{

44TH CONGRESS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( Ex. Doc. 46,
2d Session.

Part 2.

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT

ON THE

INTERNAL COMMERCE

OF THE

UNITED STATES,

BY

JOSEPH NIMMO, JR.,

CHIEF OF THE DIVISION OF INTERNAL COMMERCE,

BEING

PART SECOND OF THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CHIEF
OF THE BUREAU OF STATISTICS

ON THE

COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

FOR THE

FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1876.

WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

CONTENTS.

1. INTRODUCTION...

2. THE PRINCIPAL TRUNK RAILROADS OF THE UNITED STATES,

viz, The Grand Trunk Railway, the Central Vermont Railway, the New

York Central Railroad, the Erie Railway, the Pennsylvania Railroad,

the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad,

the Iron Mountain Railroad, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad,

the Saint Louis and Chicago Railroad, the Mobile and Ohio Railroad,

the Louisville, Nashville and Great Southern Railroad, the Virginia and

Tennessee Railroad, the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railroad, and

the important connections of these roads forming through lines between

different sections of the country....

A. THROUGH-FREIGHT LINES...

a. The Empire Transportation Company

b. Purposes for which through-freight lines have been formed................

B. CONSOLIDATION OF RAILROAD LINES

.....

3. ECONOMY OF TRANSPORT BY RAIL................................

A. CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECTING THE COST OF TRANSPORTATION BY RAIL.

a. Gradients......

B. QUESTIONS OF POLICY IN RAILROAD MANAGEMENT WHICH AFFECT

FREIGHT CHARGES..

30

a. Questions as to the establishment of freight tariffs arising from the

relative amount of freight in each direction and from considerations

as to the advisability of carrying freights which cannot be made to

yield the average cost of transportation on the road....

30

3. ECONOMY OF TRANSPORT BY RAIL-Continued.

B. QUESTIONS OF POLICY IN RAILROAD MANAGEMENT, ETC.

b. Questions of policy in the establishment of freight rates, based upon the

relations sustained by the railroads to each other and to the commerce

of the country..

4. INTERIOR WATER-LINES OF THE UNITED STATES

A. THE CANADIAN WATER-LINES.

B. THE WATER-LINE FORMED BY THE LAKES, THE ERIE CANAL, AND THE

HUDSON RIVER

I. WISCONSIN AND FOX RIVERS IMPROVEMENT.....

J. GENERAL REMARKS IN REGARD TO THE VALUE OF WATER-LINES ...

5. THE COMPETITIVE FORCES WHICH EXERT AN INFLUENCE OVER
THE INTERNAL COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES.

A. COMPETITION

B. CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH TEND TO REGULATE RAIL RATES...

C. PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES IN THE ADJUSTMENT OF COMPETITIVE RATES.

D. COMMERCIAL TRAVELERS

6. THE COMPETITIVE FORCES WHICH EXERT A CONTROLLING IN-

FLUENCE OVER THE COMMERCE BETWEEN THE WEST

AND THE SEABOARD WITH RESPECT TO THE COMMERCIAL

INTERESTS OF BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, AND

BALTIMORE ...

....

A. VARIOUS DEGREES OF COMPETITION IN THE COMMERCE BETWEEN THE

WEST AND THE SEABOARD.....

B. IMPORTANT CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE TRUNK-LINES ENGAGE IN

TRAFFIC BETWEEN THE WEST AND THE SEABOARD...........

71

C. THE COMPETITIVE INFLUENCE OF THE TRUNK-LINES AND OF THE AT-

LANTIC SEA-PORTS DIFFERS WITH RESPECT TO DIFFERENT COMMODI-

TIES

D. THE INTERESTS OF THE TRUNK-LINES AND OF THE SEABOARD CITIES

NOT ALWAYS IDENTICAL..

a. The interests of the trunk railroads are sometimes apparently at vari-

ance with the interests of their eastern termini

b. The interests of the seaboard cities are sometimes apparently at variance

with the interests of the trunk-lines...

Page.

34

36

36

37

38

38

39

39

41

41

42

42

43

43

43

44

45

46

47

59

66

6. THE COMPETITIVE FORCES WHICH EXERT A CONTROLLING IN-

FLUENCE OVER THE COMMERCE, ETC.-Continued.

E. FACTS INDICATING THE PRESENT COURSE OF TRADE BETWEEN THE

WEST AND BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, AND BALTIMORE..

F. RAILROAD WARS AND GENERAL RAILROAD MANAGEMENT

G. TERMINAL FACILITIES.

H. CONCLUDING REMARKS IN REGARD TO COMPETITION..

7. COMMERCIAL MOVEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES..

A. THE COMMERCIAL MOVEMENTS OF THE NORTHWESTERN STATES AS IL-

LUSTRATED BY THE COMMERCE ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI AND

OVER RAILROAD BRIDGES CROSSING THAT RIVER

B. DIRECT TRADE ON RAILROADS BETWEEN DISTANT POINTS IN THE

UNITED STATES ...

C. THE COMPARATIVE GROWTH OF COMMERCE ON RAILROADS AND ON

WATER-LINES

101

a. Competition between the northern water-lines and the east and west trunk

railroads

101

b. Competition between the Mississippi River and the railroads connecting

the Western and Northwestern States with the South Atlantic and Gulf

States

D. THE COMPARATIVE GROWTH OF COMMERCE ON THE LAKES AND ON THE

TRUNK RAILROADS CONNECTING the WesterN STATES WITH THE ÅT-

LANTIC SEABOARD

105

110

E. THE COMPARATIVE GROWTH OF COMMERCE ON THE ERIE CANAL AND

ON THE TRUNK RAILROADS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

114

F. THE SHIPMENT OF GRAIN FROM THE WESTERN STATES TO MONTREAL

AND TO NEW YORK CITY

119

G. THE UNITED STATES AND CANADIAN TRANSIT TRADE.

125

H. DIRECT TRADE BETWEEN INTERIOR POINTS IN THE UNITED STATES

AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES..

127

a. The direct shipment of merchandise from interior points in the United

States to Europe

129

b. The direct importation of merchandise from Europe to interior points in

the United States.....

133

I. THE RELATIVE COMMERCIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THE MOVEMENTS OF

THE COTTON-CROP OF THE UNITED STATES

137

a. The commercial characteristics of some of the more important crops of

the United States.

139