Page:The Canal System of England.djvu/43

 River Loire, now practically useless for navigation from Nantes to Orleans, is to be deepened between Nantes and Angers to a minimum of 1·20 metres (3 ft. 11 in.) Among the less important works is the Moulin-Sancoin Canal, 30 miles in length, to cost 640,000l. Practically the whole of the waterways system is the property of the State, which maintains it out of the public funds, free of all tolls. The system of tolls was in force up to the year 1880, but since 1880 tolls have been abolished on the State Canals.

The great improvement effected in the French waterways system since 1878 has been attended by a large reduction in the cost of transport, especially on the northern canals and the Seine. On the former, freights have fallen about 25 per cent. in the last twenty years, and have been recently reduced to about 1·8 centimes per ton per kilom. in the direction of Paris, and less on the return journey. On the Seine, freights for heavy goods are about 20 per cent. lower than they were in 1883.

Turning to the statistics of the water traffic, we find a striking increase during the period under review. The total weight of merchandize shipped by the inland waterways rose from 20,000,000 tons in 1878 to 32,000,000 tons in 1898. But while the water traffic rose, the traffic by rail has also increased, but far less rapidly in proportion, as is shewn by the following table:—