Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1886 — Too Many Railways. [ARTICLE]

Too Many Railways.

There are, it is said, about 125,000 miles of rai road in this country, much more than there ought to be. It has often been asserted that J ,000 people are required to support a mile of road, and we have more than a mile to every 500. In no other land are there anything like so many railways, and they have all been built within 56 years. In 1830 there were 23 miles of road; in 1840, nearly 3,000; in 1850, 9,000; and in 1861,10,030 miles were in operation. In the past 15 years more roads have been built than were built during the previous forty years. Kailroad building is irregular. We overbuild for a while, and then a reaction ensues. In 1882 we built 11,500 miles; in 1883, 7,000 miles; and we are at present building about 4,000 or 5,000 miles a year. The average cost of construction and equipment of a railroad is SIO,OOO a mile. The value of railway property in the United States is enormous—about one-seventh, it is said, of the entire property of the republic. The excessive building will no doubt continue. Many persons predict that at the close of the century we shall probably have 250,000 miles. It scarcly seems credible, but it may be, nevertheless. The trouble is that paralleling continually goes on. The men immediately interested in the construction make money, and do not care a fig for the stockholders and the general publie. Enterprise is often another name for downright swindling. —New York Commercial Advertiser.