3 i8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



it can also be said that they are shorter and, in a certain sense, more 

 humane ; the latter, not only in the fact that the victims of battle re- 

 ceive better care, but also that the peaceful population of the country 

 visited by war are, by means of the improved facilities for communi- 

 cation, spared the burden of maintaining the invading army. The 

 greater part of the cruelty and barbarity of former wars arose from 

 the fact that the troops had to be supported by the land in which they 

 were encamped, and the necessity of their taking care of themselves 

 excluded all consideration for the people. "War is still a direful 

 scourge ; but the arrangements for provisioning and foraging and the 

 system of requisitions which railroads have made possible place the 

 military administration in a condition to spare the country from ex- 

 haustive drafts, and to prevent excesses by the soldiers. The influence 

 of modern means of intercourse may also be seen in the peaceful rela- 

 tions of states to one another, and in the inner political life of individ- 

 ual states. We shall make no mistake if we assign to railroads and 

 telegraphs an important part in the present tendency to form large 

 states and to give greater consistency to national organizations. Simi- 

 larity and community of economical interests are not consistent with 

 separation by arbitrary divisions. Material interests require the widest 

 possible conformity of legislation and administration and a strong 

 civil power able to give them external and internal protection, neither 

 of which can be afforded in the small state. Railroads and telegraphs 

 are a political force of the first order to promote in nascent states the 

 accomplishment of their union, in established states the strengthening 

 of the executive and the growth of the political influence of the gov- 

 ernment. In all civilized states the telegraph and the railroads together 

 enable the government to be advised of all important events on the in- 

 stant of their happening, and immediately to take whatever measures 

 may be necessary. It is a further consequence that the central power 

 becomes more concentrated, and the individual prerogative and respon- 

 sibility of the local officers limited ; while in smaller states the admin- 

 istrative organization may be simplified by dispensing with intermedi- 

 ate agents. 



The effect of railroads and telegraphs upon the civic structure is 

 also manifested in the more lively participation of the people in politi- 

 cal life. This happens both in consequence of the increased ease of 

 personal intercourse and through the quickening and increased extent 

 of the exchanges of thought that are furthered by the press and by 

 correspondence. The freer intercourse of candidates with the people 

 whose votes they are seeking, and of deputies with their constituents, 

 has done much to make the people acquainted with public questions in 

 their varying aspects, and interested in them. Much more is done by 

 the periodical press, which now scatters its issues in numbers and with 

 a speed and cheapness that would have been incredible a half -century 

 ago. Other factors are indeed contributing to this condition, but they 



