COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



115 



A principal agent in the great development 

 of American productions in the last ten years, 

 in which time they have more than doubled, has 

 been the construction of railroads, by which 

 the land, the great productive agent, has been 

 made accessible. The extent to which these 

 have been constructed, is manifest in the fol- 

 lowing tables of the miles in operation Jan. 1, 

 1852, and Jan. 1, 1862, in each State, showing 

 the actual length of the railroads within the 

 limits of each State, with the number of miles 

 open for business, and the cost of the roads 

 and equipment: 





and consequently in that period $740,000,000 

 have been spent in their construction. 



This capital has, however, been more than re- 

 turned by the vast products of the land which 

 they have opened up for industry. Take for ex- 

 ample the commerce of the railroads of New 

 York. The total tonnage, with value of the 

 same, transported over these works the past 

 rear was as follows : 



The tonnage of the canals of the State is not 

 as great as that of the railroads. The aggre- 

 gate for both equals 9,968,044 tons, having a 

 value of $1 ,000,000,000. The tonnage of vege- 

 table food for both railways and canals equal 

 very nearly if not quite 3,342,569 tons, or 

 160,000,000 bushels. 



The total mileage of the railways in New 

 York engaged in the transportation of freight 

 is 2,654 miles; in the Northern States. 29,683 

 miles. At one-half the tonnage of the New- 

 York roads, the total of the roads of these 

 States will exceed 20,683,000 tons. Estimating 

 the value of such freight to be only $100 per 

 ton, the total would be $2,250,000,000. In 

 other words, the value of the freight transport- 

 ed over the railroads of the Northern States ex- 

 ceeds $100 to each inhabitant. The value of 

 such as go over their navigable water courses 

 is nearly as great, making the aggregate value 

 of the internal commerce of the Northern States 

 exceed $4,000,000,000 ; a sum six times greater 

 than the entire foreign trade of the country. 



The tonnage of the railroads has gradually 

 gained upon that of the canals. Thus the N. Y. 

 Erie road and the N. Y. Central are supposed to 

 rival the Erie Canal in its tonnage. The tonnage 



