TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 819 



But the preponderance in this respect is not nearly so great as might be •expected 

 from the numbers of the population. The cause is this, that in one large section, 

 India, the earnings and the value of labour are very much less than in Europe and 

 North America. 



The 8,720 millions of British wealth represent a sum seven times the annual 

 income, namely, 1,247 millions, which seems to be a fair calculation. According to 

 this the British people earn 14 per cent, on their capital, which rate is about the 

 •same as that of the United States. It exceeds the corresponding ratio on the 

 Continent of Europe. But it is considerably surpassed by the ratios in Canada 

 and Australia — 18 and 22 per cent, respectively. 



The construction of public works is a test of national progress ; those works 

 which may here be selected for mention are railways, electric telegraphs, and 

 canals. 



For the British Empire there are 38,000 miles of railway open, of which 

 18,000 miles are in the United Kingdom, and 20,000 miles "in India and the 

 Colonies. For the area and population of the empire this figure is not remarkable, 

 inasmuch as in the world there are about 260,000 miles, of which the British 

 Empire has only one-sixth. It is an astonishing fact that in the United States 

 alone there are nearly 115,000 miles, more than double and nearly three times the 

 mileage of the whole British Empire. 



The extent of railways in proportion to population is larger in the United 

 Kingdom than in any other part of Europe, but is much smaller than in the 

 Colonies and in the United States. While there are 520 miles to every million of 

 inhabitants in the United Kingdom, there are 1,920 in Australia, and 1,780 in 

 Canada : but even the colonial proportion is overtopped in the United States, 

 where the corresponding number is 2,106. But if the test of the value of railways 

 be the amount of work done by them in proportion to their mileage, then in this 

 respect no railways in the world equal the British. The average earnings per mile 

 of a railway in the United States is 1,440/. In India the average of earnings 

 ( 1,330/.) is about the same ; in Australia (1,075/.) it is lower ; and in Canada 

 (790/.) it is still less. But in the United Kingdom it is more than double, being 

 3,800/. In the United Kingdom 18,000 miles of railway earn 69 millions sterling 

 annually ; in the United States 100,000 miles of railway earn only 136 millions" 

 The general maximum speed of trains in the United Kingdom and the total mileage 

 run by express trains are considerably greater in the United Kingdom than in any 

 other country. 



It has been computed, by adding together the number of passengers and of tons 

 carried, that 46 per cent, of the railway traffic of the world is done by the 

 railways of the British Empire. In abatement of this, however, it should be added 

 that the distances run in the United Kingdom are less than on the Continent of 

 Europe, and still less than in the United States. 



Regarding electric telegraphs on land there are 86,000 miles in the British 

 Empire, or nearly one-fifth of the sum total for the world. It is remarkable that 

 the telegraphs in Australia — 26,000 miles— are exactly equal to those in the 

 United Kingdom. But in illustration of the difference between an old and a new 

 country there are 31 millions of messages yearly in the United Kingdom, and only 

 5 millions in Australia. In other words, the telegraph does six times as much in the 

 old country as in the new. Similarly in the United States the length of telegraph — 

 121,000 miles—is amazing, but the messages are only 34 millions, just in excess of 

 those in the United Kingdom. In other words, the work is more than four times 

 as heavy in the United Kingdom in comparison with the United States. Besides 

 the land telegraphs, there are submarine cables in the world, with the surprising 

 length of 105,000 miles. Of these the greater part belong to the British Empire. 



In regard to canals of navigation, there are about 6,000 mile3 in the British 

 Empire. The significance of this will be appreciated by recollecting that for the 

 world the total length is set down at 23,000 miles. Thus one-fourth out of the 

 world's total is British. But in these figures there are not included the channels of 

 irrigation in India, of which the length exceeds 20,000 miles. Of this length one- 

 fourth consists of canals remarkable for their size. 



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