, 1876-01-23

GERMAN RAILWAYS.
Under this caption, Mr. JOIN MAopoSSE11
furnishes, in the January number of the
Partnig1ttly Rerie,o, mass Of information in
tended to enlighten the English people on
a subject Of great public interest, viz, the
| character, progress, md .1tent of Govern
1nent ownership and Government supervision
of railways in Germany, and the consequences
thereof, social and economical The subject
is one, we hardly neod say, Of equal interest
to American renders. The evils Of uncon-
trolled private management Of railways havo
| been brought into strong light in both ce.uQ
tries during the past ten years. md Aav
called ont many crude and unsatisfactory
remedies. Among the various demands th al
| have been made upon Legislative bodi ns and
| railway officials, the only ons approaching
unanimity has been demand for iIformn-
ton A good deal Of progress has been made
in getting information as to the cost of
| constructing md operating railways, and
rs to the effect Of high and low Tariffs and
discriminating tariffs, and as to competing
and non competing lines. Very little hiss
been obtained, however, concerning the re-
suits Of railway traffic and management on
the Continent Of Europe, and it is scarcely
creditabTs to US that we should have made no
scentib c examination Of the systems prevail
ing th' IRE. Nr. 31AcDoSSE11's article points
the Way to very rich field for further explo-
ratr N, and We trust that some. equally intel
Liz .=nt ard candid observer m4y perform the
G me Office for the railways Of France, Bel
gium, Switzerland, and Italy that be has
done for those Of Germany
The vital point in railway management
was grasped, as we lesrn from this article, by
the King Of the Belgians and his Finance
Minister, II. Roz1En, as early as the year 1884,
"Whoeverpossesses railway, "said the latter,
"poRsesses monopoly, ind such monop-
oily ought to ba in the hands Of the State"
This principle the Belgian Government adopt
ed in the beginning, and has adhered
to, SO far as WIS necessary to secure
the practical control Of all the lines
in the Kingdom. About one-third Of
tile lines are owned by the Government ab-
solutely, and the control Of th ese gives
commanding influence over the other2 In
Germany we find system beginning in dif-
derent way, but tending to the same conclu-
sion rs that Of Belgium. The first Prussiar
railways were begun by private companies
under concessions or charters running for
thirty five years. The companies staggered
Or became insolvent. Then tho Government
granted cash subsidies here and there. Then
the Government built soms long Lines for
political and military ends. It bought the
interests of individuals Id some cases. It
sometimes made 1oans to companies, some
times gifts or bonuses, md sometimes it
guaranteed certain rate Of interest On pri-
vate capital for certain length of time
Such vas the hotch-potch when the war
with Austria and the consolidation Of the
Empire took place. The Berlin Government
then fell heir To q number of other systems
and parts Of systems in which Government
ownership and partnership Was mixed up with .
tile obligation Of completing certain uninigh-
ed lines. It is seen that the Government h.s
become incxtricably entanglad with railways,
not in pursuance Of any fixed principle as IN
the case of Belgium, but through the opera
ton of circumstances. 1t is shown Incl
dentally by Mr- MAcpossE1.1 that the original
cost Of construction Of railways in Prussia
under Government management or inter-.
ference was only $Ss,950 Per mile, while in
England it WAS S17G,2 per mile average, OF,
about twice as great in the latter as in the:
former. Allowance must be made, however.
for the greater cost Of right Of way in En-
gland, and also for the expense of tgettingc
up the bill, which is always a heavy charge |
in England in tho way Of 1awyers' fees and |
witness fees and red tape, while in Prussia it !
Is nothing. !
The German Government now OWLS and !
operates the twelve principal lines Of railway |
IN the Empire. It owns in part some Of tho |
lesser 1ines. By it's control of the chief lines
it exercises commanding influence upon the |
secondary ones. But this influence il not
used to require the private companies to do
business at unren1uneratiye rates. Nor does
the Government itself do business at a loss.
The average rate Of interest earned by the
Government lines On the capital invested is
about 6 per cent, and on the private lines
. per cent. In England the rate does not
exceed 44 per cent, In point Of safety to
passengers, the German statistics show only
one person injured to every three millions
.arried. In England the ratio is one TO threo
hundred thousand The operating expenses
n Germany, measured by the amount Of
freight and passengers carried, ara less than
n England, although measured by gross re-
:eipts they are somerhat greater, owing to
he density Of population and grceter activi-
y Of business in the Latter country
The German railway system is now in
transition state. A bill is under cousidera-
ion in the Parliament for the purchase Of a1l
he remaining lines, but the outcome is not
lear. Great reforms are predicted by Tie
dvocates Of this measure, such as uniform
ate per mile Tor passengers and uniform !
.se pu ton for freight, throughout ths En- ,
trs. On tho Alhaa'.Eosraina railways ths :