e to shippers which will soon have to be
met, and nothing can be lost, while something may be gained, by
meeting them at the outset.

We set out, then, with the proposition that the bulky products of the
West must be carried by water and not by rail, and will state a few
facts that in our humble opinion will place this proposition beyond
all cavil. So for as figures can be obtained, and correct calculations
made, it has been demonstrated that freight cannot be moved on
American railroads for less than one cent per ton per mile. This is
actually the _first cost_, even in the coal regions of Pennsylvania.
It is therefore fair to presume that the Grand Trunk, with conceded
advantages of superior and economical management, cannot move freight
at a less cost, and that the figure named will yield nothing to the
stockholders in the shape of dividend. It is true that freight has
been carried at an actual loss, and, as we are about to show, the same
thing will to some extent be done again, but if persevered in this can
only result in ruin, and no one will assert that it ought to be taken
as a legitimate basis for future calculations. It follows, then, that
$8,80 is the lowest sum for which a ton can be moved from Detroit to
Portland, the distance between the two cities being eight hundred and
eighty miles. This showing may not be relished by those most
immediately interested in the Grand Trunk Railway, nor may it be
palatable to the producers of the West, who have built high hopes on
this road as an outlet to the Atlantic, but it is useless to attempt
to shut our eyes to obvious facts. The West has for years possessed
shorter and consequently cheaper routes to the seaboard, and in winter
the cost of reaching-the Atlantic cities has always been and now is
from 100 to 200 per cent, greater by rail than during the navigation
season by the cheaper mode. This is easily proved. Let us look at the
distance by the old route by the way of Suspension Bridge:

Detroit to Suspension Bridge, is 232 miles; the Bridge to Albany, 300;
Albany to Boston 200; total 732.

Thus we see that the whole distance from Detroit to Boston is seven
hundred and thirty-two miles, or one hundred and forty-eight _less_
than from Detroit to Portland. As regards shipments from Detroit to
Boston, via the Grand Trunk, the matter is worse, for we have to add
one hundred and three miles from Portland to Boston, making the old
route two hundred and fifty-three miles