Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-04-13
AN AMAZING INDUSTRY.
Hon. Chaunccy NJ. DcPcw Gives some In
 terestinE Railway Statistics.

terestinG Railway Statistics.
 Especial Correspondence
 BUFFALO, April 9.-In tho course of a recent address hcforc tho Railroad branch of tho Y. NJ. C. A, not yet given out for general publication, Mir. Ch;unccy NJ. Dt'- pew presented some interesting statistics, showing very clearly the dominant posi- tion of American riilradS.
 Thrru arc 100, OOU miles of railrud in the world. uf which about half arr within the boundaries "f the nitrl states This enormous mileage has been cr,at,el pr;lcti- cally within the last half century, and it has virt rtually rcNulutinniz,d the business of the world and mankindS mode of life.
 "In lN50." said Mir Drprw, it cost about 2u cents per ton per mil" tn get the pruduCtS uf the farm, the mine or the fac tory tu market and for a loo mile haul just about the whole value Of tho product, but by the introduction uf railroads the cost of carriage has bCrn reduced t0 , cents rrr ton prr mile on the average in Europe and eight -tcuthS of n cent per ton per mile in the United States.
 "Tllc usual result of a rvductiOn of price is that somebody suffers, but the re(luc tionS in tho cost of living caus,d by the railroads, which havc made it possible for largV populations tu exist where none OK
 
 thing, but have been clean contribution to mankind by the construction of tho railways. It has been demonstrated that the railways hy the reduction of the cost of transportation since 1850 rrturn tO the people of the United States onCshalf of the total amount uf their stock and bonds as a dividend every y,ylr-that k to say, but for the railways it would cost the pt,nplc of the United States one half the amount of these st,sks and bonds mur' than it nov costs tn live as they exist today.
 ''Thrr are employed "u the rlilradS uf the world about 3,nnW, ,0oo"f p,rplr, l,000 00O of them in the United States, or onv man {" every 10 "f the population. But there k another f,atur' of thrSc statistics | Il marvel in mathematics. a romance aS | we'll as a r,ulitv The carrying power of | the world k the nl'Hsurr of the prosperity | of the world The carrying power Uf the | world hy rail. canal. steamship and sailing | vessel marks whether the PCnpc can live | comfortably ur whether they must Cmi gratc ur starvr hy rCl$Su Uf lack of Cm, l plOymCnt. You suspend for three months | the operation uf the railways of the United | States and within that time twO-thir,ls ui | tho people uf the United States would die | of starvation. Ten days more of railroad | paralysis last summer during tho Dch> I MOuAu AlsiNS pA NAiOu sands of people suffer for food, although they had the money to purchase the sup | plies they needed Thcru wCro about l5O, ! OOO GOO of tons carried upon the ocean. last year. About 10, 900. GOO of tons were carried upon the canals of the United States. About l4,000, 900, 900 tons wcrC carried by the worlds railroads, of which 1 $, GOO, 900, 900 wcrc carried on the railroads of the United States. In other words tho railroads of the United States carried mort than all the steamers, the sailing vessel:
 and the railroads of all the rcSt of the
 world. There never was in the romance of figures such another magnificent tribute
 such a supurb monument. to the prosperity
 of our own people"
 | CHARLES ApPIEREE