682 



RAILWAY SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



our cereals, will bear transportation only 250 

 and 150 miles, respectively, to markets where 

 the value of the former equals $1.50 and the 

 latter 75 cents a bushel. Beyond such limits, 

 and with no other modes of conveyance, the 

 more important products of the farmer have 

 no commercial value." To-day wheat can be 

 carried 5,000 miles by rail and sea and sold 

 at $1 a bushel, and corn can be carried 1,500 

 miles by rail and sold at 50 cents a bushel, and 

 yet leave a profit to the farmer whose indus- 

 try is mainly devoted to these crops. 



Reverting again to the census of 1880, the 

 absolute necessity for adequate railway service 

 may be implied from the ratio that the value 

 of railway property then bore to the capital 

 specifically represented by farms and manufac- 

 tories. In respect to these figures it must be 

 premised that the valuation of farms is proba- 

 bly underestimated, that the capital in rail- 

 ways included the " water " that is now being 

 squeezed out, and that the capital in manufac- 

 tories was probably overestimated. In con- 

 sidering the relation or proportion that these 

 great branches of industry bear to each other, 

 we may therefore assume : 1. That the pro- 

 portion of the national capital in improved 

 lands and farm-buildings, i. e., in the instru- 

 mentality of primary production, is herein 

 stated too low. 2. That the capital in manu- 

 facturing, i. e., in the instrumentality of conver- 

 sion of crude materials into finished goods, and 

 the capital in railways, i. e., in the chief instru- 

 mentality for distribution, are herein stated 

 too high, but that the figures of the census 

 fairly represent their relation or proportion to 

 each other. Omitting fractions, the respective 

 capitals in these three great departments of 

 industry were in 1880 as follow, as given in 

 the census: 



Farm-lands and farm-buildings $10,200,000,000 



Railways 5,200,000,0(10 



Manufacturing (under 832 heads) 3,000,000,000 



Graphically represented, the relative pro- 

 portion of these capitals is as follows : 



solved. It costs a third of the price of a ba- 

 ker's loaf to get a loaf of bread away from the 

 oven, after it is baked, to the mouth of the 

 consumer; but this is a side issue, affecting 

 the cost of distribution in detail, which can 

 not be taken up in this connection, as it forms 

 no part of a treatise on railways ; but yet the 

 relation of the railway to the supply of food 

 may well be considered. 



Food, fuel, and materials for shelter consti- 

 tute 80 to 85 per cent, of the merchandise 

 moved over the railways of the country ; fibers, 

 clothing, metals and metal- work, and miscella- 

 neous articles, 15 to 20 per cent. The way in 

 which the production and distribution of the 

 more bulky articles of traffic are promoted by 

 the construction of railways, and in return sus- 

 tain them in their use, must be shown by dia- 

 grams of a sectional order, because the several 

 great sections of this country represent very 

 different conditions of soil and climate, and 

 also different conditions affecting the produc- 

 tion and use of grain, fiber, fuel, metal, and tim- 

 ber. In the following table the proportional 

 movement of passengers and merchandise is 

 shown by sections, divisions being made ac- 

 cording to the nature of the traffic : 



SECTION 1. New England States. Food and fuel 

 moved in, and manufactures moved out and distrib- 

 uted. 



SEC. 2. Middle States. New York, New Jersey. 

 Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. Food moved 

 in and through, fuel and metal moved out, and manu 

 factured goods moved out and distributed. 



SEC. 3. Western States. Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, 

 Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Mis- 

 souri, and Nebraska. Food and timber moved out, 

 manufactures moved in, and fuel, etc., distributed. 



SEC. 4. Southern States. Cotton, wool, hemp, to- 

 bacco, and some metal moved out, food and manu- 

 factures moved in, and local distribution. 



Farms 

 Railways 



Manufacturing 



It will be observed that the valuation of the 

 farms includes the land. If we separate farm- 

 buildings, machinery, tools, and appliances from 

 land that is to say, separate all the actual capi- 

 tal upon the farm from the land and add this 

 sum to the capital in manufactures, the total 

 productive capital in both agriculture and 

 manufactures was about the same as, perhaps a 

 little more than, the single capital in railway?. 

 This brings into the clearest light the relative 

 importance of distribution. In this country 

 there is always enough for all ; but where is 

 it 1 Our productive capacity is unlimited, and 

 the main question is one of distribution. The 

 railroad has solved a part of this problem ; but 

 there are more complex questions yet to be 



^^^^^^^^^ The possibility of moving 

 BBBBBHBi merchandise long or short dis- 

 tances by rail at low rates of 

 traffic can only exist upon 

 lines that carry large quan- 

 tities ; and the quantity to be carried is a mat- 

 ter of 'section, soil, climate, and other natural 

 conditions, over which Congress can exert no 

 influence. For instance, the grain-crop of an 

 average year weighs 75,000,000 tons, but the- 

 cotton-crop and the wool-clip combined weigh 

 less than 2.000,000 tons. The products of the 

 forest weigh 25,000,000 tons. The product of 

 metal of all our mines of iron, copper, and 

 lead and zinc, weighs less than 6,000,000 tons. 

 The annual output of coal, most of which is 

 moved to some extent by the railway, is be- 

 tween 90,000,000 and 100,000,000 tons. Meats 

 we have no present means of computing, but 

 by comparisons of the quantities consumed 

 with those of grain and other kinds of food. 



