The Railroad Question Part 3

The transportation facilities of West Australia are still far behind those of her sister colonies. The first line was opened in 1873, and the total number of miles of road operated in the colony in 1889 was only 496. The government controls nearly all the railroads of the colony.

Of the islands of Australasia, Tasmania and New Zealand are as yet the only ones that have railroad communication. The former built its first road in 1870 and had at the end of the year 1890 about 1,900 miles in operation. New Zealand opened its first railroad between Christchurch and Lyttleton on December 1, 1863. The development of the system was slow at first, there being but 25 miles of road in operation in 1870. In 1891 the number of miles of road had increased to 1,916, all but 92 miles being operated by the colonial government. The total amount expended by the government for railroads is $55,000,000. The net revenue in 1887 was about 2-1/2 per cent of the amount invested.

In South America railroad building is of comparatively recent date. The first road was built in 1851, but the line was short and remained the only one for several years. With thirty million people the South American states have at present but little more than 16,000 miles of railroad, a condition which must at least in part be ascribed to the peculiar conservatism of the Latin race.

The United States of Colombia possesses less than 250 miles of road. Its first line was the Panama Railroad, from Colon to Aspinwall. It connects the Pacific with the Atlantic ocean, is 48 miles long and was constructed in 1855. This, as well as the several other roads of Colombia, is the property of private companies. A number of new roads have recently been surveyed.

Venezuela opened in 1866 a road, 56 miles long, from Puerto Caballo to Palito, which in 1870 was extended to Aroa. A number of other short roads, aggregating about 350 miles, have since been constructed. The total extent of railroad in Venezuela was 432 miles in 1889, of which the greater part was operated by private companies. Several important lines are in the process of construction, and will connect Caracas with Carabobo, San Carlos and the port of La Guayra.

The Republic of Ecuador constructed in 1876 a road from Jaguachi to Puente de Chimbo, a distance of 43 miles. This line was recently extended to Siambe, and has now a total length of 94 miles. In 1886 a charter was granted to a North American company, authorizing the construction of a road from San Lorenzo to Esmeraldas and guaranteeing certain dividends on the investment. At the close of the year 1889 Ecuador had 167 miles of road.

The first railroad in Peru was built in 1851, connecting the seaport Callao with the capital, Lima. After this but little was done for more than twenty years. At the beginning of the seventies an extensive railroad system was projected at the instigation of President Don Manuel Pardo, and the construction of the princ.i.p.al road of the system from Mollendo on the Pacific Ocean to Santa Rosa was at once entered upon.

This road ascends the Western Cordillera, crosses a number of prodigious mountain pa.s.ses, reaches Lake t.i.ticaca, and then proceeds in a northwesterly direction to Santa Rosa. It is over 300 miles long, and reaches near Puna an alt.i.tude of 14,700 feet. An extension of this line from Santa Rosa to the old Inca city Cuzco was opened in 1875, but was subsequently destroyed in the war with Chile, and has not been reopened.

Another road, extending from Callao to San Mateo, was opened in 1876. It is eighty-seven miles long, and reaches with its enormous grades a height of over 13,000 feet. It belongs, with the Santa Rosa road, to the boldest creations of railroad engineering. Since the war with Chile railroad enterprise has been checked. The number of miles of road in operation rose from 962 in 1875 to 1,615 in 1880, but was, owing to the abandonment of certain lines, diminished to 813 in 1884. Since that time about 400 miles of new road have been opened.

In the Republic of Bolivia the first railroad was built about twenty years ago from Antofogasta to Solar. After the cession of the province of Antofogasta to Chile there remained but thirty-five miles of road in Bolivia. More than 200 miles have since been added by the construction of several short roads, chiefly the property of mining companies.

The Republic of Chile was the first of the South American states to initiate the construction of railways. The building of a line from the seaport Caldera to Copiapo was commenced in May, 1850, and was completed on January 2, 1852. This line was constructed and operated by a private company. The first state road, extending from Valparaiso to Santiago, was opened on the 15th of September, 1865. To this road has since been added an extension to Talcahuana, as well as several branch lines. The total amount that has been expended by the Chilean government for the construction of railroads is $43,000,000. The total number of miles of road operated in Chile in 1887 was 1,674, of which 992 were the property of private companies and 682 miles were owned by the state. Two hundred and fifty miles of road have since been constructed, and the construction of 700 additional miles of railroad has been authorized by the government.

The Argentine Republic opened its first road, extending from Buenos Ayres to Belgrano, in December, 1862. Several other lines soon followed, and in 1870 over 600 miles of road had been constructed. This number had increased to 1,440 in 1880 and to 5,100 in 1889. Since then several new lines have been completed, aggregating over 600 miles. Among the princ.i.p.al lines of the Argentine Republic is the transcontinental road which connects the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean. The whole line is 880 miles long, of which 665 miles are in the Argentine Republic and the remaining 115 miles in Chile. Of the 3,705 miles of road which were in operation at the beginning of the year 1887 the republic owned 1,148, the province of Buenos Ayres 572, the province of Santa Fe 102, and private companies 1,888 miles. The total amount invested in railroads was $154,000,000 in 1887, which yielded an average dividend of 3.9 per cent.

The oldest railroad in Brazil is the Petropolis road. It was built by a private company and opened on December 16, 1856. In 1881 the total number of miles in operation was 2,422, and in 1889 it had increased to 5,766. Furthermore charters had been granted for the additional construction of 2,271 miles of road. Of the lines in operation about 1,200 miles are the property of the state, yielding a revenue of nearly 3 per cent. on the capital invested. The state gives aid, besides, to several private roads. The most important road of Brazil is the state road Dom Pedro I., which connects the three richest provinces of the country, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerals and Sao Paolo, with the national capital. It was opened in 1883, and has a total extent of 544 miles.

The princ.i.p.al roads of Uruguay were built between 1865 and 1875. In the latter year the total number of miles in operation in Uruguay was 190, which in 1880 had increased to 230, and in 1889 to 469 miles.

In the remaining political divisions of South America the railroad extended its dominion still more slowly. Paraguay opened as early as 1863 a line 45 miles long from Asuncion to Itangua, and in 1892 her railroad system had increased to 159 miles in extent. British Guiana completed in 1866 a line from Georgetown to New Amsterdam, but not one mile of railroad has been built in that colony since. Of the islands of South America Trinidad is the only one into which the railroad has been introduced. The island has at present 50 miles of road, to 16 in 1878.

Central America has less than 600 miles of railway. The causes which have r.e.t.a.r.ded the development of the railroad system in South America are also operative here. Of the five republics of Central America Costa Rica has the largest number of miles of railroad, viz.: 161. It has three different lines, of which the Limon and Carillo line, seventy miles long, is the most important. This road, which connects with a New York line of steamers at Limon, has greatly furthered the cultivation of bananas in the Santa Clara valley.

Nicaragua completed its first road in 1880 between Corinto and Chinandega, and has at present about 100 miles of railway in operation.

The Nicaragua Ca.n.a.l Company is constructing a road from Juan del Norte to Ochoa, a distance of thirty-two miles, to be used in the construction of the ca.n.a.l.

Honduras opened in 1871 its only line, thirty-seven miles long, between Puerto Caballo and San Jago. In recent years an extension of nine miles has been added to it.

San Salvador has, besides a street-car line between the cities of San Salvador and Santa Tecla, only one line of railroad between Acajutla and Armea, which was constructed with public funds and opened for traffic on July 15, 1882.

Guatemala was the last of the Central American States to introduce the railroad. Its first road, seventy-four miles long, and extending from San Jose on the Pacific Ocean to the capital, Guatemala, was built by a San Francisco company and opened on August 20, 1884. The state has at the present time about 100 miles of road, with several short but quite important lines under construction.

The West Indies have between 1,200 and 1,400 miles of railway, of which more than 1,000 are in Cuba. The first road upon this island, 179 miles long and extending from Habana to Guanajay, was opened as early as 1837.

The next ten years developed almost the whole of the railroad system of the western half of Cuba. A number of important roads have since been opened in the central and eastern portions of the island, whose railroad mileage is at present larger per capita than that of any other political division of the Western Hemisphere save that of Canada and the United States. The second of the West India islands to construct a railroad was Jamaica. A line connecting Kingston and Spanishtown was opened on the 21st of November, 1845. Two branch lines have since been added, making the total number of miles of road on this island seventy-six at the present time. About twenty-five miles more are now in the process of construction. San Domingo and Hayti have also recently commenced to build railroads. In the former republic a line from Sanchez to LaVega, sixty-two and one-half miles long, is now open to traffic, and Hayti is constructing a line from Gonaives, on the western coast, to Porte de Paix, on the eastern coast of the island. The Spanish government in 1888 also granted a charter for the construction of a railroad on the island of Porto Rica.

Of our neighbors on the North American continent, Mexico and Canada, the former has been by far the slower to avail herself of the advantages of railroad communication. The slow growth of the railroad system of Mexico must be ascribed chiefly to the frequent political disturbances of the country as well as to the many topographical obstacles which presented themselves to the railroad engineer. The first Mexican railway, excepting tramways, was the one which connects the capital with the city of Vera Cruz. It was constructed by an English company and was opened on the first day of January, 1873. In 1875 the total number of miles of road in Mexico was 327, and five years later somewhat less than 700.

Since then the development of the system has been much more rapid. In 1880 several companies were formed for the purpose of building a system of roads which would connect the Mexican capital with the United States as well as with the most important harbors of the gulfs of Mexico and California. The projectors of these lines, who were citizens of the United States, received the hearty cooperation of the Mexican government, and the work was at once pushed very vigorously. At the end of the year 1885 more than 2,500 miles of new road were open for traffic, and a thousand miles more at the end of the following year. In 1889 Mexico had 5,332 miles of road. The princ.i.p.al one of the newly constructed roads is the Mexican Central, which connects Paso del Norte with the City of Mexico. This line will also, when its branches are completed, form a through route between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Another scarcely less important through line north and south is the National Mexican Railway, which is 722 miles long and connects Laredo, on the Rio Grande, with the capital and the southern states. Another line has recently been opened from Torreon to Durango.

The number of miles of road at present in operation in the Republic of Mexico is about 6,800, with a number of new lines rapidly nearing completion. The development of Mexico's resources has, during the past decade, kept pace with the rapid expansion of its railroad system.

In the Dominion of Canada about fifteen miles of railroad line were built as early as 1837, but only forty-three miles was added during the next ten years. In 1852 there was still only 212 miles of railroad in all of the British possessions in North America. At that time the construction of the Grand Trunk system was commenced, the first section of the system, Portland-Montreal, being opened in 1853. After this railroads increased very rapidly in Canada, reaching an extent of 2,087 miles in 1860, 4,826 miles in 1875, 6,891 miles in 1880, and 10,150 miles in 1890. The majority of Canadian railroads are in the hands of private companies, some of which have been very materially aided by the government. One of the conditions upon which the union of the several British provinces, except Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, was effected in 1867, was the construction of a railroad by the Dominion government connecting the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This road, the main line of which extends from Point Levis, opposite Quebec, to Halifax, was accordingly built, and is still operated by the Canadian government. Its cost was about 46,000,000.

But the most important enterprise in which the government is interested is the Canadian Pacific Railway. Like the intercolonial railway, this line was a result of the political union of the colonies. Its construction was commenced by the government, but was subsequently a.s.signed to a private corporation, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, all that had been done by the government being turned over to the company as a gift. It is estimated that the direct gifts of money, the land grant and other privileges conferred by the Dominion government upon the Pacific Railway Company exceed $100,000,000 in value, and that, with the amount of bonds and stock guaranteed by the government, the par value of its various aids amounts to $215,000,000, or $48,000,000 more than the cost of the road, as will be shown by the following table, taken from the report of the Interstate Commerce Committee of the Senate of the Fifty-first Congress:

Subsidy granted by the act of Parliament of February 13, 1881 $25,000,000 Seven hundred and fourteen miles of railroad constructed by the Dominion Government, original cost and interest 36,760,785 Capital stock guaranteed 65,000,000 Loan to the company authorized by Parliament of 1884, in part 29,880,912 Balance of above loan 15,000 000 Bonds, interest guaranteed by the Dominion for 50 years at 3-1/2 per cent 15,000,000 Land grant bonds 25,000,000 Subsidy of $186,000 a year, for 20 years 3,720,000 ------------ Total $215,361,697

Total cost of road, according to the company's balance sheet of December, 1888 $131,350,019

The Dominion Government owns and operates four railways, the cost of which up to June 30, 1890, was $52,800,000. It has also granted to railroad companies cash subsidies which to June 30, 1889, amounted to over $46,000,000. The total number of miles of railroad in Canada was 14,004 in 1890. The people of Canada have, since the political union of the colonies, pursued an exceedingly liberal policy toward their railroads, but it appears that the great indulgence of the government only bred license in railroad circles. The evil increased from year to year, until the many complaints on the part of the public against railroad management caused Parliament in 1886 to appoint a commission to examine into the alleged abuses and to report as to the advisability of the adoption of a general railroad law, and the appointment of a Board of Railroad Commissioners. The committee reported to the Governor-General of Canada on the 14th of January, 1888, and, acting upon its recommendation, Parliament pa.s.sed the Railway Act of May 22, 1888. This act, containing 309 paragraphs, provides for the complete regulation of railroad affairs, and for this purpose creates a Board of Railroad Commissioners, consisting of the Minister for Railroads and Ca.n.a.ls, the Minister of Justice and two or more members of the Privy Council. The act also repeals all former railroad laws. Though it has been in force less than five years, its beneficial effects are already extensively felt by the Canadian public.

CHAPTER III.

HISTORY OF RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES.

In no country in the world has the growth of railroads been so rapid as in the United States. With a population less than one-fifth as large as that of Europe this country has a larger number of miles of railroad than that continent. While European countries generally opposed the introduction of the new system of transportation, our people extended to it a hearty welcome. This difference of sentiment can easily be accounted for. At the time of the invention of railroads Europe had a system of turnpikes and ca.n.a.ls which, at least for the time being, answered every purpose. It became necessary for the railroads to enter into compet.i.tion with these well-established agencies of transportation, which had the test of time, popular prejudice and governmental sanction in their favor. Moreover, the railroad as a new and unknown quant.i.ty caused a feeling of uneasiness in all conservative circles. It seemed to make war against time-honored principles of statecraft and society, and threatened to bring about a revolution the outcome of which no one could foresee.

The condition of things was entirely different in the United States.

There were but few good roads and still fewer turnpikes and ca.n.a.ls. A vast territory in the interior awaited cultivation. Excepting the coast and a few cities situated on the large navigable rivers, the East and the West and the North and the South were practically without commercial relations, and were only held together by a community of political traditions and the artificial cement of a common const.i.tution. Even had the country had a system of turnpikes and ca.n.a.ls, the Mississippi River would still have been a forty days', and the extreme Northwest a three months' journey distant from New York. It seems extremely doubtful whether the different sections of so large a realm, having so little community of commercial interests, could long be kept together under a republican system of government. The settlement of the central portion of the country and the development of its resources seemed to be the task of future centuries. The railroad under these circ.u.mstances made its appearance at a most opportune time for America, and the American people were not slow to make the best of the opportunities presented to them.

In the United States, as in England, the railroad was preceded by the tram-road. The first tram-road in this country was opened in 1826. It connected the granite quarries of Quincy with the Neponset River, and was operated by horsepower. The second road of this kind was the Mauch Chunk tramway, in Pennsylvania, opened in 1826, for the transportation of coal. The trains were drawn up an inclined plane by stationary engines and were moved down by their own weight. During the same year the Delaware and Hudson Ca.n.a.l Company opened the Carbondale and Homesdale tramway, connecting their mines with the Delaware and Hudson Ca.n.a.l. It appears that an English locomotive was imported for use on this line in 1828, but that it did not answer its purpose.

During the same year was commenced the construction of the first line of importance in this country, the Baltimore and Ohio. The line was opened for traffic in 1830, having then an extent of fourteen miles. In 1831 it was extended sixty-one miles, and the year following sixty-seven miles.

For a year the road was operated by horsepower, but in 1831 the company purchased for its road an American locomotive.

The first road upon which a locomotive engine of American manufacture was used was the South Carolina Railroad, which was commenced in 1830.

The engine was manufactured at West Point and was placed upon the road in December of the same year. The line had then an extent of ten miles.

In 1832 it had increased to sixty-two miles, and in 1833 to 136 miles.

The construction of the Mohawk and Hudson was commenced in August, 1830, and the road was opened in September of the following year. Its first locomotive engine was also imported from England, but, being found too heavy, was soon replaced by an American engine of half its weight. In 1831 two other New York roads were commenced, the Saratoga and the New York and Harlem. A small portion of the latter was opened during the same year, and the former in July, 1832. The Camden and Amboy Railroad in New Jersey was likewise commenced in 1831, but its completion was not reached till 1834. The New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad was completed in 1832, the Philadelphia and Trenton in 1833, and the New Jersey in 1834. In 1835 the Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio was opened, and the entire line had at the end of that year attained an extent of 115 miles. During the same year three Ma.s.sachusetts roads, connecting Boston with Providence, Worcester and Lowell respectively, were opened. In 1836 the New York Central route was opened to Utica. In 1837 the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was completed from Richmond to Fredericksburg. In 1838 the Richmond and Petersburg and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore railroads were opened. The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad was completed in 1840, and the Petersburg and Roanoke three years later. There was now a continuous line of railway from the Potomac to Wilmington, North Carolina. In 1842 the whole line of the Boston and Albany road was completed, which thus became the first important through route in America.

The construction of railroads in the United States was from the first carried on without a system. Railroads in an early day were purely local affairs. Each locality operated its own road in its own interest and without any supervision from the State which had granted its charter.

Acts of incorporation or charters were granted as a matter of course.

Railroads were looked upon as the natural feeders of ca.n.a.ls, and their future importance was foreseen by very few men. The early roads were a heavy burden on the capital of the country. A number of small roads were built that proved unprofitable and had to be abandoned. After the financial panic of 1837 there was, except in New England, a very perceptible stagnation in railroad enterprise, which lasted until the discovery of gold in California, in 1848. The average number of miles of road constructed per annum during the ten years preceding 1848 was 380, while it was nearly 1,800 per annum during the seven years following.

It may be said that with the discovery of gold in the West ends the first or formative period of railroad construction. From the first opening of the Baltimore and Ohio to the beginning of the year 1848, a period of eighteen years, there were constructed in the United States 5,205 miles of railroad, or an average of 289 miles per annum. The discovery of gold on the Pacific gave a new impetus to railroad construction throughout the country. Railroads now ceased to be local works and became interstate or national thoroughfares. Extensive new lines were built and through routes were formed by the coalition of local roads. It was during this period that railroad companies first became conscious of the importance of their mission and that they commenced to compete with river and ca.n.a.l carriers. In 1848 a through route was completed between Cincinnati and Lake Erie. A more direct line, the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati road, was opened in 1851.

During the same year the Erie Railroad reached Lake Erie and connected the lake with the Hudson, and a year later Chicago received railroad connection with the East by the completion of the Michigan Central and Michigan Southern. In 1854 the Chicago and Rock Island reached the Mississippi River, and in 1855 the Chicago and Galena was opened. One year later the Illinois Central reached the Mississippi at Cairo, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was opened to Quincy. The Ohio and Mississippi, between Cincinnati and St. Louis, was completed at about the same time. The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, an extension of the Pennsylvania road, was completed to Chicago in 1858. At the beginning of 1859 the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad reached the Missouri River, and eight years later the Cedar Rapids and Missouri was completed to the Missouri at Council Bluffs.

To encourage the extension of railroads into new and thinly settled territories, and to thus hasten their settlement and the development of their resources, the people of the United States began at the commencement of this period to favor the policy of land grants. Such grants had repeatedly been made to roads and ca.n.a.ls prior to the crisis of 1837. The first railroad that received a land grant was the Illinois Central. The scheme was proposed as early as 1836, but the act making the grant was not pa.s.sed until September 20, 1850. Other grants followed in 1852 in Missouri, in 1853 in Arkansas, in 1856 in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Florida and Louisiana. As a rule these lands were granted by the National Government to the States, and by them to the railroads. The land grants made during President Fillmore's administration amounted to eight million, and those made during Pierce's administration to nineteen million acres. The financial crisis of 1857 and the War of the Rebellion again checked railroad building, but this period developed a new phase of railroad enterprise as well as of the land grant policy. In those times of national trial a railroad to the Pacific Coast seemed a political necessity. The project of connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans by a line of railroads was first brought prominently before the American people by Asa Whitney of New York. At a meeting held under his auspices in Philadelphia on the 23d day of December, 1846, a movement was inaugurated for the purpose of interesting the people in this enterprise and securing the aid of the government for its accomplishment. Various plans were urged, and earnest discussions followed, in which the ablest minds of the nation partic.i.p.ated. The continual agitation of the subject finally led, on the 1st of July, 1862, to the pa.s.sage by Congress of an act incorporating the Union Pacific Railway Company and the adoption of the central route.

The Union and the Central Pacific companies received a virtual money subsidy of $30,000,000 and a land grant aggregating nearly twenty-three million acres, a domain almost equal to the State of Indiana. Other direct grants of territorial lands soon followed. The Northern Pacific received, just before the close of the war, a grant of forty-seven million acres of land. In the Southwest public lands were also freely given to new Pacific lines. The various grants made to railroads comprise no less than 300,000 square miles, equal to four and a half times the area of New England, or six times that of the State of New York, or equal to the total area of Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Where these grants were not deemed sufficient inducement for the construction of roads, counties, cities and towns freely voted subsidies, while private citizens made donations to or subscribed for the securities of the new railroads.

As has already been stated, the consolidation of connecting lines and their transformation into a few large through routes was one of the characteristic features of this period. As through traffic, and particularly through freight, grew in importance, it became more and more apparent that frequent transhipment was an expense to the railroads as well as a burden to the public. The system of railroad ownership and management soon adapted itself to the necessities of business. The change seems to have been inevitable, for it occurred in all parts of the world at about the same time. Sagacious men early recognized the importance of railroads as national lines of communication. This idea no doubt controlled the projectors of the Baltimore and Ohio, of the Erie, and of the Boston and Albany roads. The first consolidation of any importance took place in 1853, when eleven different roads between Albany and Buffalo were united to form the New York Central. Five branch roads were added to the system between 1855 and 1858. In 1864 Cornelius Vanderbilt secured control of the Hudson River road, and in 1867 of the New York Central, which lines he consolidated in 1869. By gaining soon afterward control of the Lake Sh.o.r.e and Michigan Central and Southern Canadian roads, he united under one management over 4,000 miles of railroad between New York and Chicago, and thus created the first through line between the East and the West.

As has already been stated, the Pennsylvania road gained control of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago in 1858 and thus extended its system as far as Chicago. Through the absorption of other lines it reached an extent of over 7,000 miles. The creation of this through route was chiefly the work of Thomas A. Scott, at that time vice-president, and later president, of the Pennsylvania railroad.

In 1874 the Baltimore and Ohio, under the management of John W. Garrett, extended its system to Chicago, and became a compet.i.tor of the two older lines in the transportation of through freight. At about the same time two other parallel trunk lines were developed, the Grand Trunk on the north, and the Erie, between the Lake Sh.o.r.e and Pennsylvania lines.

There were, therefore, in 1874 five rival trunk lines competing for the business between the West and the seaboard.

During the same period large rival lines developed west of Chicago and St. Louis. From the former city radiate the St. Paul and Northwestern systems, each with from 6,000 to 8,000 miles; the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe with over 9,000 miles; then the Rock Island, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, the Illinois Central, the Chicago Great-Western, and the Chicago and Alton, their systems ranging from 1,000 to 6,000 miles in extent. From St. Louis radiate the various branches of the Missouri Pacific and the closely allied Wabash system, controlling together some 10,000 miles of road.

This process of consolidation also went on in the Southern States, though to a less extent. Their systems do not run parallel, like the trunk lines, nor do they radiate from a common center, like the roads of the Northwest, but they radiate from the princ.i.p.al ports of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico toward the interior.