THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 221 



" 12. As little can be said against items 2, 3, 4, and 7 ; 

 but 5, 6, and 9 produce serious misgivings. Item 5 of 

 the estimate, providing $2,312,000 for buildings, includes 

 $850,000 for repair-shops for machinery and cars, 134 

 stations at $2000 each, or $268,000 ; lastly ten princi- 

 pal stations at $25,000 each, or $250,000. These figures 

 are out of all proportion low ; for a length of line of 2000 

 miles, workshops at the collective amount of $850,000, 

 stations the whole arrangements of which are put down 

 at $2000 only, and principal stations at $25,000 each, 

 cannot be looked upon as adequate to the requirements. 

 This item, therefore, will have to be increased. The 

 ;same remark applies to item 6, which provides $3,615,- 

 000 as the working capital, and out of this are to be 

 procured 120 locomotives, 100 first-class passenger cars, 

 50 second-class passenger cars, 30 smoking cars, 30 

 mail and baggage cars, and 1500 freight and cattle cars. 

 This working capital is so small, and stands in such 

 glaring contrast with the length of line, that much more 

 will be required than has been provided by the estimates. 

 In North Germany a line of similar length would re- 

 quire more than 25,000,000 thalers; and though it may 

 not be quite fair to measure American expenses by a 

 German standard a maxim which underlies this report 

 still the most superficial critic must perceive that 

 here a very considerable augmentation is needed. With 

 regard to item 9, providing $7,230,000 for the payment 

 of interest during construction, a similar claim will have 

 to be put forward. Suppose the time of building to be 

 four years a supposition based upon exact information 

 obtained the works would consume a quarter of the 

 building capital in every year during the building period. 

 This interest will have to be paid at the end of the first 



