7 4.3

vestment can consequently be looked at with a
more of‘ impartial judgment, for the reason that a
person is to a. considerable extent releived from
the inﬂuence of sentiment in their favor, which
only a. few months since was universal, and be-
cause all that can be said, oifexists, against them,
in the present state of affairs, is sure to come out.

A trip west during the month of October gave us
a pretty good opportunity of inspecting, personal-
ly, the roads of that section of the country, the
general system of management which prevailed, of
studying the sources, and extent of their traiics;
the influence they were exerting in developing
the natural wealth of the country, and in this
way, creating a business for the future. We had

,7

_ the good fortune of being in company with several

very intelligent German gentleman, among whom
were Mr. Schleiden, resident Minister at Washing-
ton, from Bremen; Mr. Rucker, charge ’d affairs for
the city of Hamburgh, at Berlin, Prussia; Mr. De]-
bruke of Berlin, holding an oﬂicial position in the
Prussian ministry; and Mr. C. G. Eschen, in be-
half of the Banking House of Meyer .& Stuken, of
this city. Their object was precisely the same
with our own, which was to form a correct opin-
ion, for themselves, and for the numerous class of
German and Continental capitalists interested, as
to the value and commercial inﬂuence of our
roads. As the railroad companies did all in their
power to facilitatelour objects, and offering to our
examinatiou every thing that could aid us in
forming a correct idea as to the uses and value of
their roads, we had the best possible opportunity
of forming correct notions upon the subject of our
inquiries. It is needless for us to say that tl1B'fii.~
vorable opinions, which we had previously enter-
tained, and _so often expressed, were fully conﬁred
by what we saw, and were sustained, we believe,
by those of the gentlemen named ;and we are
happy to refer to them in the general conforma-
tion of our our views.

The most prominent fact which strikes attention
in travelling overwestern roads is case and cheap-
ness with which they can be constructed, and the
capacity of the country to supply an abundant
traﬂic. The valley of the Mississippi is one vast
plain having a. very slight descent in direction of
the gulf. Wherever the general surface is broken,
the irregularities are due to the action of the
water courses. Many of the larger rivers, the
Ohio in particular, have cut for themselves deep
trenches in the friable soil of the great valley.
The principal obstacles to the cheap construction
of railroads are consequently found in the vicinity
of such rivers. After leaving them, however, the
table landsvare soon gained, which preserve pretty
much the same elevations above tide water, upon
similar parallels of latitude; with these all diﬁi-
culties in the way of construction disappear. The
grades of the road accommodate themselves, to
the general undulations of the country, and where
curves are resorted to, they are used quite as
often for the purpose of avoiding the buildings of
farmers, or for the purpose of obtaining convenient
approaches to the turns and stations on the line,
as for any other cause. There is little, or no, rock
cutting upon very many of the. western roads, and
there is frequently so little difference in the choice
of ‘routes, that tangents of from 50 to 70 miles are
oitenussd with very little additional cost.

country permits the opening of a road for busi-
ness, with a comparatively small outlay. It fre-
quently happens that roads are in the enjoyment
of a very large and profitable traffic, when they are
only lralf ﬁnished ; even before the road—bed is in
suitable condition for use, and before any suitable
stations or depots are erected for the comfort and
protection of persons and property. It is perhaps
on the whole bad policy for many of the western
roads to commence running their trains, as soon as
they do; but it is hardly possible to resist the pres-
sure, to put them in motion, as soon as the rails
are laid. It is impossible to make a good road in
the West, out of the soil. J_‘o make it passable it
must de Mc;Adzwn.ized. The moment that the fat,
unctuous, soil becomes wet, travel over the
highway is at an end. Consequently the rail-
road is pressed into service, at the earliest mo-
ment for the saving it effects in the carriage of
the heavy bulky products of the great valley.

After the western roads are thoroughly built and

equipped the difference in their cost, and that of
eastern roads will be much less than has been
generally supposed. The items of graduation,
masonry, bridging and right of way, cost less than
those of eastern roads. On the other hand, their iron
and equipment cost more, and they generally are
compelled to submit to larger discounts on their
securities. But as the cost of roads in all parts of
the country depend more upon the extent of the
business, than upon any other causes, we must
expect to see the cost of western roads run up to
a high ﬁgure, to provide the necessary accommo-
dations and equipments for their enormous trafiics.
Although fortunately they are able to commence
business upon a very small outlay. We do not
believe that any road can be built in the West,
adapted to a large trade short of about $630,000 per
mile, while the cost ofa majority of them will be-
fore many years exceed this sum. A low cost road
is only compatible where its business is very
small.
As a general rule, and we may say almost
without exception, the money raised by western
companies appears to have been judiciously ex-
pended. The facilitics for cheap construction
compensate for the want of engineering Sliill. lts
place is made good by that practical sense which
grows out of a constant necessity, in new countries,
of supplying the absence of capital and labor, by
expedients of one kind or another, for which our
people are so justly celebrated. We know of but
one instance of misapplication of funds from their
ostensible objects. Parties at a distance, therefore,
may be assurecl, that the means which they have
contributed toward the construction of our rail-
roads have been properly expended, a. fact,
which narrows down the question of the safety of
their investments to a single point, that of the
income of the roads.

In building railroads in a new country, certain
results are predicated from well known data, such
as the course of trade, the actual movement of
persons and property over a particular route, the
rates at which they can be transported, &c., &c.
In presenting the claims of any scheme to the
public, it is usual for the parties having it in
charge to accompany it by a statement showing
among other things its probable cost and income.
It is upon the credit attached to this statement,

l‘t:s‘feroi‘sb1etopography of this  of the, tint the securities oi‘ the vmieus coiripzsaiies .3;-is

AMERICAN RAILROAD JOURNAL.

purchased. Now we know of no new southern or
western roads recently constructed, the results of
whose operations, is not much more favorable than
the estimates. The cost of the road is not so
much exceeded, as are the excess of earnings
over estimates. The stock and bond holders get,
all and more, than they contracted for. If they have
made unsatisfactory bargains, M6111: and not the
railroad companies are at fault. The railroads of
the entire country have been as proﬁtable, and are
as strong, as far as their revenues are concerned,
and have as favorable prospect. for the future, as
was expected, and, on the whole, was claimed by
sensible men.

A correct idea of the ability of the newly settled
portions of the country to supply a lucrative tra-
tic to the railroads can only be formed from actual
observation. It would very naturally be supposed
that the labor of the pioneer would be unpro.
ductive; that supplying his own wants would oc-
cupy all his time and attention. Such would be
the case in most countries. In the Mississippi
we ﬁnd a. soil, the fertility of which years of crop-
ping does not exhaust. Aln1o.~;tthc only instru-
ment used is the ;1Jlnu.g/'1. The soil, broken for the
first time in the spring, yields an abundant harvest.
in the fall. As agriculture is the simplest of all
forms of labor, coiribinatioli neither of‘ numbers
nor capital is necessary to a very large production.
In the culture of wheat or corn, the labor of two
men will produce one-twentieth as much as the
labor of forty. A particular district which two
years since was without a single inhabitant, may
this year furnish a large business to a road. In
the West too, the labor of the country settlers is
not only as proﬁtably employed, as in the Older
States, but furnishes a much larger amount of
freight for ezrporttrtion. A single farmer may easi-
ly raise with the labor of his own hands, 1000
bushels of grain for sale. As by necessity, he con-
ﬁnes himself to one staple, he is compelled to pur-
chase from abroad whatever he requires, that his
own farm does not supply. Railroads in the new
States have therefore a double office. By giving
the means for selling, they enable the farmer to
purchase, to the same extent ; and as our manu-
facturing and commercial communities are widely
separated from the agricultural districts, a very
considerable part of the transportation on our
railroads, is a I/Lorowtglt movement both of property
and persons. This fact adds very largely to the
receipts, and is one cause of their extraordinary
success.

The State of Wisconsin furnishes a striking il-
lustration of the correctness of the above rcmarl-ts.
In 1840 its population was only 30,000 souls. In
1850 it reached 304,000. At the present time the
number of inhabitants cannot fall short ol'450,000.
The increase for the past ten years has been just
about 400,000. As we were desirous of seeing
what ten years had achieved in what, prior to that
period, had been an unbroken and uncultivated
waste, we passed over the principal line of railroad
in the state, the Milwaukee and Mississippi, and
devoted a day to a pretty critical study of the city
of‘ Milwaukee. In no part of the west did we see
a. better settled, a better cultivated, or a more pro-
ductive country ; and no road groaning under the
press of a larger business in freights than the
above named. Wisconsin is one of the most at-
i«§'e€:-tlV“£*,b¢3c€1lis£?iili8 one at the i38Si3‘?4*9zid¢j=t,{