668 



RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



va. After the Revolution of the 4th of Septem- 

 ber, 1870, he returned to Paris, and bitterly 

 denounced the Germans for continuing the war 

 against republican France. In 1871 he was 

 elected to the National Assembly, where he 

 was up to his death, with Louis Blanc and 

 Reyrat, one of the leaders of the Irreconcilables 

 of the Extreme Left. His death was mourned 

 by the republicans as a severe loss. The fu- 

 neral took place on March 29th, and was at- 

 tended by a large crowd. When the cemetery 

 was reached there were fully thirty thousand 

 persons in attendance. Victor Hugo pro- 

 nounced a discourse, which was repeatedly 

 interrupted by loud applause and cries of " Vive 



la Republique ! " He was followed by MM. Buis- 

 sen and Laboulaye, and afterward by M. Gam- 

 betta, who exhorted the public to be calm. 

 There was no religious ceremony, most of those 

 present wearing bouquets of the yellow and 

 red everlastings peculiarly affected by free- 

 thinkers. Among his principal works are: 

 "Revolutions d'ltalie" (1848), "Histoire de 

 la Fondation des Provinces-Unies. Marnix de 

 Sainte-Aldegonde " (1854), "Histoire de mes 

 Idees " (1860), " Histoire de la Campagne de 

 1815 " '(1862), " France et Italie " (1866), 

 "France et Allemagne" (1867), "La Revolu- 

 tion" (1865), and "La Creation" (2 vols., 

 1870). 



E 



RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

 The railroad-building mania has been gradually 

 abating for a number of years, and although 

 there is still a constant cry through the West 

 for new outlets, and although even many do 

 not hesitate to demand of Government assist- 

 ance for the building of competitive lines, yet 

 the Western communities see that there is little 

 hope of enticing capital into these enterprises 

 BO easily as in the past. Indeed, it is upon this 

 account that the producers look more and more 

 to Government to supply their supposed wants. 

 Some go so far as to demand that the central 

 Government shall establish and. conduct lines 

 of communication, and, by affording carriage at 

 a minimum price, thus control the rates of the 

 private companies. Many do not hesitate to 

 demand legislative interference with the exist- 

 ing charters for the limitation of prices. A 

 great deal is said of the equitable claims of the 

 people for reasonable rates of transportation, 

 and of the unjust profits of the corporations. 

 Some suppose that these extortionate profits 

 would be abated if, by legal process, the nomi- 

 nal capital stock of the roads were reduced, so 

 as to correspond with the actually-invested 

 capital. The connection between the state of 

 the railroads and the late financial distress is 

 seen very differently by different minds. Most 

 thinkers believe that the sinking of huge capi- 

 tals, mostly the accumulations of the people, 

 but in no inconsiderable part borrowed from 

 abroad, and the waste of vast amounts of labor, 

 in undertakings which supply no immediate 

 want, and are utterly useless as far as present 

 commercial activity is concerned, have had not 

 a small share in the production of the financial 

 disturbances and the stoppage of production 

 which we have lately suffered under. Others 

 expect a larger exportation of the products of 

 the soil, a quickening of manufacturing, and a 

 speedy return to a healthy condition of trade, 

 from the opening up of new commercial routes, 

 the greater competition of railroads, and con- 

 sequent decline of freight-charges, and those 

 who look to the Government for relief await 



these blessings from the establishment of pub- 

 lic railroads, or the improvement and exten- 

 sion of the water-ways, or from the forcible 

 control and reduction of the charges exacted 

 by the private corporations. 



During the fiscal year 1874-'75 only 1,940 

 miles of road were laid in the United States, 

 against 3,948 miles in 1873, 6,167 miles in 1872, 

 and 7,670 miles in 1871. Of the 28,428 miles 

 of railroad constructed in the United States 

 during the five years ending with 1873, ten or 

 twelve thousand miles were built upon land- 

 grants, the building of which was hastened to 

 prevent the lapse of the grants. The construc- 

 tion of new roads has probably ceased now for 

 a number of years to come. There is no more 

 occasion to push the construction of railroads 

 upon Government grants of land, since most of 

 the terms for which lands have been granted, 

 upon the condition that railroads should be 

 built, have now expired. 



The financial condition of American rail- 

 roads has, it is to be hoped, passed its worst 

 stage. The defaults for 1875 have certainly 

 not increased upon those of 1874. The Amer- 

 ican Railroad Journal says : 



But while all, or nearly all, of those who withstood 

 the pressure of 1874 have so far managed to pay in- 

 terest on their mortgage debts, it is no secret that 

 many of them have only been enabled to do so bv 

 fresh borrowing. This is to be mentioned as their 

 misfortune, not their fault. Eailroads in good stand- 

 ing are still the safest customers to which the banks 

 can lend their surplus ; and the banks can do no 

 better with their idle funds than to lend to railroads 

 doing a legitimate carrying business, until trade 

 takes a new start. As there are but few companies 

 putting down new roads, there has been but little 

 selling of new bonds. London still continues to ad- 

 vance to the great corporations who have had her 

 esteem, but Germany and Holland are at present 

 very shy of American investments. The breakdown 

 of Spanish, Turkish, and Austrian credits will, 

 however, soon tempt the money-lenders again to 

 American securities. 



Of the broken-down roads the year 1875 has wit- 

 nessed a wholesale liquidation. Several have been 

 reorganized through foreclosure, and proceedings 

 are now pending in manv more cases. Generally 

 this has been accompanied with a shrinkage of from 



