New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-03-30

. railroad IN the United States doing OuG-
meas; that in 1887 The mt three miles Of
railroad were built, and in the forty-three
years that have since elapsed the length
Of railroads through all parts Of the coun-
try is 81. 435 miles. with an average
yearly addition for the past three years Of
1--WE thousand miles. 81 If this rate is main
tanned for the period extending TO tho end
of the present century, We shall have
over 200, 900 miles Of railway. The cost
of all these railways, thus far, is put down
at 50, 573, SAG, 1O9-an amount about equal
to our present national debt. The aver
age cost for building the railroads during
the last ten years per mile, has been esti-
mated at $40,3 and before that time
the average was about $45. 900. These
thoroughfares are Of incalcuhble benefit
to the country as carriers and distributors
Of products, and % means of developing
the territory through which they are con-
structed, to an extent that seems almost
fabulous. Those who have given the sub
ject attention say that the freight trans
ported ON the railways Of the United
States during the year 1869 amounted to
81, OOO, 600, 900, or between four and
five times the national debt at
its height The great work goes on with
out cessation. and with the regularity Of
clockwork, atan times, and in their course
climb great mountains, bridge large rivers
and wide watercosrses, overlap huge
chasms, and are thrown across even the.
most formidable barriers Of travel and in.
tercohmunication. What . wonderful
power these iron roads, with the swiftly
speeding locomotive and it, long train Of
cars, are, in the process Of production,
distribution and consumption Of the ma
terial wealth Of the nation! What sta
bility they give to tho movements Of trade,
travel and commerce! Az We cast retro
spective Glance ct the remote sections
of our country, which few years ago were
almost inaccessible, and that through long
and tedious stages Of travel now
within . few hours reach TO even the most
timid Of our people, by swift and sasy
transit it seems almost . dream and
scarcely to be believed, were it not that
the stubborn net is before N. The great
increase in the value Of property around
and near these great arteries Of our ma
tional body polite shows that the more
that is done in this matter Of internal
improvement the greater will be the
wealth Of the nation. Here in the South, 4
it is said that, owing to the xant Of rail
roads, and the little that there is
of them, there is great difficulty in
in getting the produce of the country to
a quick and profitable market. Were we
in possession Of railroads in proper
ton to those which are built and
running in and through the Northern
and Western States, our cotton, sugar,
timber, and other products of the farm,
plantation and forest would be in the
market and used or shipped to other COM
mercial points in the time that it now
takes to get it ready for shipment at the
place of its production.
In the North, by the railroads that now
intersect almost every conceivable point,
the product that formerly ate itself up
with charges before it could get to market,
arrives now, and. deposits profit in all
hands; and the area Of perishable com
modities and ephemeral transactions is
indefinitely enlarged BuhAlo steaks in
all the great city markets, California
fruit in its season al over the East, in
numerable, with centres drawing their
supplies from other States much easier
than they formerly did within circle Of
half dozen miles; these are among some
of the wonderful result Of the railroad sys-
tenn of the country IS yet in its infancy.
If we look at the influence and effect Of
the extension Of lines Of travel through
our cities, we will find the effect in the in
crease Of the value Of property and the
addition of population by which property
is settled upon and improved, gives wealth
and prosperity to the cities that build and
stock these railroads New York and all
the large cities of the North, East and
West are examples to prove the statement.
Even now in New York the question
before the people Of these and the
and adjacent cities, towns,
and the country for fifty miles around, is
what can be done to give more speedy
transit for freight and passengers to and
from it. Elevated, tubular, and sub
terranean or arcade railways have been
suggested and are under consideration by
the great capitalists of that great metropo-
lis, and thus increase its wealth and popu-
lation. five look at the great States of
our Union to learn which of them stand
first in point of wealth and pros
perity, we will see which has the largest
number of railroads, and the question is
settled accordingly. Illinois has the
greatest length of track (5243 miles,, hav-
ing passed Pennsylvania during the year
1870. Massachusetts, claims the greatest
number of miles of road to miles of terri
tory, because it is asserted that the roads
of that State accommodate greater pro-
portion of people to that of any other
State. The States next in order to nli-
-. go Nncv VorL Do~~c,,l-~:. nl:>