There is perhaps no country that enjoys greater facilities of transport than Germany, relatively to its area, its population, and its commerce. This happy condition of things is due, partly to the fostering care of a paternal government, which has taken transportation under its special care, and controls by far the larger part of the ways of communication both by land and water; partly to the competition, at low rates of freight, between railways, rivers, and canals; and partly to the close attention which has been given by traders, economists, and engineers to the problems that determine the ultimate economy of transport under different conditions. With a railway system that has now been completed to the extent of 25,000 miles, with 17,000 miles of rivers, and with 1250 miles of canal navigation that is soon likely to be considerably increased, the German Empire offers facilities for the study of the transportation problem that entitle it to the serious attention of all who are interested in the matter. This is all the more obvious that Germany, although possessed of very moderate natural resources otherwise, has attained a front rank among commercial nations.

River Systems.—The chief river systems of Germany are those of the Rhine, draining an area of 76,000 square miles, and having a course of 850 miles; the Elbe, which drains an area of 55,000 square miles, and is, next to the Rhine, the most important of the German rivers; the Oder, which has a drainage basin of 50,000 square miles, and a course of 550 miles; the Vistula, which rises in the Carpathian mountains, 2000 feet above sea level, has a drainage area of 74,000 square miles, and a length of 600 miles; the Niemen, which has a drainage area conterminous with that of the Düna, and of about the same extent, i. e., 35,000 square miles; the Weser, which has a drainage area of 18,000 square miles, and a course of 355 miles; with the Ems and one or two smaller streams. The flow of the chief streams is as follows:—

Of the Danube we shall speak at some length when we come to deal with the waterways of Austria, to which that river mainly belongs. But most of the other rivers of Germany have been more or less canalised, and we shall therefore refer to some of the changes thereby effected in river transport.

The Rhine.—The lowest velocity of the Rhine is 2·62 feet per second; the highest 11·15 feet per second, and, at Düsseldorf, 5·24 to 6·56 feet, with 9·84 feet mean-water on the Cologne gauge. The width of the river at St. Goar is 180 yards, and the depth 98 feet; at Düsseldorf it is 275 yards wide, and 72 feet deep. These are the two greatest depths of the river. In the Rheingau and the Lower Rhine, the width increases to about 770 yards. At Wesel the proportion of volume of low and high water is 1·14.

The steamers now employed to navigate the Rhine are constructed for cargoes of about 800 tons. The first improvement-works were carried out from 1847 to 1850; in 1868, with low water equal to 4·92 on the Cologne gauge, the channel from Bingen to Coblenz was clear to an equal minimum depth of 6·56 feet; from Coblenz to Cologne 8·2 feet; and from Cologne to Rotterdam, 9·84 feet.

In 1874, the 8·2 feet channel was extended from Cologne to St. Goar. With the improvement works, the width of the river channel is now from 100 to 160 yards; below Cologne it expands to 330 yards. The cost of the works has been as under:—

Down to Cologne the banks rise above water level. Further seawards the ground is low-lying, and dykes have to be employed. These commence near Düsseldorf.

The traffic carried on the Rhine is very considerable, especially between the Dutch ports and the Westphalian manufacturing districts. It embraces large quantities of coal, iron ore, iron and steel manufactures, &c., and the cost of its transport compares favourably with railway rates.

The navigable length of the Rhine is 435 miles, and on this length it has a yearly traffic of about 5500 vessels, averaging some 200 tons each. The Rhine has a greater density of traffic than the Danube, on which only some 800 vessels are employed, also averaging some 200 tons; but the Danube, which is navigable to Regensburg, 281 miles from Vienna, has a much longer navigation. It is believed that chain traction could be carried as far as Ulm, which is 131 miles farther.

The Ems.—This river has a limited interior communication, the tide flowing for not more than 15 to 20 miles. The Ems takes its rise only in the territory of Münster, receiving the river Hase, a little above Meppen, and the Söste at Leer, and it is navigable at no great distance in its current. It then runs by the Dollart, a sort of bay betwixt Emden and the Dutch coast, into the North Sea, in two branches; one called the eastern, the other the western Ems, forming betwixt them the island of Borcum. Formerly the river passed close by Embden, from a cut being made to force the current of the river that way, but, being neglected, it has taken its course by the coast of Gröningen. A narrow channel from Embden is, however, kept clear, in consequence of four sluices in the town, which are opened whilst the ebb tide continues.

The Ems has enjoyed a considerable degree of celebrity, not so much from its extent as from its local advantages, and from the political situation of Holland. It enjoys a free navigation by its neutrality, it is under the protection of Prussia, and it is contiguous to Delfzyl, an excellent entrance into Holland, by a canal which runs through the northern provinces, by the city of Gröningen, into the Zuyder Zee. It thus communicates with all Holland and Flanders, the trade of which countries, and some parts of Germany and France, were formerly largely carried on by it.

The Mosel.—The canalisation of the Mosel from Frouard to Diedenhofen, nearly 57 miles, is a portion of an intended navigable communication from Louisenthal, on the Rhine-Marne canal system, to Saar-Kohbenbecken, on the Saar. From Frouard to Arnaville, about 25 miles, it was carried out by the French Government between 1867 and 1870; and from Arnaville to Metz by the Prussian Government, under Herr J. Schlichting, between 1872 and the present time. The canalisation from Metz to Diedenhofen, and the proposed connection between the Nied canals of the Mosel, the Saar, and the Maas, remain to be completed. As the main object of this canalisation was to provide a navigable passage for craft having a draught of 5·9 feet, the minimum depth of water was fixed at 6·56 feet. The bottom width of the canal is 39·4 feet.

Of the 25·15 miles of river dealt with by the French, only 3·14 miles were rendered navigable. The remainder of the main course adapted for navigation consisted of four portions of canal, in all 17 miles in length. In addition there were 1·25 mile of short canals, connecting the main course with the Mosel. Corresponding to the canals there are four movable weirs in the Mosel at Custines, Marbache, Dieulouard, and Pont-à-Mousson, which maintain the necessary water-level in dry seasons. The fall from the Rhine-Marne Canal at Frouard to the Mosel system is 26·25 feet, and the fall from Frouard to Amaville is 48·6 feet, overcome by six locks. The cost of these 20 miles of navigable channel is stated by the French engineers to have been 208,000l. The German works recently executed include a continuation of the main canal from Arnaville to Novéant, where it debouches into the Mosel for a length of 1·05 mile; the canalisation of the Mosel itself thence to Jouy-aux-Arches, 3·38 miles long, where a movable weir maintains the water-level in this reach; and a main canal thence to Metz on the right bank of the river, 5·55 miles long. The branch canals are comparatively independent of the above. One of them is situated on the left bank at Ars, and consists of a rectification of a side channel of the river, 2·54 miles long, intended solely for the use of the iron foundries of that town; a feeder of this, being on low-lying ground, requires special protective embankments. The other, 1258 yards long, connects the main canal with a basin at the railway terminus at Metz. The portion of the Mosel from the embouchure of the Ars branch canal down to the island of Vaux is made into a navigable basin for the use of the foundries, a movable weir at the latter place giving the necessary increased depth of water.

The Rhine and Danube Canal.—In 1834 an elaborate report was made by C. T. Kleinschrod, of Munich, relative to the feasibility of constructing a canal to connect the Rhine and the Danube.[71] The proposal was to proceed from the Rhine by way of the Main as far as Bamberg, and there commence a canal which should proceed by Nüremberg to Keeheim, where it would effect a junction with the Danube. The total length of the artificial waterway between these two points, Bamberg and Keeheim, was stated at 23⅓ German miles. The writer of the pamphlet made an elaborate estimate of the probable cost of the undertaking, which had the support of the King of Bavaria, and it was demonstrated that at that time, when there were hardly any railways in Germany, it would be attended with a great economy of transport. Owing, however, to the competition of railways, and the extent to which they soon afterwards met the requirements of the country, the project was not entirely successful. The canal was completed in 1844. It is 110 miles long and 7 feet deep.

The Danube, which is practically navigable from the town of Regensburg, 281 miles westward of Vienna, and the Black Sea, is the chief important waterway of Austria. Communication is obtained with Prussia by the Danube-Oder canal, and it is now proposed to establish a communication between this canal and the Elbe, in which case, traffic could be carried from Vienna to Hamburg by water all the way. It has been suggested to have communication made between the Danube and the Rhine either by Dilligen, 31 miles below Ulm, viâ Königsbronn, 1640 feet above sea-level, to the Neckar, and from Cannstadt to Mannheim, and alternatively by Kehlheim, Nuremburg, and Bamberg, an ascent of 1375 feet to the Main, whence Mayence would be reached viâ Frankfort.

The Oder and the Elbe Canal.—At an early period in the history of European trade, the desirability of having the Oder and the Elbe connected by an artificial waterway was discussed. This was even more of a desideratum about a century and a half ago than it is to-day. At that time, Stettin, which is built on the west side of the Oder, about 46 miles from its mouth, was perhaps the leading commercial city in Germany, having a large trade with England, France, and other countries on the west, with Scandinavia, and with the Baltic countries. The importance of joining such a port with Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, and with other cities either upon or near to the Elbe, was manifest.

The first canal built for this purpose was that of Plaven, completed in 1745. This canal joined the Havel with the Elbe at Parcy. It is about twenty English miles in length, 40 to 50 feet in width, and has three sluices. It reduces by more than one half the length of the navigation between the Oder and the Elbe. About the same time the canal of Finow was constructed to connect the same rivers by the Finow and the Havel. There are thirteen sluices on this canal. Another canal, called the Frederick William, joins the Oder and the Spree above Frankfort, and, uniting with the Havel near Brandenburg, connects the latter with the Elbe. It is fifteen English miles long, and has ten sluices.

The Holstein Canal was begun in 1777, and was completed on the 4th of May, 1785, but was opened in 1784. The cost of the undertaking was 2,512,432 rix dollars. There are six sluices, which cost 70,000 rix dollars each. This canal, on the side of the Baltic, commences about three English miles north of Kiel, at a place called Holtenau, where there is a sluice, another at Knoop, and a third at Rathmansdorf, till it comes to the Flemhude Lake, which is the highest point; and from this lake, on the side of Rendsburg, there are three other sluices—one at Königsford, another at Kluvensiek, and the last at Rendsburg. These are on what is called the Upper Eyder, and the Lower Eyder is from Rendsburg to its mouth, running by Tonningen, below which place it falls into the sea between Eyderstadt and Dithmarschen. The distance is about 100 English miles, and vessels must either sail or tide it, or both; whilst from Rendsburg to Holtenau, nearly at the mouth of Kiel Bay, upon the Baltic, it is only about 25 English miles, which can be navigated in all weathers, except during a strong frost, as horses can be had, if required, at fixed rates. The vessels are let through a sluice in little more than eight or ten minutes each. For each sluice they pay only 4 schillings Danish, or about so many pence English. The surface breadth of this canal is 100 feet, and at the bottom 54 feet Danish measure, and the depth is at least 10 feet throughout. Vessels can pass through the sluices 100 feet in length, 26 feet in breadth, and 9 feet 4 inches draught of water, Danish measure, and which, for the regulation of the British merchant and shipowner, as well as the master, it may be observed, corresponds in English measure to vessels of 95 feet 4 inches length; 24 feet 9 inches breadth; and 9 feet depth.

An increase and improvement of the waterways of Germany is looked upon as a pressing present necessity by many, and provision has been made for the commencement of three great canals—the connection of the Baltic with the North Sea, of the Spree with the Oder, and of the Ems with the Rhine. The first mentioned is to be built chiefly from military considerations, so that the German ironclads can get from Kiel to the Atlantic. The two others are to be constructed for commercial purposes. In connection with these there will also be canals built from the Rhine to the Elbe, and from the Oder to the Silesian Mountains. The agricultural interest very strongly opposed the Spree-Oder and Ems-Rhine Canal, because they feared the foreign grain would be more plentifully brought into the empire thereby, but their opposition was not successful.

Besides these works the river Weser is being deepened, and a new channel has been constructed between Bremen and the sea—a distance of about 50 miles.

The North Sea and Baltic Ship Canal.—This new ship canal is to be international as well as national in its character. It will reduce the sea passage, as compared to the Sound route, by 237 sea miles, shorten the journey of sailing vessels by at least three days, and that of steamers by about twenty-two hours in normal weather, and these advantages are to cost the shipowners 9d. per registered ton when the canal is navigable. About 35,000 vessels pass through the Sound annually. It is, moreover, intended to strengthen the offensive and defensive power of Germany. It may, however, be remarked that Count Moltke never from the first gave the plan his cordial support from a strategical point of view, maintaining then, as now, that the money which the canal is to cost would have been more judiciously spent if employed to strengthen the national navy.

The Baltic Ship Canal begins at Holtenau, a small village just north of the royal dockyard of Kiel, on the Baltic, and enters the Elbe 15 miles above the North Sea, near Brunsbütte. It will have a total length of 75 to 80 kilometres, as seen on the sketch-map at page 125. Its width is to be, on the water surface, 60 metres; on the bottom, 26 metres; its depth is to be 8½ metres, and its total cost 156 million marks, as estimated. The canal may be looked upon as a mere cutting, in which the water-level is to be that of the Baltic Sea, and there will only be flood-gates or sluices where it enters the river Eider and at its termination in the Elbe; these will be, as a matter of fact, open all the year round. For the convenience of the Royal Marine, rather extensive works will be carried out at the Elbe embouchure, consisting of large and small locks, and eventually a floating basin for at least four large armour-clads, besides coaling stations at either end of the canal. The four railways crossing the canal, as well as the two main post roads, will be carried over it by means of iron swing-bridges; and steam and manual pontoons will serve for the other various crossing-points of the canal. There are no engineering difficulties to contend with, excepting perhaps a boggy portion not very remote from the Elbe. The highest point of cutting is about 24 kilometres distant from the Elbe, and here it will be 30 metres distant from the bottom level of the canal, otherwise the ground to be removed is mostly sand or sandy loam.

This canal will unite the Gulf of Kiel with the mouth of the Elbe, and will run by way of Rendsburg to a point midway between Brunsbüttel and St. Margarethen, a few miles below Hamburg. It will, when completed, be 61 miles long, 196 feet broad at the water level, 85 feet broad at the bottom, and 28 feet deep, and it will have but two locks—one at each end. The canal will take in the largest warship that has been or will be constructed in Germany, and will, moreover, take her at all states of the tide and in less than eight hours it will be possible for her to proceed by it from Kiel to the Elbe, or vice versâ. The canal, therefore, will enable Germany to regard with some degree of indifference the possession of the mouths of the Baltic. She will always have her own entrance into that sea, and will be in a position at very short notice either to reinforce her squadrons there with ships from the North Sea, or to draw ships thence to reinforce Kiel and the Elbe. It is proposed to supplement this strategical waterway by means of a further canal, which shall traverse Hanover from Neuhaus, on the Elbe, opposite Brunsbüttel, to Bremerhaven, at the mouth of the Weser. It will then be possible for the whole voyage between Kiel and Wilhelmshaven to be performed in what are practically inland waters. This last section of canal is, indeed, necessary for the thorough completion of the scheme of coast defence; for the position of Great Britain at Heligoland renders a blockade by her of the mouths of the Elbe and Weser comparatively easy, unless provision be made for the safe concentration at will, either at Brunsbüttel or at Wilhelmshaven, of a fairly formidable fleet.

The Eyder, which divides Schleswig from Holstein, flows through territory to be regarded as permanently German into the North Sea at Tönning. From Rendsburg, to which place the Eyder is navigable, the Eyder or Schleswig-Holstein canal was dug towards the close of the last century to Kiel Bay, on the Baltic. It is from 10 to 11 feet deep, and has locks. Vessels, though of no great burden, can thus at present pass from the one sea to the other. As soon as Prussia occupied the Danish Duchies, proposals were entertained by it for an increase of the depth and width of this canal. Its maintenance, as it is necessitates a large expenditure on dykes, and the contemplated improvements, of which the charge would fall wholly or mainly on Prussia, must inevitably be exceedingly costly. When they were fully carried out, they might not answer the commercial needs of the chief centres of German trade, and might even divert custom from them. Hamburg wants a canal nearer to its end of the peninsula. It will be likely to attain its wish by the measure which has now been sanctioned by the Imperial Parliament. By this scheme the two German seas will be united at points most convenient for the accommodation of the entire Empire.

In addition to the Eyder Canal, a second but more indirect water communication between the Baltic and North Seas has existed for five hundred years in the Steckenitz Canal, by which the Hanse city of Lübeck connected the Steckenitz and Delvenau with the Elbe. But this is not the route which wins engineering or political favour. The line most strongly supported is from Kiel, south-westwards to Brunsbüttel, at the mouth of the Elbe, opposite Cuxhaven. It would satisfy the demands of Hamburg, which, though it seems to be jealous of Altona, practically embraces within the limits of its port the whole Elbe estuary. Kiel has a rising commerce which is likely to be greatly expanded by the undertaking. In the eyes of German statesmen, the plan has commended itself as giving the principal war harbour of the Empire an independent outlet to the North Sea. The Northern Powers might, as things now are, if hostile, seal up the German Navy in the Baltic. They hold the keys, and could convert the sea into a lake. Whatever the German naval strength at Bremerhaven, on the Elbe, and at Kiel, it could be cut in half, and prevented from co-operating at the discretion of Scandinavia.

This is, as we have seen, a reason of the highest State for undertaking the new waterway. German ships, unprovided with a waterway between the German Ocean and the Baltic, have been exposed to extraordinary risks. This fact alone is, in the eyes of Germany, a sufficient reason for such an enterprise. But there are also the equally cogent reasons of trade, and the preservation of shipping and human life.

The Kattegat and Skager Rack are computed to cost Germany a yearly loss of five hundred lives by wreck, and half a million sterling. The pecuniary damage through the trade which is turned back, and does not dare to defy the peril, must be much more considerable. Germany at large has finally to defray the major part of these charges, positive and negative. The saving of them is likely to yield very ample interest on the seven or eight millions to be spent. Venerable Lübeck would alone have cause to murmur at a work which threatens it with more grievous competition than even now it has to meet from the competition of Kiel for the Baltic trade. A writer in the Times has, however, pointed out that Lübeck, though it has fallen behind in the race with Hamburg, has its own intrinsic sources of prosperity, and is not likely to let them slip. The one real drawback to the attractions of the project is the unaccommodating character of a North German winter. Ice, which seriously obstructs the navigation of the tidal rivers, would be harsher still to the sluggish surface of a fresh-water canal in Holstein.

The North Sea and Baltic Canal will be of the following dimensions:—Breadth at surface 200 feet; at bottom 85 feet. Depth 27 feet 10 inches.

This size will allow the heaviest ships in the German navy to make use of the waterway, and it is estimated that 18,000 ships out of the 35,000 that annually pass the Sound, will use the canal, which will shorten the distance between the Baltic and London by 22 hours; Hull by 15 hours; Hartlepool by 8 hours; Newcastle-on-Tyne by 6 hours; and Leith by 4 hours. It is expected to affect the English coal trade with Baltic ports, by giving readier access to German coal ports, and in addition to saving time in transit, it will relieve vessels from the danger of doubling the Skaw. The work is likely to be completed in 1893 or 1894.

The cost of the canal is estimated at between seven and eight millions sterling, of which 2½ millions are to be provided by Prussia.

It is the inevitable result of every new addition to the transportation facilities of a country to benefit more or less some places at the expense of others. The North Sea Canal is likely to prove disadvantageous, as we have seen, to the ancient city of Lübeck, in consequence of a diversion of its traffic. To meet this drawback, it has been proposed to construct a new canal through Holstein, connecting the Trave with the Elbe. Negotiations have been carried on between Lübeck and Prussia, with this end in view. The canal would be 72 kilometres in length, and is estimated to cost 18 millions of marks (900,000l.). With this canal, Lübeck is expected to retain its considerable trade with North-eastern Europe.

The Rhine-Ems Canal.—The proposed Rhine-Ems Canal is expected, by bringing the Rhine and the Ems into more direct connection with the Westphalian coalfield, to bring German into very close competition with English coal at the North Sea and Baltic ports. The plan is a very old one, and was resuscitated some thirty years ago, but nothing came of the project till three sessions ago, when the Chambers voted a large sum to carry it out under Government, provided the interested country districts through which the canal was to pass, beginning at Dortmund, would acquire the requisite land through which the canal was to be cut, and hand it over for the common good. The money has been coming in since by driblets, slowly and reluctantly, from one township and the other, but at last it seems probable that it will ultimately be subscribed, and for this eventuality English coalowners must be prepared. A glance at a map will show that from Dortmund to Emden, and thence through the North Sea and Baltic Canal, a direct route to the East seaports will be opened up; and as the Westphalian coal can then be placed at Emden at the same price as the English at one of the east coast shipping ports, and the distance from Emden to the Baltic by the new ship canal is twenty-three hours less than from Hull, twenty-seven from Hartlepool, thirty from Newcastle, and thirty-six from Leith, it is evident that a sharper rivalry may be established. If the ship canal be not used, the difference in time between Emden and the Baltic will be less by thirty-eight hours from Hull, thirty-six from Newcastle, thirty-five from Hartlepool, and forty from Leith. No steps have yet been taken with regard to the continuation of the canal from Dortmund to the Rhine, which would then open up a new and shorter waterway from South Germany and Switzerland to the Baltic.

The Dortmund and Emden Canal is designed to develop the communication between the Westphalian coalfield and the harbour at the mouth of the Ems, and comprises (1) the completion of the canal direct from the collieries, and joining the Ems at Papenburg, and (2) the improvement of the navigation at Emden harbour. The canal follows, at the outset, the Emscher valley to Henrichenburg, whence it is intended to construct a branch of about 5 miles to the Rhine; the length of this section being about 9¼ miles, with a fall of about 45·3 feet. The section of 38 miles past Münster, is unbroken by locks, but falls of 50 feet to Bevergern, whence the previously existing Haulken Canal is followed as far as Meppen. The fall from Bevergern to Papenburg is 130·9 feet: and the distance 68 miles; the total fall from Dortmund to Emden being 226·2 feet, with twenty-six locks.

From Papenburg the Ems is navigable for the largest barges; but at Oldersum, about 6 miles from the mouth of the river, the channel becomes exposed to northerly storms, and from this point, therefore, a new cut, closed from the river by a lock, joins the new harbour, which, however, is yet unfinished, and is capable of considerable extension. The dimensions of the work are:—

The aqueducts, by which the canal is carried over the Lippe and Stever valleys, having also a depth of 8 feet 3 inches, the canal can at any time be dredged to this depth throughout. The navigation can be worked by steam-power, and when the harbour is completed, so that the coal can be brought direct from the collieries, the freight charges will probably be reduced to 2s. 3d. or 2s. 6d. per ton, as against 3s. 6d., the lowest now charged. The preceding table is a statement of the details of this undertaking.

Scheldt and Rhine Canal.—For a considerable time past, a canal has been in course of construction between the Scheldt and the Rhine. The undertaking has been jointly promoted by Holland, Belgium, and Germany. The two former countries are said to have completed their part of the new waterway, but the German section of the work has been allowed to stagnate for lack of support, and in 1887 the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce applied to the German Government for assistance, with a view to its completion. At the present time, the Rhine is one of the most important waterways in Europe in reference to the extent of its traffic. The port of Rotterdam is, however, the only one open by this route, while the new canal would give access to the magnificent port of Antwerp, whence cheaper freights are obtained to North America than from any other European port.

Oder and Upper Spree Navigation.—The old Friedrich-Wilhelm Canal, constructed over two hundred years since, was till recently the only means of water communication through this district; but the dimensions of the channel, as well as the locks, were too small for present requirements, and in preference to reconstructing the whole work, it was decided to cut another channel, joining the Oder a few miles further from Frankfurt. The country traversed is easier than in the case of the Ems, and as the Oder does not take such large vessels as the Ems, the dimensions of the canal are smaller; the limit being for 400 ton barges:—

The total length of this navigation is stated at 54½ miles, and the cost is estimated at 11,592l. per mile.

It is now proposed to connect the North Sea at Hamburg with Vienna, and thence, by the Danube, with the Black Sea and the Orient generally, by a canal from Kosel to the Danube. The Prussian canal system now allows of water transport all the way from Hamburg to Breig, whence the canalisation of the Oder to Kosel, now being carried out, will be completed in 1894. Prussia would continue the canal thence to the Austrian frontier if it was completed to the Danube, 273 kilometres further, by others, and efforts have recently been made to bring this about.

This navigation improvement will bring the coalfields of Eastern Silesia into direct communication with Berlin.

In 1885, a project was brought forward in Prussia for the construction of a canal that would join the Rhine, the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe. The length of this waterway was estimated at 181¼ miles, the depth at 6 feet, 8 inches, and the width at 53 feet, 4 inches at the bottom, and 80 feet on the water-line. The canal is intended to accommodate vessels not exceeding 500 tons burden. The outlay proposed for this and collateral canals was estimated at 4,050,000l.

Traffic on German Waterways.

The quantity of traffic carried on the waterways of Germany has been calculated at 11,797,000 tons, of which North Germany furnished 11,249,000 tons, and Southern Germany 548,000 tons.[72]

This, however, does not include the Rhine and the Main, which would raise the figures for North Germany to about 16½ millions of tons, while other waterways in Southern Germany bring up the traffic in that division of the empire to about three millions of tons, being a total for both divisions of about twenty millions of tons in round figures, or approximately the same traffic as the waterways of France in the same year.

Dealing only with those waterways of Germany, in which the transportation of traffic is regularly carried on, and disregarding the streams or canals that are practically unused for this purpose, it appears that the total length of internal navigation in Germany is about 3384 miles,[73] but it is important to remark that about 18 millions of the 20 millions of tons of traffic carried annually on these waterways make use of only 2360 miles, or 69 per cent. of the whole, leaving a million and a half to two millions of tons for the remaining 31 per cent.

The latest returns at command appear to show that the waterways of Germany were used by 17,885 sailing ships, of a total tonnage of 1,625,000 tons, or an average of 90 tons each; and by 830 steam ships, of a total tonnage of about 33,000, being an average of 53 tons per vessel.

The total number of vessels employed in carrying merchandise, on the waterways of Germany, in the form of tugs, kedges, and steamers, in addition to the above, is given as 483, having an indicated horse-power per boat varying from an average of 280 on the Rhine to one of only 53 on the Oder.

It is clear from these returns that the waterways of Germany employ a large number of very small craft. It is equally clear that under these circumstances, the cost of transport cannot be so cheap as it otherwise would be. If the average tonnage of all the vessels employed under steam is only 53 tons, there must be a number of very small craft indeed employed on the other waterways, in order to make up for the considerably larger average of the vessels employed on the Rhine.

In Germany, as in France and Belgium, it is chiefly traffic of the heavy kind that makes use of the waterways. About 28 per cent. of the total traffic carried on the canals and rivers of the Empire takes the form of coal and coke. On the Rhine, almost one-half of the total traffic carried is mineral, but on the Elbe, mineral traffic only constitutes 18 per cent. of the whole. But on this, and the other waterways as well, timber, stone, clay, and lime, are carried in considerable quantities, as well as vegetables and leguminous plants.[74] It is estimated that eight millions of tons of traffic in Germany use both waterways and railways, and on the Rhine alone over five millions of tons are carried in this way.

The average traffic carried per mile on the Rhine is not less than 7400 tons. On the 2484 miles of waterways that are regularly navigated in Germany, the density of traffic is about 7200 tons per mile. On the railways of Germany, however, the density of goods traffic only amounts to about 4864 tons per mile. The French waterways have a density of 7246 tons per mile, as against a density of 4500 tons on their railways. It is impossible to speak of the density of the traffic on English waterways, inasmuch as no regular returns are collected of the canal business of Great Britain; but as the canals have for the most part been allowed to get very much out of repair, it is safe to assume that the existing water transport will not compare favourably with the traffic carried by railway.

An interesting statement has recently been compiled, showing the quantities of traffic carried on the railways and waterways of Germany, to and from the principal centres of population. It appears from this return that the total quantity of traffic carried by water to and from Berlin, Hamburg, Magdeburg, Mannheim, and one or two other cities of importance, compares not unfavourably with rail transport. The particulars are given in the table on the following page.

It is the practice in Germany for the Government to maintain the inland navigations, charging only 6s. for lockage. This allows of very cheap transport—so much so, indeed, that it is stated that between Hamburg and Berlin, notwithstanding that the railway rates are extremely low, all heavy traffic is carried by barges or steamers.

On the fourteen principal waterways in Germany, including the Oder, the Spree, the Elbe, the Rhine, and the chief canals, the 17½ million tons of traffic carried in 1887 was transported in 132,863 boats that were full and 35,989 boats that were not full. The average tonnage carried on the same waterways between 1881 and 1885 was 14,318,000 tons. As compared with the vessels employed, and the tonnage carried, in preceding years, there was an advance of 15·4 per cent. in the number of the boats, and of 22·7 per cent. in the amount of traffic carried.

In the year 1878 it was announced that over 1045 miles of new canal navigation had been ordered throughout Germany, in addition to the 1289 miles then open, and the 4925 miles of navigable rivers available.[78] This fact sufficiently indicates the great importance that is attached in Germany to adequate water communication, and it is all the more notable that very few countries are possessed of equally cheap railway transport.