45U 



FARMERS REGISTER, 



[No. 8 



Btundinff and iriHueiice. Belgium, united with I and on one point with Prussia fGermany)- 

 Holland eince 1815, had dislinguislied itself in The news of the gigantic work, undertaken hy 

 Europe, by its fine roads, and magnificient ca- | a state, even not yet acknowledged as such by the 

 nals; the latter, bcin" constructed lor' the greatest | northern power^i, and with only (our mdhons of 



part in a level country, and without locks, were 

 used not only for the transportation of goods, but 

 also for passengers, especially the lower classes, 

 which there, more than in any olhercounlry, made 

 use of the canal boats for their travels. It is evi- 

 dent, that no individuals would ever have at- 

 tempted to construct rail-roads parallel and in op- 

 position to such canals and turnpike roads. 



In the year 1830, Belgium declared itself inde- 

 pendent of Holland, and elected by the represen- 

 tatives of the nation its own sovereign. King 

 Leopold I. soon discovered, that the country, 

 for its perfect tranquillity; wants "labor"; a series 

 of wise legislation encouraged the nation to useful 

 and profitable enterprises, and every person with 

 talent and inclination found employment and earn- 

 ings in a country, which isolated from all its 

 neighbors, was confined to its own resources. But 

 to gain the public opinion, a great national work 

 was to be accomplished by the new government, 

 able to fill posterity with admiration. The time 

 was past for Egyptian pyramids, for Roman tri- 

 umphal arches, and French monuments of war. 

 A more useful monnmcnt. one of peace and 

 inleiiigence, should remind the nation oi' that 

 eventful period. The king ordered the whole 

 country to be surveyed by able engineers, the 

 necessary plans and estimates formed, and on the 

 first of May 1834, a law was proclaimed, accord- 

 ing to which a system of rail-roads should be in- 

 troduced through the xohole kingdom, and executed 

 at the expense of the state; on two points (at Ant- 

 werp and Ostend), the rail-roads were to lead to 

 the seaports, on two points to connect with France, 



inhabitants, excited the greatest surprise in Europe, 

 and few only could conceive the great results, 

 which this grand [iroject must necessarily produce 

 on the independence of the nation and its internal 

 to elf are, Us commerce and industry; the Ibrmer 

 being the principal aim, and the promotion of com- 

 merce and industry a subordinate one, although 

 the great mass of the people were una-ble to com- 

 prehend the grand idea of the plan. 



King Leopold found in his former minister 

 of public works, Mr. De Theux, and in his suc- 

 cessor JVlr. Nolhonib, vigorous supporters. The en- 

 gineers were vying in the swift prosecution of the 

 work, and in the course of four years more has 

 been done than was expected. The enligtened min- 

 ister ISothomb published annual reports to the 

 legislative assembly, besides other special reports 

 ot^ the progress of the works, in which the public 

 in Europe find a rich source of experience, not to 

 be met with in any report or work on the subject. 

 Europe has to render thanks to the king, who 

 the first realized such a grand idea, and to his en- 

 lightened minister, who judiciously conducted the 

 work, and so liberally communicated its results. 

 The limited space of this report does not allow 

 a detailed extract from the above mentioned re- 

 ports of the minister Nothonib and the engineers; 

 i shall therefore only give a brief account contain- 

 ing the results in numbers, and aliervvards com- 

 pare these results with those of rail-roads in the 

 United Stales. The jbllowing table contains the 

 sections of the rail-roads which were opened until 

 the end of 1838, and their lengths in me'tres and 

 English miles. 



According to the report, made by the minister 

 to the house of rcpreseniaiives, on the 26 Novem- 

 ber 1838, the above ten sections, including build- 

 ings, locomotives and cnrs, cost 34,000,000 francs; 

 this gives per mile of road 41,300 dollars. The 

 rail-road from Brussels to Antwerp, 27.2 miles, 

 has a double (rack ; the remainder are constructed 

 only with a single track, the rails weighing 45 lbs. 

 per yard. But there are several buildings yet to 

 be erected, and difierent works on the line to be 

 executed, and besides a number of freighl cars to 

 be provided for, &c.; with all this the cost per mile 

 will amount to 45,000 dollars. 



II. Tariff fur Passengers, Speed. 



There are on the Belgian rail-roads four classes 

 of passenger cars, ditiering only in elegance and 



comfort, but going in the same train, and therefore 



with equal velocity. Tiie prices are: 



In the Berlines, 2^ cents per mile,') For each 



" Diligences, 2 " " '< i passenger 



" Chars a Bancs 1 J " " " j with 44 lbs. 



" "Wagons, 0.8 " " " J of baggage. 



The trains perform at an a\erage 17 Entr. miles 

 per hour, all stoppages included, or liom 20 to 25 

 while running. 

 111. 2Vaffic and revenue of the Belgian Rail-roads. 



The rail-roads in Belgium are frequented by 

 more passengers than any other rail-roads; the 

 transportation of freight was only be^un between 

 Brussels and Antwerp, in 1838. The following 

 table shows the travel since Ihe opening of the 

 first eection, until the 31st of October 1838. 



