WHICH INCREASED
SPEED INCREASES THE CONSUMPTION OF FUEL: CONSUMPTION FOR VESSELS
OF 2,500, 3,000, AND 6,000 TONS DISPLACEMENT: COAL-TABLE; NO. II.:
FREIGHT-TABLE; NO. III.: AS SPEED AND POWER INCREASE FREIGHT AND
PASSENGER ROOM DECREASE: FREIGHT AND FARE REDUCED: SPEED OF
VARIOUS LINES: FREIGHT-COST: COAL AND CARGO; NO. IV.: MR.
ATHERTON'S VIEWS OF FREIGHT TRANSPORT.

The foregoing arguments bring us to the conclusion that steam,
however desirable, can not be profitably employed in commerce
generally as an agent of transport; and that it is best applicable to
the rapid conveyance of the mails, passengers, specie, and costly
freights only. That this fact may be presented in a clearer light, and
that we may see the almost incredibly high cost of rapid steaming, or
the attainment of a speed sufficiently high for the carriage of
important mails, it will be necessary to make some critical inquiries
concerning the working cost of steam power, under any conditions, as
applied to marine propulsion. Much misapprehension prevails on this
point among nearly all classes of the people, and even among the
rulers of the country whose action controls the destiny and uses of
this valuable power. It is hardly to be expected, however, that
gentlemen engaged actively in the all-engrossing pursuits of business
or of public life, with a thousand different sets of ideas to be
matured on a thousand different subjects, such as demand the attention
of Congress, and the Departments of the Executive Government, should
be practically or even theoretically acquainted with a profession
which requires years of close application and study, and a wide field
of practical, daily observation and experience. It would be as absurd
for unprofessional gentlemen of any class, as well from the walks of
statesmanship and the Government as from those of quiet private life,
to assume an acquaintance with the theory and practice of navigation,
and the cost, embarrassments, and difficulties attending steamship
enterprise, as it would for any two or three of them to enter an ocean
steamer for the first time of their lives, and essay to work the
engines and navigate the ship across the seas. The skill and knowledge
requisite for such a task would require years of application; and it
can not be reasonably supposed that those entirely unacquainted with
the theory and parts of an engine, should know much about its
capabilities, or the cost atte