208 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



notwithstanding the advantages they possess in their 

 enormous territory, and the great energy and enterprise 

 of the Americans, they have still suffered from this 

 depression perhaps as much as we have done. The 

 reason is to be found in the fact that with them this last 

 evil of speculation is greater and far more gigantic than 

 even with us. Everybody has heard of the " corners " in 

 America, by which a lot of speculators get hold of the 

 whole trade of the country in a certain article, creating a 

 monopoly which they manipulate for their own purposes. 

 This has been applied to almost every industry. But 

 the most destructive cause of depression in America is 

 the successive railway manias which they have had. The 

 first was from 1867 to 1875. There was a continuous 

 railway mania during those years, — a mania for making 

 railways in America. In that period 40,000 miles of new 

 line were made, and in the one year 1872 no less than 

 7,000 miles of new railway were made. That coincides 

 with the culminating point of our prosperity, and a large 

 part of the iron for these lines was sent from England. 

 The greater part of these railways was made merely for 

 speculative purposes, and was very largely unproductive. 

 The shareholders were often ruined, and consequently the 

 exact effect was produced in America that was produced 

 in our country by the limited liability mania. This 

 railway mania, after a lull, broke out again in America a 

 few years ago, in 1880, and in 1882 no less than 11,500 

 miles of new railway were made. It has been estimated 

 by one of the most able statisticians in America, that 

 this increase of the railway system went on four times as 

 fast as the increase of the produce to be carried on the 

 railways. That clearly shows that most of these railways 

 have been failures — so much money thrown away, and 

 those who lost it must have been impoverished. Here 

 then you have a very widespread and enormous cause of 

 impoverishment, and therefore of depression of trade in 

 America. In fact, we hardly need to go further. 



Then, again, as to millionaires in America, I do not 

 know that they are greater in number, but they exceed 

 us in the gigantic sums they possess. While our million- 



