KH 



RAILROADS. 

 TABLE 1LRat!o of Railroad* and Railroad Earningt in 1873. 



next four years were years of unexampled activity; 

 while tin- ih roe years. >*'ISK3, 1884, and 1885 were years 

 of hesitancy, in which no new railroad enterprise of 

 great magnitude was begun, as was natural after the 

 completion in a single year (1882) of 11,568 miles of 

 road. The last two years, 1886 and 1887, which close 

 the record, are memorable for the reason that within 

 that time there was constructed a greater extent of 

 mileage than in any two preceding years. In 1886 

 there were built 8343 miles, and in 1887, 13,188 miles, 

 the latter surpassing the record of any previous year. 

 In the two years the new construction aggregated 

 21,531 miles. 



Since the revival of railroad construction in 1879 

 there have been completed three additional through 

 transcontinental railroads, the Northern Pacific, the 

 Atlantic and Pacific, and the Southern Pacific, while 

 the Union Pacific, by the construction of its Oregon 

 Short line northwest to a connection with a branch of 

 the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company's 

 system, has added another route to the Pacific. At 

 least three of the great western railroad systems are 

 : retching westward, with the evident intention 

 of speedily reaching the same ocean. 



A striking feature of the last decade of railroad 

 building is the large number of speculative and par- 

 allel lines which were put under way and many of 

 them completed, notablv the West Shore Railroad, 

 which parallels the New York Central line for its whole 

 length from New York to BofiaJo; the "Nickel- 

 Plate " line, which parallels Lake Shore in like manner 

 from Buffalo to Chicago, and the South Pennsylvania 

 paralleling the Pennsylvania Railroad between Philadel- 

 phia and Pittsbiirg, upon which a vast sum was ex- 

 pended, but which has not been completed. In some 

 instances such lines were perhaps undertaken with a 

 view to forcing their subsequent purchase bv the older 

 companies whose lines they sought to parallel, and in 

 the case of the two roads first mentioned these plans 

 Diet with eminent success. But their fulfilment- was 

 in th.- main the cause of the depression which existed 

 during the years 1885, 1886, and ISsT. 



Railroad construction in the United States practi- 

 cally dates from 1828, when the Baltimore and Ohio 

 R -lilt-nail was commenced. In 1830 there were but 

 twenty-three miles of railroad in the whole country. 

 The wonderful growth of this element of modern civili- 

 zation since that time is shown in Table I., which 

 gives by States and groups of States, quinquennially 

 from 1835 to issr>, and for the last two years, 1886 

 and 1887, the mileage of all railroads in the United 

 Btatoi 



RAILROAD LEGISLATION. 



The railroad lines first constructed were all built 

 under special charters granted by their respec- 

 tive State Legislatures. As the ramifications of 

 the system became more extended and its advantages 

 became more thoroughly appreciated by the pub- 

 lic. the public was only to eager to encourage its 

 farther extension in every way possible. To this end 

 it wa-s deemed advisable to remove all obstacles or 

 legislation that tended to hinder or obstruct the more 

 peedy formation and inauguration of new railroad 

 enterprises. In this work the State of New York led 



by enacting in 1850 a General Railroad Law which 

 provided for the organization of railroad corporations 

 at will by 25 or more persons, without applicati. .n to 

 the Legislature, the object sought to be attained being 

 unrestricted competition in railroads, as well as to re- 

 lieve the Legislature of much labor. This law served 

 as a model for all similar laws introduced since then 

 in the other States of the Union. 



The State railroad commissions, which are to-day a 

 recognized factor in railway administration, have come 

 into existence and prominence since isiiT. although 

 there were so-called commissions at an earlier period. 



In some of the New England States at an early 

 period in the history of railroads such commissions 

 were established. New Hampshire led in 1844 with a 

 single head commission. Connecticut and Vermont 

 followed with similar commissions, 1853 and 1855 re- 

 spectively. The powers of these boards were very 

 limited and for the most part advisory. New YurL 

 had a short-lived commission in 1855, and after the 

 civil war several were created for a temporary pur- 

 pose, distinct from regulation, such as that in Arkan- 

 sas, which passed upon applications for State aid to 

 railroads, and that in Tennessee, in 1870, which was 

 authorized to sell or lease railroads in default to the 

 State for loans. There are marked differences in the 

 plan upon which the existing State commissions are 

 organized. Of the older ones, those of the New Eng- 

 land States, with the exception of Massachusetts and 

 New Hampshire, form a distinct class by themselves, 

 their duties being mainly limited to the inspection of 

 the railway equipment and service. 



Of an entirely different type were the commissions 

 of the Western States, which owed their origin to the 

 widespread "granger" movement (1870-77). Of 

 this movement. Prof. Arthur T. Hadley writes in his 

 work on Railroad Transportation : 



" Nowhere had the policy of railroad subsidies been more 

 rcckles-sly carried out than in the Upper Mississippi Valley. 

 'I'll.' -.pint of enterprise at the close of the war found full 

 play here. There was u lurk either of niiiioinil Immi- 

 grants' or municipal subscriptions. Kiu-h roiniminitv nantnl 

 railroads at any price, l-'.iu-h railroad offered glowing in- 

 iliici-iiirnt* to settler*. The result was that railroads and 

 settler* both moved too far west; ami rau heavily into debt 

 to do it. 



" In the years 1865-71, 6ve hundred million dollars hnd 

 been invested in Western railroads. These roads wen- <lr- 

 pendent upon the wheat crop fur their revenue. The price 

 of wheat, which for some years had been high, was at lant 

 affected by the extension of production and the change of 

 conditions. With transportation charges at their previous 

 figure, the farmer* could no longer pay their debts, With 

 transportation charges reduced, the railroads could not pnjr 

 theirs. There was a lorn to be divided, instead of a profit. 

 It was beyond the power of any law to divide this loss in 

 such a way as to civ.- n profit to both parties. It was the 

 result of general industrial conditions. 



"Unfortunately the railroads were managed in such a 

 way that it seemed as if they were directly responsible for 

 pretty much nil these evils. In the first place they were 

 run recklessly, with a most short-sighted view to present 

 interest* only. Outrageous favors were given in the way 

 of s|>eois.I rates. Where there was but one railroad it 

 charged all that It could extort. When the farmer had once 

 settled so far from auv market, he was at the mercy of th* 

 railroad, which I'uruUthed his sole- inrans of trunn|x>ruuioa. 



