limit to the
extent of the market for finished commodities. The increase of the
tonnage of railway freight from less than 20,000,000 tons in 1860 to
almost 600,000,000 tons in 1900 is the best index of the growth of
internal trade during this period.

As the railways increased in importance, transportation on most of the
inland waterways declined. Nearly 1,700 miles of canals were abandoned
between 1860 and 1900. After 1880 there was a gradual decrease of
nearly all canal and river traffic. The Great Lakes were practically
the only inland waterway that retained an important position in
internal trade. The unusually favorable conditions prevailing for the
growth of traffic on these bodies of water enabled their commerce to
thrive and expand at a rate which compared favorably at all times with
the growth of railway traffic.

Commerce has been aptly defined as "taking things from where they are
plentiful to where they are needed." This being true, the volume of
internal commerce of any country must depend upon the number of its
people, the total volume of its production, the sectional diversity of
its products, the efficiency and cheapness of its transportation, and
the freedom from foreign competition in the sale of native commodities
in home markets. In the economic progress of the United States from
1860 to 1900, there was a continuous and rapid development of all the
requisite factors for the existence of a large internal trade.
Population more than doubled, annual production per capita quadrupled,
the diversification of industry became more pronounced and the
transportation system developed to a degree that afforded the utmost
fluidity of movement of all articles of trade. Furthermore, the range
of movement of internal trade was greatly widened by the settlement of
the vast expanse of new country west of the Mississippi River.

The extent, volume and complexity of internal trade during this period
render it impossible to attempt, within the scope of this paper, to
give a connected account of its development. However, some idea of its
wonderful expansion may be conveyed by the following brief statement of
the growth of the movement of some of the most important commodities.

_Cereals and Flour._ The history of the internal grain trade from 1860
to 1900 centers around the receipts and shipments at the great primary
grain markets situated on the Great Lakes and the rivers of the upper
Mississippi Valley. In 1900 the