4 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



case of articles — like textiles, spirits, spices, teas, books, and similar 

 products — where great values are comprised in small bulk. The in- 

 vestigations of Mr. Atkinson show that, had the actual quantity of 

 inerchuiulise moved by the railroads of the United States in 1880 been 

 subjected to the average rate per ton per mile which was charged 

 from 18GG to 18G9, the difference would have amounted to at least 

 $500,000,000 (£100,000,000), and perhaps 8800,000,000 (£160,000,000), 

 more than the actual charge of 1880. Comparing 1865 with 1885, Mr. 

 Atkinson further shows that, taking a given weight of goods to be 

 moved from Chicago to New York, one thousand miles, by the New 

 York Central Railroad, 58 per cent of the original value was absorbed 

 in transportation and depreciation of the currency in the former year ; 

 while in 1885 only 20 per cent was so absorbed — the charge per 

 ton per mile having fallen from 3*45 cents in 1865 to '68 of a cent 

 in 1885. 



The fall in price for the carriage of commodities by sea has also 

 been as remarkable as the decline in the cost of carriage by land. 

 Freight, on the average, between Calcutta and England had experi- 

 enced a decline of about 50 per cent in 1885 as compared with 1875. 

 In the case of India wheat transported to England via the Suez 

 Canal, the decline in freights was from 71s. Zd. per ton in October, 

 1881, to 27s. in October, 1885, or more than 63 per cent. Between 

 1873 and 1885 the tolls and pilotage on the Suez Canal were reduced 

 to the extent of about 33 per cent. 



Freights from New York to Liverpool declined, from 1880 to 1886, 

 as follows (maximum and minimum) : On grain, from 9j(7. to \d. per 

 bushel ; on flour, from 255. to 7s. 6r/. per ton ; on cheese, from 50s. to 

 15s. per ton ; on cotton, from %d. to -g^^. per pound ; and on bacon 

 and lard, from 455. to 7s. 6f? per ton. Subsequently, prices recovered 

 somewhat, but by no means to the extent of the rates current in 1880 

 and preceding years. 



It is not, however, to be concealed that numerous economists and 

 statisticians of high repute — Mr. Sauerbeck and others — are neverthe- 

 less of the opinion that, allowing all that has been claimed for the influ- 

 ence on prices occasioned by reduction of cost through increased and 

 cheapened production and distribution, the decline in recent years 

 is too great to be " simply explained away " by these agencies. But 

 these authorities have specified no commodities, the analysis of whose 

 production and price-experiences in recent years furnish any suffi- 

 cient foundation for such a general conclusion ; and it is interesting to 

 note how the experiences of the few, which at first thought would 

 seem to indicate the sensible influence of " other " agencies, on analy- 

 sis prove to the contrary. Thus, in the case of wool, Messrs. Hel- 

 muth, Swartze & Co., of London, the best recognized authorities on 

 this commodity, in their annual circular for 1887, after admitting the 

 great increase in the production of wool in the years from 1860 to 



