic, in order that the people of the State may not be denied the inestimable benefits of the full utilization of freight rates, and subserve the demands of commerce; he believed in that event it would be the duty of the State to do whatever was necessary, even to the extent of owning and operating the necessary boat lines. 38 Report oF THE State SHIP AND The Senator said it was inconceivable that a State which was demon- strating its ability to utilize every other natural resource should permit this, one of its greatest assets, to remain unused. He said, “We are developing and utilizing to a notable degree our water power; why not develop and utilize the transportation possibilities of our navigable waterways? We are spending millions in making our public roads suitable mediums of transportation; why not spend what is necessary to bring into use as a medium of transportation our waterways and bring into codrdination and codperation the three great agencies of transportation: namely, rail, highway and waterway? He said he did not wish to see the State engage in operating state-owned boat lines unless it should be necessary to accomplish the great purpose he had outlined, but that he did not hesitate to say that if it could not be ac- complished in any other way, it would be the imperative duty of the State to intervene. “If this policy of the State can be made plain and unmistakable,” said Senator Simmons, “many of the obstacles which now exist against private operation of boat lines will disappear. It will be, in my judgment, a convincing warning to selfish interests now under suspicion of repressive interference, not only to desist, but possibly even to encourage such use of our waterways as seems manifestly in the public interest.” (6) ANALYSIS OF NORTH CAROLINA PORTS By LIEUTENANT COMMANDER W. P. WisHAar, U. S. Coast Guard Service INTRODUCTION (Adapted from Southport’s Brief) Attention is invited to the maps and charts of the coast of North Car- olina, to visualize and retain a mental picture of the physical charac- teristics of our Atlantic seaboard. Nature has given this State two self- contained systems of waterways consisting of the Cape Fear river basin and the system of sounds and bays to the northward. The main coast line of the State is separated from the Atlantic ocean by inland waters, i. e., by sounds, bays, and wide river mouths. Com- mencing on the north we have Currituck, Albemarle, Croatan, Pamlico, Core, and Bogue sounds to Swansboro, with the Chowan, Roanoke, Tar, and Chadwick, and Alligator bays, and Stumps, Topsail, Masonboro, and Myrtle sounds. These sounds, bays and rivers are separated from the ocean by a chain of narrow sand reefs, from which project Capes Hat- teras, Lookout, and Fear. Through these reefs or banks as they are called, there are but few and very shallow inlets. The only one of any Water TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION 39 value connecting Albemarle and Pamlico sounds with the Atlantie Ocean is Ocracoke Inlet, half way between Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout. Another outlet of importance with deeper water is that called Beaufort Inlet opening from the northern end of Bogue Sound to the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Hatteras is everywhere recognized as one of the most dangerous points along the Atlantic coast for shipping of all kinds. It is known as the graveyard of the Atlantic, and fully deserves its reputation. This is due to the fact that ocean lanes converge at this point and the gulf stream almost touches the ends of the shoals. These shoals extend about 8 miles in a southeasterly direction from Cape Hatteras. Cape Lookout is also a dangerous section, as its shoals extend in a general southerly direction for a distance of about 8 miles. In the shelter of the hook formed by the cape ships of all kinds, particularly sailing vessels, find protection from storms. The Government has built a long breakwater which enlarges this harbor of refuge. Deep water and a great area for anchorage exist at this locality. The harbor is not eonnected with the mainland, being separated from it by Core Sound. It is about eleven and a half miles by water to Morehead City, the nearest railroad line. As a port of entry, its geographical and physical qualities preclude its consideration. ; Cape Fear, the third point of dangerous navigation on the N. C. coast, has shoals extending in a S. S. E. direction for about 12 miles. The Cape Fear River empties into the Atlantic Ocean on the westward side of the Cape, the mouth of the river then gaining protection from all winds except those from S. 8. E. to S. W. The charts show that the only deep water ocean inlet along the N. OC. eoast that will permit the development of ocean traffic and that will avoid the dangers of the N. ©. capes is the Cape Fear River. This river provides a natural, deepwater area that is land-locked, has suffi- cient anchorage space, good holding ground, and protection from storms from every direction. Ships bound north, taking advantage of the gulf stream, pass about seventy miles from the mouth of this river. Ships bound south inside the gulf stream pass about 35 miles from the mouth of this river. A point to be considered here and which is not shown in these charts is that the Cape Fear River, as a port, is nearer the coal fields of Tennessee, West Virginia and Kentucky, and to the great mid- west traffic than any other South Atlantic port. The great inland coastal waterway is projected to connect Boston, Mass. with Key West, Fla. The waters of North Carolina form an important link of this waterway system and afford a means for develop- ing water transportation, (the cheapest transportation in the world) which can materially assist in rapidly developing all agricultural and industrial interests of the State. At the present time this waterway has been developed with a 12-foot depth from Norfolk, Va., to Morehead City, N. C. From Morehead City southward the project has not been 40 Report or tore State Suir anp developed. The course of this canal is from Morehead City through Bogue Sound to New River through Marine Marshes without regard to the present depth. From New River it is to cross a narrow neck of land to Chadwick Bay, thence close to the mainland through Alligator Bay, Stump, Topsail, Masonboro, and Myrtle sounds. From the lower end of Myrtle sound it is to cross a narrow, low sand ridge of about one mile into the Cape Fear river about thirteen miles below Wilming- ton. The Cape Fear river will be its terminus for some time. From a glance at the map it becomes apparent that, when this canal is finished to the Cape Fear River, it will become at once the natural and economic outlet for all ocean freight originating on all the inland waters and rivers of North Carolina, except those within the immediate sphere of Norfolk. It will likewise become the route for distributing in- coming ocean freight to these areas. The shortened distance and the ability to transport goods cheaply in safe waters, irrespective of storms or inclement weather, will result in stimulating trade and will quite likely divert practically all of inland-water freight of North Carolina, now going to Norfolk, to the Cape Fear River. It can be definitely asserted that the full effect of this inland water- way will not be felt until the section opening into the Cape Fear River is completed, thereby opening up for development the magnificent inland waterways of the entire state. The navigable inland waterways of North Carolina directly pass through or lap the following counties: New Hanover Jones Martin Brunswick Pamlico Halifax Columbus Beaufort Bertie Bladen Pitt Hertford Cumberland Edgecombe Gates Pender Hyde Chowan Onslow Dare Perquimans Carteret Tyrrell Pasquotank Craven Washington Lenoir Camden Currituck Reference to the map of North Carolina, showing roads, rivers, inland waterways, ete., will show beside, the ports mentioned in the following analysis in detail, namely: Southport, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Morehead City, Cape Lookout, New Bern, Manteo, Beaufort, and Winton. Other points which would be benefitted by increased service through development of the inland-waterway system to a greater extent in the above mentioned counties, being: Warrr TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION Aurora Greenville Swan Quarter Bayboro Hamilton Swansboro Beaufort Jacksonville Tarboro Belhaven Leachville Washington Camden Murfreesboro Elizabeth City Castle Hayne Oriental Edenton i Pollocksville Bath pec Plymouth Baunnerman’s Bridge Currituck Snow Hill (Pender County) ANALYSIS OF STATE PORT TERMINAL SITES (The Questionnaire below was sent out and information secured as pre- sented in the following pages.) 1. Type of traffic port will serve—inland waterway, coastal, foreign. 2. Probable type and draft of vessel that will use the port’s terminals. 3. Geographic and strategic location of port with reference em tion with other U. S. ports in the carrying trade, to its va ag or inland-waterway transportation, and to its accessibility to any distances from areas to be served, and commerce and tonnage passing through the port. . Depth and width of channel to port as recommended by U. 8S. War Department and actual controlling depth. Depth of water and width of channel at location offered to State for site of terminals, and whether extensive dredging necessary. i i si F mé yering space . Dimensions and depth of anchorage basin, and of maneuvering sp opposite site. . Mean rise and fall of tide in feet at site. i S surrents opposite . Maximum and average speeds of ebb and flood cu pp site. . Protection of port against damage by storms. . Accessibility of port for ships that will be called to it, i. * eee from sea, relative pilotage consideration, feasibility ft) ages or leaving port day or night, necessity of waiting favorable tida currents for docking or undocking, or other possible delays. Location and description of site offered—length of water frontage, depth of land back of pierhead line for purposes of switching, freight car storage, warehouses, etc., and terms under which site is offered. 2. Accessibility of site to centers of base-products; population, local " “‘narkets, distribution, banking, communications, labor, housing, ? coal, water and food supplies, ete. 42 Report or tue State Suir anp 13. Provisions offered as to use and control of belt-line railroad serving the State-port site—whether private owned, by R. R. Co., or whether offered to State at reasonable price. 14. Summary of railroad lines and facilities enterin g the city and area these R. R. Lines serve. 15, Summary of State-developed motor roads entering the city. (a) SOUTHPORT 1. Southport can be developed to serve ocean traffic (foreign and coastal) and inland-waterway traffic. 2. Probable types of vessels that will use this port are all vessels gen- erally used for inland-waterway, coastal and foreign service up to and including ocean-going vessels of about 28-feet draught. 3. The geographic and strategic situation of Southport may be esti- mated as follows: (a) Distance from Norfolk, the nearest great port to northward, 260 miles. (b) Distance from Charleston, the nearest port to southward, 175 miles. (c) Looms geographically as a feasible North Carolina location for convergence of foreign, coastal and inland-waterway traffic with traffic of middle west and North Carolina points except those within the immediate sphere of Norfolk. In this connection, the whole lower Cape Fear River from Wilmington to Southport can be visioned as one great port. (d) It is far enough south of Norfolk to avoid a too-direct competition with that great port, and to effectively serve the developing terri- tory of North Carolina and the far inland it with. (e) Comparative distance to areas of northern Europe, Mediterranean, West Indies, South America, and the Orient and west coasts of the Americas represented by the five foreign key ports, are as follows: QUARANTINE STATION n areas its routes connect CASWELL FORT w : New Balti- lorfolk | South- | Charles- | Jackson- New Boston York more Norfolk port ton ville Orleans | } OUTHPORT N.C. Liverpool______ 2,938 | 3,107 | 3,393 3,272 | 3,448 | 3,540 | 3,692 4,613 Gibraltar -| 3,028 | 3,183 | 3,490 | 3,369 | 3,503 3,595 | 3,764 4,593 Havanna T4315: { 1,227.| 1, 307 985 744 646 528 603 2,157 | 1,974 | 1,901 | 1,779 | 1,590 1,564 | 1,516 1,390 5,842 | 5,871 | 5,945 | 5,824 | 5,782 | 5.829 5,841 6,281 9,822 SITE FOR STATE TERMINALS Zoves WRM 1924 PROPOSED (f) For traffic with South America, West Indies, and Panama Canal, Southport has a more favorable location, considering distance, than Norfolk. For northern European and Mediterranean traffic, it is from one-half to three-quarters of a day farther than Norfolk. “MI AND VICINITY SCALE LOCATING WHERE THE RAILS MEET THE SAILS- S Warer TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION 43 ég) For southern traffic it offers freedom from the dangers of the shoals of Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout, with consequent decrease in ocean insurance rates over those on cargoes bound to and from northern U. S. Ports. (h) The Cape Fear River and Cape Fear River northeast branch afford inland-waterway transportation from Southport to Fayetteville, (Castle Hayne). (j) The coastal inland-waterway, when completed, will enter the Cape Fear River about 10 miles above Southport to contribute water- borne commodities to and from Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, Pamlico River, Neuse River, Core Sound, Bogue Sound, and New River. 4, QOnannet: The recommendations of the U. 8S. Army Engineers eall for a channel 30 feet in depth at mean low water, 400 feet wide, up the Cape Fear River. The present depth is 26 feet at mean low water with a channel width of 125 to 400 feet on the bar, widening to about 1,500 feet off Southport. 5. Opposite the site offered, and distance about 500 feet, 20 feet of water is found deepening rapidly to 32 feet. The channel at this point is about 1,200 feet in width. The amount of dredging to gain depth of water necessary for an ocean ship to lie alongside a pier par- allel to the river would not be considerable if long piers were to be built out to the deep water. If piers at right angle to the river front were built, a great amount of dredging would be necessary. No estimate of this has been ascertained. 6. The anchorage and maneuvering basin is directly opposite the site offered and opposite the town of Southport. It is approximately 6,000 feet long, 1,600 feet wide at its southern end and 1,100 feet wide at its northern end. 7. The average rise and fall of tide is 4 feet; the extreme range of tides is 6 1/2 feet. 8. The strength of the ebb current is from 5 to 6 miles per hour, and the flood current from 3 to 4 miles per hour. 9. The port is well protected against damage by the ocean. There is little protection from a full sweep of wind from approximately E. N. E. to S. W. 10. The port is readily accessible at all times of the day and night for ocean vessels drawing 24 feet of water. This assumes tidal and sea conditions such as to allow a vessel of that draught to cross the bar. Vessels of a draught of 26 1/2 feet have entered on a flood tide. In fog, heavy rains, etc., the usual tie-up of navigation would be expected. The river from the sea to Southport is well buoyed, and is marked with a modern system of ranges, beacons and lights. Pilotage fees for a large, well-laden vessel will average about 2 1/2 cents per ton of cargo, or a little more than one-tenth of a cent for each 100 lbs. Docking, undock- ing, and maneuvering of large ships can be done only near the times of slack water when the current is less than 2 knots per hour. 44 Report oF THE State SHIP AND 11, According to our recollection, Mr. Allen, who owns 600 or more acres of land joining the built-up portion of Southport upstream with a river frontage of about one and a half miles tendered to the State of North Carolina free of cost 100 acres of this land and placed no limita- tion as to the amount of water frontage selected by the State. The remainder of his land or so much thereof as may be desired by the State can be purchased at a reasonable price per acre. The part usually con- sidered as the best of this tract is what is known as Deep Water Point, about opposite to the U. S. Quarantine Station wharves. The shore at this part rises to a height of not less than ten feet and continues to rise gradually to a height of 30 feet less than a mile from the shore line. The soil is sandy but firm. This tender on the part of Mr. Allen, the owner, was made directly to the Commission by his agent, and was filed with the Commission. This official tender must be consulted and relied on rather than any statement made herein. There was also filed with the Commission at the time of hearing of the Southport brief some blue prints of this property showing its location, etc., and also showing drawings of a port development complete with railroad trackage, etc., etc., which will give desired information far better than we can state same. From the very nature of the case these must be relied on for information, since the transfer of property is involved. (Southport Chamber of Commerce, January 7, 1924.) 12. Accessibility of site to base products, population, local markets, distribution, banking, communications, labor, housing, coal, water and food supplies, ete. Southport does not possess east and west trunk line contact with areas which can ship to it in competition with Norfolk, Savannah, and Jacksonville, the necessary bulk cargo to make it a port of frequent ship-sailings for satisfactory service. It has a railroad which connects it with Navassa. “Bulk cargo” contemplates such commodities as grain, coal, meats, cotton, tobacco, lumber, oil, machinery, and articles of quantity production. Southport’s population is about 1,700; local market is practically non existent; distribution, banking, communica- tions, labor, housing, and coal, water and food supplies are such as any small town with little or no commerce can provide. 13. There is no belt line railroad on or serving the site. 14. The Wilmington, Brunswick and Southern Railway is a single- track road 30 miles long from Southport to Navassa, connecting at Navassa with the Atlantic Coast Line Railway leading to the southward. By switching at Wilmington it can be put in physical connection with the Seaboard and Yadkin Valley Railroad belonging to the A. C. L. 15. A State motor road from Southport connects with the road lead- ing westerly from Wilmington to Lumberton, Rockingham, Charlotte, and Asheville. Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION (b) WILMINGTON 1. Wilmington can serve ocean traffic (foreign and coastal), and inland-waterway traflic. 2. Probable types of vessel that will use this port are all vessels gen- erally used for inland-waterways, coastal, and foreign service up to and including ocean-going vessels of about 28 feet draught. 3. The geographic and strategic situation of Wilmington may be estimated as follows: TERMINAL SITE DONATED TO STATE Compiled in the office of J.L.Becton,CE ——. NORTH CAROLINA. care FEAR COUNTRY cLug (a) Distance from Norfolk, the nearest port to northward 290 miles. (b) Distance from Charleston, the nearest port to southward, 205 miles. (c) Looms geographically as a very feasible North Carolina location for convergence of foreign, coastal, and inland-waterway traffic with traffic of middle west and North Carolina points except those within the immediate sphere of Norfolk. (d) It is far enough south of Norfolk to avoid a too-direct competition with that great port, and to effectively serve the developing terri- tory of North Carolina and the far inland areas its routes con- nect it with. (e) Comparative distances to areas of northern Europe, Mediterranean, West Indies, South America, and the Orient, or the west coasts of the Americas, represented by the five foreign key ports, are as follows: SSS Wilming-| Charles-| Jackson-| New ton ton ville Orleans | i Liverpool 3,107 | 3,393 | 3,272 | 3, 3,540 | 3,692 | 4,613 Gibraltar 28 | 3'183 | 3,490 | 3,369 | 3,526 | 3,595 | 3,764 | 4,593 1,227 | 1,107| § 646 | 528 6038 1,974 | 1,901 613 | 1,564 | 1,516 1,390 5,871 | 5,945 5,822 | 5,841 6,281 cemetery CEMETERY BELLEVUE \ PINE FOREST CEMETERY (f) For traffic with South America, West Indies, and Panama Canal, Wilmington has a more favorable location, considering distance, than Norfolk. For Mediterranean and northern European traffic it is from one-half to three-quarters of a day’s run farther than Norfolk. A U. S. Customs House is establishd at this port. For southern traffic, it offers freedom from the dangers of shoals of Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout with consequent decrease in ocean insurance rates over those on cargoes bound to and from northern U. S. Ports. By virtue of an _ established business community, agencies for ocean trade, and of a feasible location, it provides some of the fundamentals necessary for beginning the development within a reasonable time of satisfactory water service between North Carolina and its contributory areas and New York, Boston, Phila- delphia, and Baltimore. (i) It is 23 miles farther inland toward competitive rail routes than the next best North Carolina location. Rail hauls are conse- quently shortenend by that amount, the water haul being much the cheaper. OAKDALE L] 5 ATLANTIC COAST LINE RR COS UPPER anos, Sf Report or tux Stare Sup anp (j) The follow Fear Riv branch (to Castle Hayne and Baunnerman’s Bridge). (k) The coastal Cape Fear Ri Pamlico River, Neuse River, River. (1) The tonnage of commodities shipped to or from W (m) It is a fresh water port. (n) It is closer to the western and middle part of the State, as repre- sented by Greensboro and Salisbury than any other North Caro- lina seaport. 4. CuanneL: The recommendations of the U. S. call for a channel 30 feet in depth at me mean low water, the width of the channel is 300 fee 125 to 400 feet on the ocean bar. 5. One hundred feet from and opposite port-terminal, the channel depth is 26 feet r It is estimated that $20,000 worth of dre along the front of the site to accommodate all types of ships. 6. The anchorage and maneuvering basin is end, and 900 feet wide at its northern end. 7. The average rise and fall of tide is 2.5 feet, the extreme range of tides is 4 feet. 8. The strength of the ebb current is about two miles of the flood current 1.5 miles per hour. 9. The port is well protected against damage by storm due to its situation on a river 30 miles from the sea. 10. The port is readily accessible at all times of the day or night for ocean vessels drawing 24 feet of water. This assumes sea and tidal conditions such as to allow a vessel of that draught to cross the bar. Ves- sels of a draught of 26 1/2 feet have been taken to Wilmington on a flood tide. In fog, heavy rains, etc., the usual tie-up of navigation could be expected. The river from the sea to Wilmington is well buoyed, and is marked with a modern system of ranges, beacons and lights. Pilotage fees for a large, well-laden vessel will average about 4 1/4 cents per ton of cargo, less than one-fifth of a cent for each 100 Ibs. Docking, undocking, and maneuvering of ships can be ac at nearly any stage of the tide and with minimum cogs assistance due to comparatively low current velocities, 11. Wilmington offers to the State of North Carolina without cost the site of the Liberty Shipyard. The stipulation is that the State shall erect and operate port-terminal facilities, The site is in the southern complished t for tow-boat ing inland waterways converge at Wilmington: Cape er (to Fayetteville) and Cape Fear River northeast inland waterway, when completed, will enter the ver 13 miles below Wilmington to contribute water- borne commodities to and from Albemarle Sound, Pamlico Sound, Core Sound, Bogue Sound, and New ilmington during the fiscal year 1923 were greater than that of any other North Carolina port, amounting to 714,861 tons, valued at $54,867,080. Army Engineers an low water, 400 feet wide, from the sea to Wilmington. The present actual depth is 26 feet at t in the river and the site offered for a State apidly deepening to 28 feet. dging will give a suitable depth directly opposite the site offered. This basin is 2,000 feet long, 1,100 feet wide at its southern per hour, and bs AY Water TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION : ec sonia ih part of the city. It comprises 42 1/2 acres with a river ey : 00 than’ ions ¢é é an 1,000 feet. Further river-frontage extensions can be rege e sh ; 3 by 1 > Ss a 1 € ¢ runs back about 1,200 feet from the pier-head line, as ers an ¢ ri ie i f rminé ording space i é “ate-size ocean terminal, a well suited for a moderate-s al, ere ce special piers, or one long pier parallel to the river, warehouses, ; a 4 : - M ry) 2y 1VeEsaaTry ) r Ss rs) € sheds, switching, and freight-car yard and cing Sag | pa phe a ' < is site © ore Vé i iver fronts 7 ake this site of m terminal. A longer river frontage would mak as an effective State port-terminal. biel 12. Wilmington does not possess an east and west pee Aes tact with areas which can ship to it in competition ie . ss whe ny < carg ake it a port Savannah, and Jacksonville the necessary bulk es : se tg nd P > r 2 oat 2A © ' Ss : > of frequent ship-sailings for satisfactory service, alt co i ia Chee ; ‘ « “ ay North arn. favorably served by rail and motor roads than any : ner } we “ niger, ? emplates such commodities as 1 i sargo” contemplates s lina coast location. “Bulk carg . Poe 7 ; é sry, and articles i ats, © ace iber, oil, machinery, a grain, coal, meats, cotton, tobacco, lun =, Ot, -pronggee Bercy sn of quantity production. |Wilmington’s — 101 = jdm d . . t - » se P R s a i anks, ¢@ ations, Customs House, established banks, communications, ae shipping agencies, local markets, and competing rail price 4 z : 4 , — > > "Oo nO >» 1 Ss C , g He- coal, water and food supplies—all provide the requiremer vile $ operative effort to develop a port-of-call at this location at ¢ arly date. , ‘ee Petia tS 13. The belt-line railroad, serving the site offered to the co "ype 4 7 r Power any, leasec port-terminals, is owned by the Tidewater Power Company, € aks poe ; q > ' 2 sw i the A. C. L. Ry. for 16 years—four years to come. There i no he eri 4 A . > y al YY re roads have ing charge to and from the site by the owners. aia per se s : x 0 rate SW1tC r charge wne ine, ¢ absorb a moderate switching charg use of the belt line, and must ab: poe one using it. The use of this line must be open to all parties on eque terms, and control to that effect be instituted. ds as 14. The following railroad lines converge at Wilmington: oti Yew Bern (a) Atlantic Coast Line from New Bern, connecting at New Bert i and Southern. ee (b) cake posse prem from Wilson and Goldsboro, Agere Fm Goldsboro with the Southern (to Raleigh, Durham, Greens 2 petro ahh Line from Sanford and Fayetteville, ig rpe-oeian Bae Sanford with the Southern, (to Greensboro, Salisbury, Ashev ille.) (d) Atlantic Coast Line from Columbia, 8. oP ae chat ere vsti (e) Wilmington, Brunswick & Southern as sp ey oe — ~ (f) Seaboard Air Line from Bostic and Char ot KS -_ oe Bostic with the Carolina, Clinchfield and oe ous i direct connection with the coal fields of Pennyanee and Ken me ; and the industrial and agricultural sections of the middle west. 15. The following State-developed motor roads radiate from this 5. } g vt city: f ; sterly). ilmi n to New Bern (northeasterly : tet Sinise to Goldsboro, Wilson, Rocky Mount and Weldon (northerly). Salem (northwesterly) ‘ (d) Wilmington to Lumberton, Rockingham, Charlotte and Asheville (c) FAYETTEVILLE 1. Fayetteville can serve inland-waterway trafic, 2. The probable types of vessel that will use this port are all vessels generally used for inland-waterway service up to a draught of 7 feet. time the controlling low water depths between Until the project of 8 feet ig com- can be depended on for all-year navi- The geographic and strategic situ ation of Fayetteville may be estimated as follows: m, No. 1, are located at King’s Bluff, 39 miles from Wilmington, its lift being 8 feet. Lock and Dam, No. 2, is situate at Br 71 miles from Wilmington, its lift S of these locks are 200 feet by 40 immediate area by affording cheap products and for its own im- rt. situated Stategically for cheap he ocean port. For such trans- portation it has no Port within a reasonable distance with which it will have to compete. (f) By virtue of an esta) location it provides port of ocean shipment. (g) The development of this city inland-waterway will be dependent primarily on the deepening of the navigable river to a depth of at least 8 feet. Until this be done, no such develop- ment can reasonably be expected. Army Engineers eall for Imington to Fayetteville. e 7 feet from Wilmington to Lock etteville, The controlling low water depths ar No. 1, five feet to Lock No. 2, and 2% feet to Fay 8 49 Water TRANSPORTATION ComMIssION 5. Fayetteville has never offered a site to the = pidbeolyaet yA ment of a State port-terminal. The channel Nae 8 bcos boberten sufficient, however, at or near the foot of Russell ep a een to dock at that point, provided the river depth of 8 feet « i “gree e in the river will be somewhat impracticable. The iti eke ase is sufficient, however, for river boats to maneuver i near the terminal site. is : ete cae ranges from 21 feet at henge wi wea Disab Lock No. 1, King’s Bluff. The extreme io - age soem foot at Wilmington and 1.5 foot at King’s rigs Nes ayy Wp variation due to floods ranges from 70 feet at Fayettev bi ap Fayetteville to about 45 miles below, pail pak stream are high and the stream narrow, causing ® _ LAaireG 0 rise, amounting occasionally to 55 or 60 feet at : ned cx Bings water stages prevail about three months of the _ co oan very rapid on the upper section and sluggish on t “ _—. ort i edliass cme ae ae a cae ty digat should be 7 river. The port, when de obta tenet le age kee at all tas of the day or night ot ey ee Hoang iat a page ag EE pec gh some le- navigation would be expected. would ups: rite ga by buoys and lighted beacons. ae ee sci charged. Docking and undocking of river vessels wy trad proir plished at any time except during abnormal grate 8) — and it is believed that even this condition will not adversely ¢ ion t ious extent. O50. Fasano te not offered to the State any site for a State - inal. ; 4 wie Vato is well served with rail, opr fey h sired aod ting it in direct contact with areas which can ship to : high re for further shipment by water to either a er Saat arcane ocean port. Its ree of 9,000, oi er ga Seeaaue cations, labor, housing, shipping age » loc le 1 Bi i : its coal, water and food supplies all provide the fe abt sy palin effort to develop nv port as one of North Carolina’s most important inland-waterway ports. 12. There is no belt-line railroad for consideration. i, 13. The following railroad lines converge at Fayetteville: (a) Atlantic Coast Line from Weldon, Wilson , — (b) The Norfolk-Southern from Raleigh and Li geo pias (c) Atlantic Coast Line from Sanford connecting wi e sboro. - (a) pitas nary pi Rockfish from Aberdeen and Raeford, connecting Report or Tue State Sure anp with the main line of the Seaboard Air Line at Aberdeen and connecting with the Southern from Charlotte and with the L. & S. railroad at Raeford. (e) The Atlantic Coast Line from Bennettsville and Maxton. (f) The Atlantic Coast Line to Florence, S. C., and Sumter, S. C. (g) The V. & C. S. from Marion, S. C., and Lumberton, N. C., and branching at St. Pauls to Elizabethtown. (h) The Atlantic Coast Line to Wilmington. The following State-developed motor roads radiate from Fayetteville: g I . (a) Fayetteville to Clinton and Wilmington (easterly). (b) Fayetteville to Smithfield and Wilson (northeasterly). (c) Fayetteville to Raleigh (northerly—branching at Lillington to Sanford and Greensboro—northeasterly ). (d) Fayetteville to Raeford, Rockingham, Charlotte and Asheville (westerly). (e) Fayetteville to Lumberton (southerly). (f) Fayetteville to Elizabethtown and Whiteville (southerly). (d) MOREHEAD CITY 1. Morehead City can serve inland waterway traffic. It may pos- sibly be developed for ocean, coastal traffic. 2. Probable types of vessels that will use this port are all vessels used for inland waterway traffic up to and including a draught of 9 feet. If this port should ever be developed for ocean, coastal traffic, ocean types of vessels would be used of a draught depending on the depth of water maintained on the bar and in the harbor by the U. 8S. Army Engineers. 3. Geographic and strategic situation of Morehead City may be estimated as follows: (a) Distance from Norfolk, the nearest large port to northward 210 miles. (b) Distance from Wilmington, nearest large port to southward 80 miles. (c) Morehead City is situate at the eastern end of Bogue Sound, opposite Beaufort Inlet, which opens into the Atlantic Ocean. The 12-foot inland waterway canal connecting the Neuse River to Beaufort Inlet terminates at Morehead City. Water connec- tion from this point is also had with Beaufort and Core Sound. (d) Looms geographically as a very feasible North Carolina location for convergence of inland waterway traffic with traffic from the eastern and south-eastern sections of North Carolina. (e) It can effectively serve its immediate area by affording cheap water transportation for its products and for its imports to whatever seaport, Wilmington or Norfolk, it is desired to ship through. (f) By virtue of an established business community, agencies for inland waterway trade, and a feasible location, it provides some of the fundamentals necessary for the development, within a rea- sonable time, of Satisfactory water service between this section of North Carolina and the desired port of ocean shipment. TERMINAL| SITE DONATED TO STATE ner? band dunes CAPE LOOKOUT HARBOR OF REFUGE AT CAPE LOOKOUT MOREHEAD CITY, BEAUFORT AND Water Transportation Commission 51 (g) It is in direct water touch with Norfolk and points on Albe marle Sound and the Chowan River, points on Pamlico Sound, Pamlico River, Tar River and Core and Bogue Sounds. (h) It now has regular water lines operating between Norfolk, Va. and New Bern, N. C. (i) For the years 1917 to 1921 inclusive the boat commerce of More- head City averaged as follows: 1. General commerce 16,833 tons, valued at $1,305,812. 2. Passengers carried per year from 1917 to 1921 inclusive 10,800. 3. Timber rafted and towed in 1921, 3,000 tons, valued at $12,000. The controlling depth of water connecting the eastern end of Bogue Sound with the Atlantic ocean through Beaufort Inlet is 14 feet which is found on the ocean bar, Just inside the bar and opposite Fort Macon a depth of from 30 to 35 feet is found and opposite the wharf near the railroad draw bridge at Morehead City 23 feet of water is found. (k) The coastal inland waterway, when completed to Cape Fear River, will place Morehead City in direct water touch with Wilmington or its ocean port and for further inland waterway traffic as far as Fayetteville. 4. Cuannet: Recommendations of U. 8. Army Engineers call for a channel 10 feet deep at mean low water, beginning at a point 2,000 feet westward of Beaufort harbor and extending to the wharves of Morehead City for a distance of 3,800 feet, the lower 2,800 feet having a width of 100 feet and the upper 1,000 feet a width of 200 feet. The controlling depth at mean low water at present is 10 feet. 5. Opposite the site offered for a State port-terminal the channel depth is 23 feet, the channel width 200 feet. Only slight dredging is necessary. 6. The dimensions and depth of the maneuvering space opposite the site are 500 feet wide by 2,500 feet long, 23 feet to 36 feet in depth. An anchorage basin exists to the southward of this with an average width of 600 feet and a length of 4,500 feet, with depths of from 27 to 29 feet. Opposite Fort Macon there is an anchorage averaging 900 feet wide and approximately 4,500 feet in length, with depths of from 21 to 24 feet. 7. The average rise of tide is 2.5 feet. One year’s observations show that the extreme range of tides is greatly affected by winds. 8. Tidal currents in Morehead City harbor are very slight. Just outside the harbor and out to Beaufort Inlet the ebb current will aver- age from 3 to 4 miles per hour and the flood current will average from 2 to 3 miles per hour. 9. The port is well protected against damage by the ocean. There is little protection from a full sweep of wind from approximately E. 8. E. through south to W. S. W. 10. The port is readily accessible at all times of the day or night for inland waterway vessels drawing 8 feet of water. Vessels of greater draught can be taken in or out of the harbor under favorable conditions. 52 Report or THE State SHIP anp In fogs, heavy rains, ete., the usual tie-up of navigation is to be ex- pected. The channel is well marked by buoys and lighted beacons. Pilotage fees are charged only for passage over Beaufort bar. Dock- ing and undocking in Morehead City harbor can be accomplished in any stage of the current due to the low current velocities. 11. A location exists at Morehead City, privately owned, but which, it is stated, can be acquired at a “nominal price,” which would be suit- able for an inland waterway terminal. This site has a usable frontage on the Newport River channel of about 500 feet. The land runs back and to the westward to this river frontage for about 1,500 feet and offers an area well suited for a moderate size inland waterway terminal, affording space for piers, warehouses, transit sheds, switching and freight-car yard and other necessary parts of the terminal. The water frontage on Bogue Sound cannot be developed for wharves unless an extensive amount of dredging is done, there being less than one foot of water immediately to the southward of this site for a distance of ap- proximately 600 feet. 12. Morehead City is well served with water routes, putting it in direct contact with areas which can ship to it products for water transportation to either the consuming area or to a point for ocean shipment. Its population of 3,000, its established banks, communications labor, housing, shipping agencies, local markets, rail route; and its coal, water and food supplies—all provide the requirements for de- veloping a major inland waterway port at this location at an early date. 13. No belt line railroad exists at this site. 14. Morehead City is served by a single-track railroad, the Norfolk- Southern Railway, which runs from Beaufort through Morehead City to New Bern, and further connects there as described in the town of New Bern. 15. A State highway, at present not fully developed, connects Morehead City with New Bern. Nore—Information is furnished by the Chamber of Commerce that a depth of twenty feet is now authorized, and that the district engineer has indicated that this depth will be provided in case adequate public terminal facilities are provided at Morehead City. (e) CAPE LOOKOUT HARBOR OF REFUGE 1. Cape Lookout Harbor of Refuge can serve ocean traffic, foreign and coastal. 2. Probable types of vessels that will use this port are all steam and sail vessels generally used for ocean traffic up to and including a draught of 35 feet. 3. The geographic and strategic situation of Cape Lookout Harbor of Refuge may be estimated as follows: Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION 53 (a) Distance from Norfolk, the nearest port to northward 200 miles. (b) Distance from Wilmington, the nearest large port to southward, 70 miles. : : (c) Looms geographically as a feasible North Carolina location for a harbor of refuge only and for such emergency traffic of coal, water, and shipstores as may be needed by vessels of deep draft which put in there out of their regular routes. : (d) It is far enough south of Norfolk to avoid a too direct compe- tition with that great port were it to be considered for develop- ment as a North Carolina ocean traffic port. (e) Rail hauls from middle west and from the western and central portions of North Carolina would be longer to this location than to any other seaport of North Carolina. ; : (f) There is no established community at this point except Coast Guard, Naval and Lighthouse stations. i i (g) No inland-waterway can be brought to this location without ex- tensive dredging of many miles. Reshipment by rail for one or two miles would be necessary for goods brought to this loca- tion or for goods brought to this location by inland-water trans- portation. , Me (h) It would be very hard to obtain fresh water in any quantities at this location. 4. Cnannet: The Congress of the United States has appropriated moneys for the construction of a breakwater projecting from Cape Lookout in such a way as to increase the size of the harbor of refuge and to give additional protection from the sea. The breakwater is now about 53% completed. There is a depth of 40 feet of water behind this nearly completed section of the breakwater. The approach to the harbor of refuge is deep water of from 45 to 50 feet. 5. No site has been offered the State for a terminal. 6. The whole of Cape Lookout harbor of refuge is available as an anchorage and maneuvering basin. sai 7. The mean range of tide is 3.7 feet. Automatic tide gauge read- ings of over three years show 7.9 feet as the extreme range of tides. 8. Slight wind and tide currents have no appreciable effect on an- chorage or maneuvering. 9. The port is well protected against damage by ocean waves due to the form of the land and to the ocean breakwater built by the Army Engineers. It is exposed to the full sweep of winds from nearly all quarters. Holding ground is hard sand with sticky mud in places. 10. The port is readily accessible at all times of the day or night for ocean vessels drawing 35 feet of water or less. In fogs, heavy rains, ete., vessels would be required to navigate very cautiously in attempt- ing to enter the harbor of refuge. There are no pilotage fees, There are no docks for ocean ships. 11. No site has been offered to the State for port terminal. 12. Cape Lookout harbor of refuge is not accessible to centers of base products. It has no population, local markets, banks, labor, hous- ing, coal, water or food supplies. 54 Report oF THE StTaTE SHIP AND 13. There is no belt line railroad at Cape Lookout. 14. There are no railroad lines or facilities at Cape Lookout or on this strip of land, the nearest railroad being the single-track line of the Norfolk and Southern, which terminates at Beaufort. If Cape Lookout harbor of refuge were ever to be developed as a port of any consequence it would necessitate the extension of this railroad a great distance over the waters and marshes between Beaufort and Shackle- ford Banks and thence to Cape Lookout. 15. There are no roads at Cape Lookout. (f) NEW BERN 1.. New Bern can serve inland waterway traffic. 2. Probable types of vessel that will use this port are all vessels generally used for inland waterway service up to a draft of 10 feet. 3. The geographic and strategic situation of New Bern may be estimated as follows: (a) Distance from Norfolk, the nearest great, port to the northward is 170 miles by rail. (b) Distance from Wilmington, N. C., the nearest large port to the southward, is 87 miles by rail. (c) New Bern is on the upper ranges of the Neuse river, which empties into the southern end of Pamlico Sound. A 12-foot inland waterway canal connects it with Morehead City and Beaufort Inlet. (d) Looms geographically as a very feasible North Carolina location for convergence of inland waterway traffic from the central-eas- tern sections of North Carolina. (e) It can effectively serve its immediate area by affording cheap water transportation for its products and for its imports, to whatever seaport, Norfolk or Wilmington, it is desired to ship through. By virtue of an established business communuity, agencies for inland waterway trade, and feasible location, it provides some of the fundamentals necessary for the development within a reasonable time of satisfactory water service between this sec- tion of North Carolina and the desired port of ocean shipment. (g) It is in direct water touch with Norfolk, all points on Albemarle Sound and the Chowan river, points on Pamlico Sound, Pamlico River, Tar River, and Core and Bogue Sounds. (h) It now has regular water lines operating between New Bern and North Harlowe, Oriental, Beaufort, Morehead City and Swan Quarter. Wighty-five per cent of the total commerce on i the Neuse river is over that portion of the stream below New Bern. AG mr. ff 3] Approximately one-third of this commerce is lumber shipped by WZ = | Mey sal the inland waterway as far North as Camden, N. J., in barges of 4

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As early as 1815 attention was focussed on east and west transportation routes when a canal to connect the Cape Fear River with the Yadkin River was favorably reported to the Legislature. In 1832, the Cape Fear and Yadkin Railroad was chartered for the pur- pose of connecting these two rivers by rail. Both projects encountered insurmountable obstacles and had to be abandoned. At this time, Wilmington was an important sea port and F ayette- ville, situated at the head of navigation on the Cape Fear River, was an important commercial center. To reach these natural arteries of commerce, plank roads were established west through the state which were used for several generations by stage and wagon trains to carry com- merce to and from the middle and western portions of North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and western Virginia. This was thenj the only feas- ible and the natural outlet for the commerce of this section. With the growth of the transportation net in North Carolina, this commerce has shifted north and south. The Western Railroad, later changed to the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley, was chartered on February 24, 1852, for the purpose of con- necting the mineral deposits of the Deep River section in the counties of Moore and Chatham with navigable water on the Cape Fear River. Soon after the organization of the company, the town of Fayetteville and the county of Cumberland subscribed to $100,000 each in capital stock. The State purchased $600,000 worth of bonds under acts of the Leg- islature passed in 1858 and 1861. This purchase by the State was made in order to enable the Western Railroad to extend its line to Greensboro and connect with the North Carolina Railroad. In 1866, these bonds were exchanged for capital stock. -The following year, an additional subscription of $500,000 was made. This last subscription was paid for with Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad Company second mortgage bonds. The State later agreed to take these bonds back, but before the exchange could be made, the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford went into bankruptcy and was sold to satisfy the first mortgage bonds. Thus, these bonds became a total loss to the Western Railroad Company. In 1879 the name of the company was changed to the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway Company. Legislative authority was given rh, — = < IN OTHER STATES PART IV | a) A REVIEW OF WHAT IS BEING DONE IN OTHER STATES INTRODUCTION é As a fitting introduction to the appended list of publicly owned facili- 2. Portland, Maine. ) ties, the following is pertinent, being from H. B. 109, 67th Congress, 1st Session : A REVIEW OF WHAT IS BEING DONE IN OTHER STATES 1. Introduction. 3. Boston, Massachusetts. 4, Providence, Rhode Island. . Philadelphia, Pennsylvama. . Baltimore, Maryland. . Norfolk, Virgimia. . Savannah, Georgia. . Charleston, South Carolina. . Jacksonville, Florida. . Pensacola, Florida. . Mobile, Alabama. . New Orleans, Louisiana. . Houston, Texas. . San Diego, Califorma. . Los Angeles, Califorma. . San Francisco, Califorma. . Portland, Oregon. . Tacoma, Washington. . Seattle, Washington. . Policy of Public Ownership. “very United States Port should own its own water front, and this should be controlled by a port authority composed of business men who have an intelligent grasp of the export and import business and who are willing to devote sufficient time to the subject. These should be appointed without regard to political affiliations, and should take the broad view that the port is the property of the people at large, and that the provision of the best facilities will promote quicker ship dis- patch, attract more ships, and thus enlarge the commerce of the port; that while the port terminal should be self supporting, the charges should be adjusted to produce this result, without injury to business, and that the growth of the port will mean the growth of the city and increased material prosperity to the individuals of the city and state. THOSE STATES WHICH HAVE ONLY ONE MAN PORTS SHOULD IN PARTICULAR EXERT THEMSELVES TO DEVELOP THEM ALONG THE MOST MODERN LINES, AND THE FIRST STEP IN THIS DIRECTION IS THE APPOINTMENT OF A COMPETENT PORT AUTHORITY.” And further, in the River and Harbor act of March 2, 1919, appears the following: “It is hereby declared to be the policy of congress that water term- inals are essential to all cities and towns located upon harbors or navigable waterways, and that at least one public terminal should exist, constructed, owned and regulated by the municipality, or other public agency of the State, and open to the use of all upon equal terms, and with the view of carrying out the policy to the fullest possible extent, the Secretary of War is hereby vested with the discretion to withhold, unless the public interests would seriously suffer by delay, moneys appropriated in this act for new projects adopted herein, or for the further improvement of existing projects, if, in his opinion, no water terminals exist adequate for the traffic, and open to all on equal terms, or unless satisfactory assurances are received that local or other interests will provide such adequate terminal or terminals.” In an order of the Interstate Commerce Commission issued on March 4, 1924, the following principle is laid down: “The fourth section of the interstate commerce act provides in part that upon application to the commission, common carriers may, in special cases, after investigation, be authorized by the commission Rerort or THE State SHip AND to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for the trans- portation of passengers or property, but that the commission shall not permit the establishment of any charge to or from the more distant point that is not reasonably compensatory for the service performed; and if a circuitous rail line or route is, because of such circuity, granted authority to meet the charges of a more direct line or route, to or from competitive points and to maintain higher charges to or from intermediate points on its line the authority shall not include intermediate points as to which the haul of the peti- tioning line or route is not longer than that of the direct line or route between the competitive points; and no such authorization shall be granted on account of merely potential water competition not actually in existence.” Following are some of the places that have developed to a considerable extent and are in many cases continuing to vote bonds and spend millions in the further development of the ports, which is evidence of the satis- faction of the people in their venture and which would seem, after all, the best test of what is in their opinion at least, “good for them.” (2) PORTLAND, MAINE The State of Maine in 1917 appropriated $1,235,000.00 for the con- struction of a state-owned terminal at Portland. The cities of Portland and South Portland donated a site at a cost of $340,000. The experience in this development is so recent that the details of the experience as re- lated in two letters, under date of February 18th and March 21st, 1924, respectively, which have been received from the Chairman of the Port Commission, may prove interesting: “Am very glad to give you a summary of the results up to date of our State Pier at Portland, Maine. As the pier is not yet entirely com- pleted, and has not been accepted by the Directors of the Port, it isa little early to expect to realize the full benefit of such development, but the results up to date have been such as to entirely justify the develop- ment and have more than met the expectations of those who conceived the plan. “Perhaps you are aware that the State has appropriated $1,235,000.00 for the building of the pier and the Cities of Portland and South Port- land purchased a site at a cost of $340,000 which they presented to the State without cost. We have built a pier 1,000 feet long and when it is completed to its full width it will be 360 feet wide. Our original plan was entirely for an ocean pier, but because of the demand from the people of our State for coastwise and transcontinental service, we com- pletely revised our plans and provided the entire east side of the Pier for ocean traffic and the west side for coastwise service. “On the east side we have one freight shed, 500 feet long and 90 feet wide, with cement asphalt floor 12 inches thick. This is of the strongest and most modern construction and is capable of holding 670 Water TRANSPORTATION CoMMISSION 127 pounds to the square foot. It is a two story shed and the upper story is devoted to the offices of the Directors of the Port and the official force, the immigration offices for this district. The lower shed on the east side is of a little lighter construction but very substantial and is 500 feet long and 60 feet wide. These sheds are connected with sub- stantial grain galleries with the Grand Trunk elevators situated at the head of our pier, having a capacity of 2,500,000 bushels and we can load grain into the steamers very readily. The pier is also equipped with the most modern and up-to-date freight handling appliances and in every way it represents the latest word in handling equipment. “The west side of our pier has been constructed especially for coast- wise business and we are now operating out of Portland a Portland- Boston passenger and freight service with fine steamers; a tri-weekly New York freight service, which will include a passenger steamer dur- ing the summer months; beginning about July 1st, we shall have a steamship service between Portland-Hastport-St. John, connecting us with the Maritime Provinces, and a day boat between Portland and Boston. A very valuable addition to our development is the Nawsco Line, operating between Portland and the Pacific Coast, via the Panama Canal. These steamers take out general cargoes of Maine products from all parts of the State and bringing back the Pacific Coast products for use in this territory. We also act as a distributing center for some portions of New Hampshire and Vermont. The business of this line of steamships has grown by leaps and bounds and has resulted in an entirely new trade relation because of it with the Pacific Coast states. Our manufacturers of shoes for instance, are able to make their pro- duct in their factory located along the water power with which our State abounds, and ship them to Portland by rail thence via the Nawsco line to California and undersell the shoe manufacturer of St. Louis, because of the water route. This is resulting in a large increase of the factories of Maine and the development of an entirely new business. We estimate that in the last year, the saving to our merchants and manufacturers on this one line alone amounted to $200,000, while a saving of freight to our industries using our New York and Boston steamship service amounted to about $80,000. You will readily realize what this means to our State and why we are well satisfied with our investment, and this is just the beginning. “Our known income from the use of the Pier will amount to about $50,000 for the year 1924. In addition to this known income there will be a very substantial amount from the use of our pier by the ocean steamship lines, which are already coming in considerable numbers. For instance, we have just finished unloading a cargo of Norwegian pulp, which will be distributed to the pulp mills in Maine, New Hamp- shire and Vermont. “We are anticipating a large movement of immigrants both American and Canadian bound, through this port and we are indeed enthusiastic over the situation and the prospect for the future. “We are very desirous of establishing a trade route between Portland and South Atlantic ports, and are already discussing with Savannah, Georgia, the establishment of such a service. I see no reason why it could not include your port and would be glad to join with you in bringing this to pass. “The writer has made a considerable study of this particular line of development for the last 30 years and is thoroughly convinced of its Report or THE Strate Sup AND possibilities as a means of developing our State.” (February 18, 1924.) “Our State Pier is now practically completed. There are a few minor details which do not amount to much but which have prevented us from accepting the entire Pier from the contractors. Undoubtedly these will be taken care of within a few days so that we can safely say that our Pier is now completed. “The fifty thousand dollar gross income for 1924 is not an antici- pated but a certain income. We are receiving weekly returns from other sources not figured in this income, and we anticipate that the receipts for 1925 will show a largely increased gross and net earning. “We have never claimed nor led our people to expect that the State Pier, as a direct revenue producer, was attractive, but have stressed from beginning to end the development of business and of the State through the use of the Pier. “All of these assurances have been more than fulfilled up to the present time, and the people of our State are becoming very much interested and enthusiastic over the Pier. At first they were inclined to be skeptical and pessimistic due to the dismal foreboding of many narrow-minded and pessimistic citizens who exist in Maine in common with other parts of the United States, but results have more than ex- ceeded anticipations and both in Portland and also in every section of our State the pessimists have become optimists and firm supporters of the State Pier. “The direct returns from the Pier in the way of income have far exceeded my own anticipation, and I have no doubt that we shall be obliged to increase our capacity and add a second and third Pier before we get through with it; Also storage warehouses both cold, warm and dry. “We are not saying anything about the possibility of paying the interest on our Bonds from our income, but the writer has no doubt whatever that this will be possible in the near future. “The Eastern Steamship Company who are operating tri-weekly ser- vice between Portland and Boston during the winter and a daily service during the summer, and who also operate a tri-weekly service to New York all the year round, and will put on a passenger steamer during the summer, have been financially very successful and have paid large dividends for many years, and are in every sense of the word a suc- cessful organization. “The Nawsco line between Portland and Pacific Coast has already developed sufficient business to make it a paying project and is grow- ing very fast. “We have within a few days loaded the first grain steamer through our new grain galleries at the State Pier, and it was a most successful operation. We loaded at the rate of six tons of grain a minute into the hold of this steamer—a Cunard Liner—completing her cargo of about 200,000 bushels in a few hours. We expect to do a very considerable overseas business both passenger and freight during the coming year. “I trust this will not in any way discourage you in your own under- takings and if you will take the trouble to confer with the leading busi- ness men and organizations, including our Chamber of Commerce of the City of Portland and the State of Maine, you will have their idea and opinion of the value of the State Pier. “A study of the Ports of our Western States including San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, and Tacoma, as well as Vancouver in British Columbia will prove conclusively that the Water Transportation ComMIssIon 129 growth and development of a State is largely dependent and keeps pace with the growth and development of port facilities.” (March 21, 1924.) “At the present time the Directors of the Port have in their treasury a balance of approximately $8,000 after all bills are paid, and we feel this is a very good showing for a new Pier as a result of the first year of its existence. (April 16, 1924).” (3) BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Under control of a board consisting of three members appointed by the Governor, and known as the Directors of the Port of Boston. The State owns three piers, two of which are located on the South Boston waterfront at East Boston. These piers have track connection with the New Haven Railroad.