The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-03-02
TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1869.

American and FOreig" Railway systems.
In proportion to wealth and populauon' maOI
greater activity and enterprise In CONSTRUCTING
railway lines have been displayed In the on'.0U
States than in any other country h' 'no
o,osa NJ the wear 1866 we had In actuai
.r.-.,,o, 96 s96 miles, while Europe con-
,s;nad but as, us miles, and in Africa ana
Asia combined there were only 1860 miles,
Since that period the extension of our railway
,vatsm has been contiaued with unparalleled
rapiditv. while comparatively few extensive
new railways have been constructed in
Enrope. OF the 49,7l8 miles Of
European railways in existence at the close
of 1866, 13, 2S6 were located in the British
Isles. and extensions since that period up to
ths present time have increased this aggregate
TO Ia, ,247 miles. While ths United States,
with q population but little greater than
that Of Great Britain, contain three times as
many miles OF railway, a contrast based on
their respective areas is greatly to the sd-
vantage of the latter, for 1t contains but
122,650 square miles Cor little less than the
combined area of Pennsylvania, New York,
ana OulOl, aha Oh thhb iobtfACtou bpdOo
$500, 900, 900 more money has been expended
for railways than in the whole of the United
States, over an aggregate area Exclusive of
Alasks) of 3,00l, ,002 square miles. This
contrast would be rendered still more striking
II Il were applied on the one side strictly to the
railways Of England and Wales, for they have,
in proportion to area, three miles of railway
for one in Scotland and ireland.
We must turn TO England and Wales,
therefore, for exempli6cations Of the results
of railwayism in its most extensive and ex-
psnsivs stage Of development. The amount
Of Transportation and travel conducted over
their roads is enormous. The value OF real
estate has been greatly increased, and won
dsrful stimulus has been given to mining,
manufactures, and commerce. But while the
kingdom has been enriched by these enter
prises, their extraordinary expenditures, ex-
eessive competition, bad management, fraud,
and various other causes, have combined to
render them o source of great loss to stock.
holders, and they are proving nearly as bad
an investment as the oil stocks Of Pennsyl-
vania. The stock OF few roads Is worth
more than the par value, but these ex-
oeptions are exceedingly rare, and
on q large proportion Of the capital
expended there are either no returns what
ever, or annual dividends far below the usual
rates of interest yielded by undoubted seou-
rites. The British railways have failed, as
commercial speculation, as completelyas as they
haya ouooaadad in fan;ltofip0 fha
msnt of industrial interests.
To some extent similar course of events
has marked the rise and progress of the rail
way system Of the United States. While the
railways have greatly increased the value of
real estate, and contributed immensely
10 the utilization Of the products
of the mines, the forests, and the
hslds OF the nation, they have in many
instances suffered terrible peouniary embar-
easements and ruined their stockholders. On
the other hand, there are considerable num-
ber Of profitable railways in this country,
comparatively few companies are hopslessly
insoivsnt, and many are gradually emerging
from financial embarrassments which were at
one time considered insurmountable. The
railway interest is not only absorbing the
capital and brains Of the country, but the po-
htical influence it exercises is constantly in
creAsing; and, independent. Of partisan ques-
lions, II La becoming matter Of some doubt
whether 1t is not the ruling power of the land.
The railway systems of France and Austria,
and other Continental powers, present a
marked contrast to the English and American
systems. Napoleon and Francis Joseph have
taken good care to render railway stocks
profitable by preventing undue competition,
and at the same time to make the railways 0
source Of great eventual wealth to their
national treasures, by requiring that at the
expiration Of ninety years from the date O.
their completion they shall become Govern
msnt property.
In England and the United States the rail
way companies make their terms with influ
sntih powers that be, individually, through
whom they obtain, nominally for nothing, O.
for the public good, the concessions which ar
granted In France and Austria only on condi
non Of an eventual surrender Of all thei
property.
Tho CauNSSsaxr NJ ana afp aafa.