While the Panama Canal seems destined to endure for all time as the greatest artificial shipway in the world, there are other waterways, while small in comparison, that are in themselves wonderful works of engineering. In point of traffic the greatest canal in the world is the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, popularly called the "Soo." In point of economy of distance and world-affecting consequence the Suez Canal ranks with, or next to, Panama.

The Suez Canal was built while the Civil War was raging in the United States, and was opened for the passage of vessels on November 17, 1869. It is about twice as long as the Panama Canal, the distance from Port Said, at the Mediterranean terminus, to Suez at the Red Sea end, being approximately 100 miles. When constructed its depth was 26 feet, 3 inches, and its bottom width 72 feet. The maximum vessel draft permitted was 24 feet 7 inches. The canal was in operation for 11 years before vessels of this draft presented themselves for passage.

During the first dozen years of its operation various curves were straightened, the turning-out places where vessels passed one another were enlarged, and their number increased to 13. This work of straightening curves and widening the canal has continued from that time until the present, and to-day vessels may pass one another through a large part of its length. The policy increasing the general dimensions of the canal was begun in 1887. By 1890 its depth had been increased to 29¹/₂ feet, so that it could accommodate ships having a draft of 26 feet 3 inches. The work of deepening continued, and when the United States began to build the Panama Canal this work was speeded up, so that by 1908 a depth of 32³/₄ feet was attained and vessels of 28 feet draft could be accommodated. In 1909 it was decided that it would be necessary to make the canal still deeper, and a project, which will not be completed until 1915, was then undertaken, calling for a depth of 36 feet 1 inch. By 1898 the width of the canal had been increased from 72 feet to 98¹/₂ feet. This is now being still further increased to 134¹/₂ feet. Even when this project is completed in 1915, the Panama Canal still can accommodate ships of 5 feet greater draft than the Suez Canal.

The maximum draft of ships permitted to use the Suez Canal is demanded in comparatively few instances. A recent report showed that 94 per cent of the ships using the canal had a draft of less than 26¹/₄ feet, and that only 1 per cent had a draft of 28 feet. The increase in the depth of the canal, therefore, was made largely in anticipation of future shipping requirements.

When the canal was completed it required 49 hours for a ship to pass through it. The growth in its dimensions, together with the increase in the number and size of passing stations, the straightening of curves, and the improvement of facilities, have brought down to 17 hours the average length of time required for the transit. Ships not equipped with electric searchlights are not permitted to pass through at night. The improvements being made on the canal are being paid for mainly from the revenues derived from tolls.

The Suez Canal was constructed, and has been enlarged and managed, by a private corporation which has invested from the beginning of the construction up to the present time about $127,000,000 of which approximately two-thirds has been secured from the sale of securities, and one-third from the earnings. The original capital of the Suez Canal Company, issued in 1859, was 400,000 shares of $100 each. These shares partake of the nature of both bonds and stock, for they are entitled to interest of 5 per cent as well as to participation in the company's profits. Provision is made for their redemption, but when redeemed they continue to share in the profits and merely lose the interest-bearing feature. On December 31, 1911, 378,231 of these shares were in circulation.

In 1875 the British Government, through Lord Beaconsfield, purchased the 176,602 shares held by the Khedive of Egypt, paying some $20,000,000 for them. The British Government does not own a majority of the shares, and the Suez Canal is controlled and operated by a French company. The annual dividends have increased from 4.7 per cent to 33 per cent. The shares are closely held and trading in them is light. The stock sells at a premium of over 1,000 per cent. When the work of building the canal was undertaken, 100,000 shares were given to the founders. These shares are not stock, but are, rather, certificates of obligation, requiring the company to pay 10 per cent of its profits to the promoters and founders of the original company and their heirs and assigns. The net profits of the canal amount to about $17,000,000 a year. Of this the stockholders get $12,000,000, the Egyptian Government $2,500,000, the founders of the company $1,500,000 and the administrative officers and the employees divide $100,000 among them.

The traffic of the Suez Canal during the first two years was relatively small, for the reason that the canal is not a practicable one for sailing vessels, and steam vessels had to be built. These, being much less efficient than freight steamers are to-day, were slow in securing the trade that had been enjoyed by the sailing vessels. The rate of tolls charged by the Suez Canal Company has declined steadily since the canal went into operation. On January 1, 1912, they approximated $1.30 a ton, with a reduction of nearly a third for vessels in ballast. On January 1, 1913, the rate was made approximately $1.20 a ton, the fraction of a cent higher than the rate at Panama. The passenger tolls are $2 for passengers above 12 years and $1 for children from 3 to 12 years of age; children below 3 years are carried free. The highest toll charged on the Suez Canal was in 1874 when it was $2.51 a ton.

The Suez Canal has proved highly profitable to its owners. No one believes that the Panama Canal will yield as great a return on the capital invested. The cost of the Panama Canal will be four times the cost of Suez, and it is doubted by traffic authorities whether the Panama Canal will ever handle as much business.

The Manchester Ship Canal, which connects Manchester with Liverpool, was constructed only after years of preliminary agitation. There was opposition by the railways, and from the industrial and commercial centers with which Manchester competes. Over 300 petitions were presented to Parliament before its consent was obtained for the construction of the canal. Work was begun in November, 1887, at which time it was estimated that the canal would cost $42,000,000. It was opened for traffic January 1, 1894, after $75,000,000 had been spent in building it. Of this about $60,000,000 went into actual construction work. The Manchester Canal is 35¹/₂ miles long. It extends from Eastham, about 6 miles from Liverpool, to Manchester. Its original depth was 26 feet, but this has been increased to 28 feet. Ships with a length of 550 feet, a beam of 61 feet, a height of 70 feet, and a draft of 27 feet can use the canal. There is a difference of 58 feet 6 inches in level between Eastham and Manchester, and this is overcome by five sets of locks. The highest lift is 16 feet.

The Manchester Canal Company owns the Bridgewater Canal and makes connections with 13 other barge canals. It handles about 6,000,000 tons of freight a year, of which the bulk is sea-borne. Although it connects with 13 barge canals, the amount of barge traffic handled is less to-day than it was a decade ago. From the beginning the Manchester Canal has had to compete with the railroads, and they cut their rates to such a basis that they get the business and force the canal company to operate as a losing venture to its stockholders.

In spite of the competition of the railroads, the canal has managed to increase its business at about the same rate that traffic through the Suez Canal has increased, and a little more rapidly than it has been estimated that traffic through the Panama Canal will grow. The shareholders have not yet received any dividends, but it seems probable that in the course of a few years all of the securities will earn an annual income. Many shareholders have been more than compensated for their subscriptions by the collateral benefits they have received from the canal.

The Government of Germany constructed a canal connecting its Baltic and North Sea ports, and named it the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal. The natural route from the Baltic to the North Sea around Denmark is circuitous, dangerous because of storms, and is guarded by foreign powers. The canal was begun in 1887 and completed in 1895, and was constructed primarily for military and naval purposes, although it has proved to be of great value to the commerce of Germany. It connects Brunsbuttel Harbor on the Elbe with Holtenau on Kiel Bay. It passes through low lands and lakes and along river valleys. It is 61 miles long and, as it was first constructed, had a width of 72 feet and a depth of 29¹/₂ feet. The total cost of the canal was approximately $37,000,000. It was in operation only 12 years until it was found necessary to enlarge it. The reconstruction of the canal was authorized by the German Government in 1907, and the work, which is expected to be completed in 1914, was started in 1909. When this work is completed the canal will be 144 feet wide and 36 feet deep. At 10 places it will be widened so as to permit ships to pass. New twin locks, built for the regulation of the tides—for the canal itself is at sea level—will be 82 feet longer and 37 feet wider than the Panama locks. The maximum depth of these locks will be 45 feet, although at low tide they will be a little less than 40 feet.

During a recent year commercial vessels with an aggregate net register of over 7,000,000 tons used the Kiel Canal. The increase of business during the first decade of the present century amounted to 70 per cent, or a little more than the estimated increase for each decade at Panama. The net receipts from the operation of the canal are not sufficient to pay interest on the investment. No effort is made to levy tolls that will provide for interest charges, or for the amortization of the principal. The canal does not connect regions of enormous traffic, nor does it greatly shorten ocean routes. The longest route is cut down only 429 miles. The German Empire was so well pleased with the success of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal that the enlargement it is now making represents an expenditure one and a half times the original cost.

The Amsterdam Canal was built to connect Amsterdam with the sea. Formerly, ocean-going vessels were small and the Zuider Zee River was then a stream of considerable depth. Gradually, however, the Zuider Zee became shallower and the size of ocean vessels larger, so that the commercial supremacy of Amsterdam was threatened by the competition of Rotterdam and Antwerp and north German ports. In 1818 a corporation constructed what was known as the "North Holland Canal," which was large enough to accommodate ships employed in the East India trade. It had a minimum depth of 20 feet and a minimum width of 100 feet. This canal, however, had numerous curves and it was constructed by a roundabout route of 52 miles from Amsterdam northward to the North Sea, while Amsterdam is less than 17 miles from the sea by direct route.

In 1863 a concession for the construction of the North Sea Canal was granted and two years later active work began. It was finished in 1876. There were no serious engineering difficulties to be met, there being no rivers to be crossed, no towns to block the way, and only three bridges to be built. The work consisted mainly of building embankments, draining and reclaiming land, and dredging the channel. The canal was not completed according to the original plan. Extensive enlargements and improvements were decided on, and a larger additional lock was undertaken in 1889 and completed in 1896. At that time it was the largest canal lock in the world. Plans are now being considered for building another new lock, which will be larger than those at Panama. The bottom width of the canal is now 164 feet. It can accommodate vessels 721 feet long, with a 79-foot beam and of 30 feet draft. The construction of the canal cost $16,000,000. Improvements have brought the total amount up to about $24,000,000. Since 1893 all toll charges have been eliminated, and the canal has been operated at the expense of the State. The annual average cost of operation and maintenance is about $200,000. This canal bears about the same relation to the city of Amsterdam that the Delaware River Channel bears to the city of Philadelphia, or the improvements on the lower Mississippi to the city of New Orleans.

The Cronstadt and St. Petersburg Canal is 16 miles long and gives St. Petersburg an outlet to the Gulf of Finland. It was built at a total cost of about $10,000,000. It has a minimum width of 220 feet and a navigable depth of about 20¹/₂ feet. It was built primarily as a military undertaking, but has proved of great service to Russian commerce.

Another important European canal is that extending from the Gulf of Corinth to the Gulf of Aegina in southern Greece. Its length is about 4 miles, a part of which was cut through soft granite rock and the remainder through soil. It has no locks. The bottom width is 72 feet and the depth 26¹/₄ feet. The average tolls are 18 cents per ton and 20 cents for passengers.

No other canal in the world can rival the one at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., which connects Lake Superior with Lake Huron, in the enormous volume of its shipping. There are really two canals—one owned by the Canadian Government, and one by the United States Government. The canal belonging to the United States was begun in 1853 by the State of Michigan, and opened in 1855. It had a length of about a mile and was provided with twin locks 350 feet long, allowing the passage of vessels drawing 12 feet of water. The United States Government, by consent of the State of Michigan, began in 1870 to enlarge the canal, and, by 1881, had increased its length to 1.6 miles, its width to an average of 160 feet and its depth to 16 feet. A lock 515 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 17 feet deep was located south of the locks which were built by the State.

In 1882 the United States Government took over the entire control of the canal. Five years later the locks that had been built by the State were torn down, and a new one 800 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 22 feet deep was put into commission in 1896. The Canadian Canal, 1¹/₈ miles long, 150 feet wide, and 22 feet deep, was built on the north side of the river during the years 1888 to 1895. Its locks are 900 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 22 feet deep.

The traffic through the Sault Ste. Marie Canals averages around 60,000,000 tons a year. This is as much as the Panama Canal can expect to get 40 years after its opening. The tonnage of the American Soo Canal passed the million mark in 1873, reached the 20,000,000 mark in 1899, and amounted to 46,000,000 net tons in 1909. It now ranges around 50,000,000 tons. It will be seen from this that the American Canal, built on the south side of St. Mary's River, gets about ten times as much traffic as the Canadian Canal, built on the north side of the river. This gives the American Soo Canal more than twice as much traffic as the Suez Canal, and about four times as much as the Panama Canal expects to begin with.

A canal which was built primarily for drainage purposes, but which seems destined to fill an important place as a traffic-carrying waterway, is the Chicago Drainage Canal connecting Lake Michigan at Chicago with the Illinois River at Lockport—a distance of 34 miles. It was built for the purpose of reversing the movement of water in the Chicago River and preventing the pollution of Lake Michigan. The sewage of the city now goes to the faraway Mississippi instead of the Lakes. The minimum depth of the canal is 22 feet, and its bottom width 160 feet. To complete the project the excavation of nearly 44,000,000 yards of material was required—enough, if deposited in Lake Michigan in 40 feet of water, to form an island a mile square with a surface 12 feet above the water. The city of Chicago and the State of Illinois have agreed to turn this canal over to the United States Government, if it will deepen the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers to 14 feet between Lockport and St. Louis. This would give a complete water connection from upper Mississippi River points to Lake Michigan, and open up a highway to the Gulf of Mexico. The estimated cost of this project is $25,000,000.

The completion of the Panama Canal will probably result in an unprecedented activity in the development of inland waterways in the United States. The new markets which it will open up to American products and the old markets it will stimulate and extend, will demand large additional facilities for getting the products of the American farm and factory to the seaboard. Already preparations for capitalizing the commercial opportunities which the opening of the canal will afford, are being made in various parts of the country.

The Erie Canal, connecting Buffalo and Albany and giving the Great Lakes a water outlet at New York, is being widened and deepened at an expense of $101,000,000. The propaganda of the American Rivers and Harbors Congress, looking to the appropriation of $500,000,000 to be spent in a systematic program of inland waterway development, is meeting with encouragement in every part of the country, and it is the expectation of those who believe that the Government should commit itself to such a program, that within 25 years the stimulus to waterway development given by the opening of the Panama Canal, will give to the United States one of the finest systems of inland waterways in the world.