Washington telegraph., 1853-01-05
The Rail- Road system of the Uni.
ted states.

ted states.
An article in the current issue Of De
Bows ReUiel0 affords much Interesting in
formation in regard to the railroad system as
now being developed in the United States.
The number Of railroads it appears. is now
337. Of an average length of 81 miles; the
whole forming eight routes Of communication
across, east and west, and north and south.
The aggregate length in operation is / ,565
miles, constructed at an average cost Of
$4,000 per mile. The lines il course Of
construction amount to 11,22S miles.
The cost per mile is greatest in the New
England States, less in the Middle and
Southern, aud least in the Western. Thus
in Massachusetts, with 1,153 miles in oper-
alton and 67 in course Of construction, the
cost is estimated at s51 ,SS4,572: Pcnnsvl-
vania, with .323 miles COMPLETED and 533
in progress; $40, 9,662, SIS; New Hampshire,
with 463 miles at work and 76 in progress,
pays Sl4, ,143 755; while in Georgia, with
S04 miles finished and Isl in progress. the
cost is but SIS, ,l00.0S0 Connecticut, with
$40 miles in operation and 81 now being
made, pays SIS, $500; while Michigan
has 474 miles in operation at cost of IS.
656,340; and Wisconsin, with smooth prai-
ries to traverse, has 20 miles completed and
236 in progress, at an aggregate estimated
cost Of fS400,000
Comparing roads running through strictly
agricultural districts in this country aud in
England we find that while the Southern
Michigan line, 245 miles in length, was put
INTO operation at an expenditure of $4,000
per mile, the Eastern Counties line, an Eng
lish road 322 miles in length, including
branches, cost S20O,000 per mile. The le-
ceipts Of the respective undertakings in Sep
tember last were Sl132I5 on the Southern
Michigan, and on the Eastern Counties
S3OO,U25: the receipts On the American
road being considerably more than third
Of the receipts Of the English road, while tie
cost was ten times less. The Eastern Coun-
ties Railroad is, perhaps, one Of the worst
managed in England, but i nevertheless
serves to Illustrate tie fact that there the
roads run through districts whose resources
had already been developed; while here they
pass over ground which with little exertion
adds immensely to the floating capital Of the
country.
The tendency of railroads to develop local
business and to equal!zc the value IF land
for agricultural purposes over a comparative
~ large surface, j. strikingly illust rated in
the business Of the Massachusetts lines
The returns Of The passenger and goods
traffic show not only that the distances which
they average are in comparison small, but
are constantly decreasing. Although the
number Of passengers Las more than doubled
from 1916 to 1851, the average distance to
which they are transported has diminished
one fifth. With the exception Of the West
ern road, the average distance travelled Nv
passengers il less than two per cent of the
aggregate length, indicating clearly the ra-
pidity with which lateral connexions are
formed with leading lines. ana tile extent To
which the means Of cheap and prompt travel
multiply both passengers and freight Not
only have the railroads largely increased tic
radius Of the country which pours it, pro-
duce into the city marts, but they have diff
fused the city population over larger sur.
face; in both ways creating the traffic Oh
which the stockholders rely for profits on
their investments Boston affords a case in
point; the increase Of its population in the
ten years ending in 1850 having been sixty.
five per cent, while that of seven towns, each
within five miles Of tl.e city, and accessible
by railroad, was eighty-one per cent Great
as j. the increase of passenger traffic Oh III
the rail ways, it is exceeded in proportion
by the increase Of freights. In this respect
the experience of Massachusetts tallies with
that of South Carolina and with that Of the
Erie Railroad
The great advance in the value Of land
on the line of railroads j. nowhere mere
marked than on the Illinois Central, where
lands which had long remained unsold at
the Government minimum price have real
ixed Sl5 per acre. and others which have
been held ut 81 and So, now readily obtain
purchasers at S6 and 50. Assuming that
the the value Of improved lands along the
route has increased in the same ratio, il
i difficult to fix q limit to the benefit
which every individual in the State will
derive from the undertaking. The increase
in the property of Massachusetts, from
S299, ,329 in 1910 to S597 ,936 99j in
1850, is small in proportion to the increase
which the Central Railroad will confer upon
Illinois.
The wisdom Of the policy on the part Of
the Government in granting land to aid in
the construction Of railroads il placed be-
yond doubt by the course Of events in con.
nexion with this great western undertaking
Government, it is known, granted, to the
Illinois Central Railroad 100000 acre.
which in the course Of years might have
sold for SO, 100000 If De Bow Recieu
speaks correctly when it says that these re.
served sections now sell at an average Of s.
per acre in consequence Of the railroad run.
Il !.