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The Railroad Question.
THE RAILROAD QUESTION
A HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL TREATISE ON
RAILROADS, AND REMEDIES FOR THEIR ABUSES
BY
WILLIAM LARRABEE,
LATE GOVERNOR OF IOWA.
_Salus populi suprema lex._
NINTH EDITION.
CHICAGO:
THE SCHULTE PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1898.
Copyright, 1893,
BY
WILLIAM LARRABEE.
PREFACE.
The people of the United States are engaged in the solution of the
railroad problem. The main question to be determined is: Shall the
railroads be owned and operated as public or as private property? Shall
these great arteries of commerce be owned and controlled by a few
persons for their own private use and gain, or shall they be made
highways to be kept under strict government control and to be open for
the use of all for a fixed, equal and reasonable compensation?
In a new and sparsely settled country which is rich in natural resources
there may be no great danger in pursuing a _laissez-faire_ policy in
governmental affairs, but as the population of a commonwealth becomes
denser, the quickened strife for property and the growing complexity of
social and industrial interests make an extension of the functions of
the state absolutely necessary to secure protection to property and
freedom to the individual.
The American people have shown themselves capable of solving any
political question yet presented to them, and the author has no doubt
that with full information upon the subject they will find the proper
solution of the railroad problem. The masses have an honest purpose and
a keen sense of right and wrong. With them a question is not settled
until it is settled right.
It must be conceded that of all the great inventions of modern times
none has contributed as much to the prosperity and happiness of mankind
as the railroad.
Our age is under lasting obligations to Watt and Stephenson and many
other heroes of industry who have aided in bringing the railroad to its
present state of perfection. Their genius is the product of our
civilization, and their legacies should be shared by all the people to
the greatest extent possible. An earnest desire to aid in attaining this
end has prompted this contribution to the literature on the subject.
The author is not an entire novice in railroad affairs. He has had
experience as a shipper and as a railroad promoter, owner and
stockholder, and has even had thrust upon him for a short time the
responsibility of a director, president and manager of a railroad
company. He has, moreover, had every opportunity to familiarize himself
with the various phases of the subject during his more than twenty
years' connection with active legislation.
He came to the young State of Iowa before any railroad had reached the
Mississippi. Engaging early in manufacturing, he suffered all the
inconveniences of pioneer transportation, and his experience instilled
into him liberal opinions concerning railroads and their promoters. He
extended to them from the beginning all the assistance in his power,
making not only private donations to new roads, but advocating also
public aid upon the ground that railroads are public roads.
As a member of the Iowa Senate he introduced and fathered the bill for
the act enabling townships, incorporated towns and cities to vote a five
per cent. tax in aid of railroad construction. He favored always such
legislation as would most encourage the building of railroads, believing
that with an increase of competitive lines the common law and
competition could be relied upon to correct abuses and solve the rate
problem. He has since become convinced of the falsity of this doctrine,
and now realizes the truth of Stephenson's saying that where
combination is possible competition is impossible.
It is the object of this work to show that as long as the railroads are
permitted to be managed as private property and are used by their
managers for speculative purposes or other personal gain, or as long
even as they are used with regard only for the interest of stockholders,
they are not performing their proper functions; and that they will not
serve their real purpose until they become in fact what they are in
theory, highways to be controlled by the government as thoroughly and
effectually as the common road, the turnpike and the ferry, or the
post-office and the custom-house.
This book has been written at such odd hours as the author could snatch
from his time, which is largely occupied with other business. He is
under obligations to many of our ministers and consuls abroad for
statistics and other valuable information concerning foreign railroads,
as well as to a number of personal friends for other assistance,
consisting chiefly in rendering the railroad literature of Europe
accessible to him.
WILLIAM LARRABEE.
_Clermont, Iowa, May, 1893._
CONTENTS.
I. HISTORY OF TRANSPORTATION 17
II. THE HISTORY OF RAILROADS 46
III. HISTORY OF RAILROADS IN THE UNITED STATES 76
IV. MONOPOLY IN TRANSPORTATION 90
V. RAILROAD ABUSES 124
VI. STOCK AND BOND INFLATION 163
VII. COMBINATIONS 189
VIII. RAILROADS IN POLITICS 205
IX. RAILROAD LITERATURE 231
X. RAILROAD LITERATURE--_Continued_ 273
XI. RAILROADS AND RAILROAD LEGISLATION IN IOWA 319
XII. THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT 349
XIII. THE RATE QUESTION 370
XIV. REMEDIES 389
APPENDIX--TABLES AND STATISTICS 459
LIST OF AUTHORS AND WORKS CONSULTED AND QUOTED
ACWORTH, W. M. The Railways of England
ADAMS, C. F., JR. Railroads, Their Origin and Problems
ADAMS, H. C. Public Debts
ADAMS, HENRY History of the United States
ATKINSON, EDWARD The Distribution of Products
BAGEHOT, WALTER The English Constitution
BAKER, C. W. Monopolies and the People
BEACH, CHARLES F., JR. On Private Corporations
BLACKSTONE, W. Commentaries on Laws of England
BOISTED, C. A. The Interference Theory of Government
BOLLES, ALBERT S. Bankers' Magazine
BONHAM, JOHN M. Railway Secrecy and Trusts
BRYCE, JAMES The American Commonwealth
BUCKLE, H. T. History of Civilization of England
CAREY, H. C. Principles of Social Science
" " Unity of Law
CARY, M. View of System of Pennsylvania Internal
Improvements.
CLOUD, D. C. Monopolies and the People
CLEWS, HENRY Twenty-eight Years in Wall Street
COOLEY, THOMAS M. Constitutional Limitations
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD.
COMPILATION OF ENGLISH LAWS UPON RAILWAYS.
DABNEY W. D. The Public Regulation of Railways
DILLON, SIDNEY North American Review
DORN, ALEXANDER Aufgaben der Eisenbahnpolitik
DRAPER, J. W. Intellectual Development of Europe
ENCYCLOPEDIA, AMERICAN.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.
ENCYCLOPAeDIE (ROeLL'S) DES EISENBAHNWESENS, 1892.
FINDLAY, GEORGE Working and Management of English Railways.
FINK, ALBERT Cost of Railroad Transportation, etc.
FISHER, G. P. Outlines of Universal History
FISK, JOHN American Political Ideas
" " Critical Period of American History
FOREIGN COMMERCE OF AMERICAN REPUBLICS AND COLONIES.
GRAHAM, WM. Socialism Old and New
GIBBON, EDWARD Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
GREEN, JOHN K. History of English People
GILPIN, WM. The Cosmopolitan Railway
GRINNELL, J. B. Men and Events of Forty Years
GUNTON, GEORGE Wealth and Progress
GUIZOT, M. History of Civilization
HABOUR, THEODOR Geschichte des Eisenbahnwesens
HADLEY, A. T. Railway Transportation
HALL'S LIFE OF PRINCE BISMARCK.
HUDSON, J. T. The Railways and the Republic
JEANS, J. S. Railway Problems
JERVIS, JOHN B. Railway Property
JEVONS, W. S. Methods of Social Reform
KENT, JAMES Commentaries on American Law
KIRKMAN, M. M. Railway Rates and Government Control and other
works.
LECKEY, W. E. H. England in Eighteenth Century
LIEBER, FRANCIS Political Ethics
" " Civil Liberty and Self-Government
" " Miscellaneous Essays
LODGE, H. C. Life of General Washington
MARTINEAU, HARRIET History of England
MCMASTER, J. B. History of People of United States
MACAULAY, T. B. History of England
MOTLEY, J. L. The Dutch Republic
" " The United Netherlands
PAINE, CHARLES The Elements of Railroading
PATTEN, J. H. Natural Resources of the United States
PEFFER, W. A. The Farmer's Side
POOR'S RAILWAY MANUAL.
PORTER, HORACE North American Review
RAWLINSON, GEORGE Seven Great Monarchies
REDFIELD On Law of Railways
RECORDS OF CENTRAL IOWA TRAFFIC ASSOCIATION, 1886-1887.
RECORDS OF ASSOCIATION OF GENERAL FREIGHT AGENTS OF THE WEST.
RECORDS OF JOINT WESTERN CLASSIFICATION COMMITTEES.
REPORTS OF STATE BOARDS OF COMMISSIONERS.
REPORT OF HEPBURN COMMITTEE.
REPORTS OF UNITED STATES CENSUS.
REPORT OF WINDOM COMMITTEE.
REPORT OF BANKERS' ASSOCIATION, 1892.
REPORT OF CULLOM COMMITTEE.
ROEMER, JEAN Origin of English People, etc.
REUBEAUX, F. Der Weltverkehr und seine Mittel
RICHARDSON, D. N. A Girdle Round the Earth
ROGERS, JAMES E. THOROLD Economic Interpretation of History.
ROSCHER, WM. Political Economy
SCHREIBER Die Preussischen Eisenbahnen
SCHURZ, CARL Life of Henry Clay
SMITH, ADAM Wealth of Nations
SPELLING, T. CARL On Private Corporations
SPENCER, HERBERT Synthetic Philosophy
STERN, SIMON. Constitutional History and Political
Development of the United States.
STICKNEY, A. B. The Railroad Problem
STATISTIQUES DES CHEMINS DE FER DE L'EUROPE, 1882.
TAYLOR, HANNIS Origin and Growth of the English Constitution.
THE AMERICAN RAILWAY. Published by Charles Scribner's Sons.
VERSCHOYLE, REV. J. History of Ancient Civilization
VON WEBER, M. M. Privat-, Staats- und Reichs-Bahnen
" " " " Nationalitaet und Eisenbahn Politik
VON DER LEGEN, ALFRED Die Nordamerikanischen Eisenbahnen.
WALKER, ALDACE F. The Forum
WEEDEN, W. B. Economic and Social History of New England.
THE RAILROAD QUESTION.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY of TRANSPORTATION.
While the prosperity of a country depends largely upon its
productiveness, the importance of proper facilities for the expeditious
transportation and ready exchange of its various products can scarcely
be overrated. The free circulation of commercial commodities is as
essential to the welfare of a people as is the unimpaired circulation of
the blood to the human organism.
The interest taken by man in the improvement of the roads over which he
must travel is one of the chief indications of civilization, and it
might even be said that the condition of the roads of a country shows
the degree of enlightenment which its people have reached. The trackless
though very fertile regions of Central Africa have for thousands of
years remained the seat of savages; but no nation that established a
system of public thoroughfares through its dominion ever failed to make
a distinguished figure in the theater of the world. There are some
authors who go even so far as to call the high roads of commerce the
pioneers of enlightenment and political eminence. It is true that as
roads and canals developed the commerce of Eastern Asia and Europe, the
attention of their people was turned to those objects which distinguish
cultured nations and lead to political consequence among the powers of
the world. The systems of roads and canals which we find among those
ancients who achieved an advanced state of civilization might well put
to shame the roads which disgraced not a few of the European states as
late as the eighteenth century.
Among the early nations of Asia of whose internal affairs we have any
historic knowledge are the Hindoos, the Assyrians and Babylonians, the
Phoenicians, the Persians and the Chinese.
The wealth of India was proverbial long before the Christian era. She
supplied Nineveh and Babylon, and later Greece and Rome, with steel,
zinc, pearls, precious stones, cotton, silk, sugar-cane, ivory, indigo,
pepper, cinnamon, incense and other commodities. If we accept the
testimony of the Vedas, the religious books of the ancient Hindoos, a
high degree of culture must have prevailed on the shores of the Ganges
more than three thousand years ago. Highways were constructed by the
state and connected the interior of the realm with the sea and the
countries to the northeast and northwest. For this purpose forests were
cleared, hills leveled, bridges built and tunnels dug. But the broad
statesmanship of the Hindoo did not pause here. To administer to the
convenience and comfort of the wayfaring public, and thus still more
encourage travel and the exchange of commodities, the state proceeded to
line these public roads with shade trees, to set out mile-stones, and to
establish stations provided with shady seats of repose, and wells at
which humane priests watered the thirsty beasts.
At intervals along these routes were also found commodious and
cleanly-kept inns to give shelter to the traveler at night. Buddha, the
great religious reformer of the Hindoos, commended the roads and
mountain passes of the country to the care of the pious, and the Greek
geographers speak with high praise of the excellence of the public
highways of Hindostan.
Among the Babylonians and Assyrians agriculture, trade and commerce
flourished at an almost equally remote period. The ancient inhabitants
of Mesopotamia cultivated the soil with the aid of dikes and canals, and
were experts in the manufacture of delicate fabrics, as linen, muslin
and silk. To them is attributed the invention, or at least the
perfection, of the cart, and the first use of domestic animals as beasts
of burden. Their cities had well-built and commodious streets, and the
roads which connected them with their dependencies aided to make them
the busy marts of Southeastern Asia.
During the later Babylonian Empire immense lakes were dug for retaining
the water of the Euphrates, whence a net-work of canals distributed it
over the plains to irrigate the land; and quays and breakwaters were
constructed along the Persian Gulf for the encouragement of commerce.
While highways among the Babylonians served the development of
agriculture and the exchange of industrial commodities, they were
constructed chiefly for strategic purposes by the more warlike
Assyrians, whose many wars made a system of good roads a necessity. The
Greek geographer Pausanias was shown a well-kept military road upon
which Memnon was said to have marched with an Assyrian army from Susa to
Troy to rescue King Priam. Traces of this road, called by the natives
"Itaki Atabeck," may be seen to this day.
The Phoenicians, who were the first of the great historic maritime
nations of antiquity, occupied the narrow strip of territory between the
mountains of Northern Palestine and the Mediterranean Sea. From their
situation they learned to rely upon the sea as their principal highway.
They transported to the islands of the Mediterranean as well as the
coast of Northern Africa and Southern Europe heavy cargoes consisting of
the product of their own skill and industry as well as of the manifold
exports of the east. They sailed even beyond the "Pillars of Hercules"
into the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea. Through their hands "passed
the gold and pearls of the east and the purple of Tyre, slaves, ivory,
lion and panther skins from the interior of Africa, frankincense from
Arabia, the linen of Egypt, the pottery and fine wares of Greece, the
copper of Cyprus, the silver of Spain, tin from England, and iron from
Elba."
But while the Phoenicians for their commercial intercourse with other
nations relied chiefly upon the sea, the great highway of nature, they
neglected by no means road-building at home. They connected their great
cities, Sidon and Tyre, by a coast road, which they extended in time as
far as the Isthmus of Suez. They also established great commercial
routes by which their merchants penetrated the interior of Europe and
Asia. Caravan roads extended south to Arabia and east to Mesopotamia and
Armenia, penetrating the whole Orient as far as India, and even the
frontiers of China. The Phoenicians thus became the traders of
antiquity, Tyre being the link between the east and the west.
The Persian Empire, which under Darius stretched from east to west for a
distance of 3,000 miles and comprised no less than two million square
miles, with a population of seventy or eighty millions, had, with the
exception of the Romans, perhaps the best system of roads known to
ancient history. Indeed, it is doubtful whether without it such a vast
empire, more than half as large as modern Europe, could have been held
together. Each satrap, or prefect of a province, was obliged to make
regular reports to the king, who was also kept informed by spies of what
was taking place in every part of the empire. To aid the administration
of the government, postal communication for the exclusive use of the
king and his trusted servants connected the capital with the distant
provinces. This postal service was, four or five centuries later,
patterned after by the Romans. From Susa to Sardes led a royal road
along which were erected caravansaries at certain intervals. Over this
road, 1,700 miles long, the couriers of the king rode in six or seven
days. Under Darius the roads of the empire were surveyed and distances
marked by means of mile-stones, many of which are still found on the
road which led from Ecbatana to Babylon. These roads crossed the wildest
regions of that great monarchy. They connected the cities of Ionia with
Sardes in Lydia, with Babylon and with the royal city of Susa; they led
from Syria into Mesopotamia, from Ecbatana to Persepolis, from Armenia
into Southern Persia, and thence to Bactria and India.
The Chinese commenced road-building long before the Christian era. They
graded the roadway and then covered the whole with hewn blocks of stone,
carefully jointed and cemented together so that the entire surface
presented a perfectly smooth plane. Such roads, although very costly to
build, are almost indestructible by time. In China, as well as in
several other countries of Asia, the executive power has always charged
itself with both the construction and maintenance of roads and navigable
canals. In the instructions which are given to the governors of the
various provinces these objects, it is said, are constantly commanded to
them, and the judgment which the court forms of the conduct of each is
very much regulated by the attention which he appears to have paid to
this part of his instructions. This solicitude of the sovereign for the
internal thoroughfares is easily accounted for when it is considered
that his revenue arises almost entirely from a land-tax, or rent, which
rises and falls with the increase and decrease of the annual produce of
the land. The greatest interest of the sovereign, his revenue, is
therefore directly connected with the cultivation of the land, with the
extent of its produce and its value. But in order to render that produce
as great and as valuable as possible, it is necessary to procure for it
as extensive a market as possible, and, consequently, to establish the
freest, the easiest and the least expensive communication between all
the different parts of the country, which can be done only by means of
the best roads and the best navigable canals.
In Africa the Egyptians and Carthaginians are the only nations of
antiquity of which we have much historic knowledge. The former kept up a
very active commerce not only with the south, but also with the tribes
of Lydia on the west and with Palestine and the adjoining countries on
the east. To facilitate commerce, they constructed and maintained a
number of excellent highways leading in all directions. One of the most
important among these was the old royal road on the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea, or the "Road of the Philistines" of the Scriptures.
This road crossed the Isthmus of Suez and led through the land of the
Philistines and Samaria to Tyre and Sidon. Another road led, in a
northwesterly direction, from Rameses to Pelusium. This, however,
crossed marshes, lagoons and a whole system of canals, and was used only
by travelers without baggage, while the Pharaohs, accompanied by their
horses, chariots and troops, preferred the former road. A third road
led from Coptos, on the Nile, to Berenice, on the Red Sea. There were
between these two cities ten stations, about twenty-five miles apart
from each other, where travelers might rest with their camels each day,
after traveling all night, to avoid the heat. Still another road led
from the town of Babylon, opposite Memphis, along the east bank of the
Nile, into Nubia. Much of the commerce of Egypt in ancient times, as in
our day, was conducted on the Nile and its canals. The boatman and the
husbandman were, in fact, the founders of the gentle manners of the
people who flourished four thousand years ago in the blessed valley of
the Nile. There is one canal among the many which deserves special
mention. It flowed from the Bitter Lakes into the Red Sea near the city
of Arsinoe. It was first cut by Sesostris before the Trojan times, or,
according to other writers, by the son of Psammitichus, who only began
the work and then died. Darius I. set about to complete it, but gave up
the undertaking when it was nearly finished, influenced by the erroneous
opinion that the level of the Red Sea was higher than Egypt, and that if
the whole of the intervening isthmus were cut through, the country would
be overflowed by the sea. The Ptolemaic kings, however, did cut it
through and placed locks upon the canal.
Carthage was a Phoenician colony. The city was remarkable for its
situation. It was surrounded by a very fertile territory and had a
harbor deep enough for the anchorage of the largest vessels. Two long
piers reached out into the sea, forming a double harbor, the outer for
merchant ships and the inner for the navy. This city early became the
head of a North African empire, and her fleets plied in all navigable
waters known to antiquity. Her navy was the largest in the world, and
in the sea-fight with Regulus comprised three hundred and fifty vessels,
carrying one hundred and fifty thousand men. Though we have but meager
accounts of the internal affairs of Carthage, there can be no doubt that
much attention was given, both at home and in the colonies, to the
construction of highways, which were distinguished for their solidity.
It is said that the Romans learned from the Carthaginians the art of
paving roads.
European history began in Greece, the civilization of whose people
passed to the Romans and from them to the other Aryan nations which have
played an important role in the great historical drama of modern times.
The physical features of the Balkan Peninsula were an important factor
in the formation of the character of its inhabitants. The coast has a
large number of well-protected bays, most of which form good harbors.
Navigation and commerce were greatly stimulated in a country thus
favored by Nature. Nearly all the principal cities of Hellas could be
reached by ships, and the need of internal thoroughfares was but little
felt. Nevertheless, public highways connected all of the larger towns
with the national sanctuaries and oracles, as Olympia, the Isthmus,
Delphi and Dodona. Athens, after the Persian wars the metropolis of
Greece, was by the so-called Long Walls connected with the Piraeus, its
harbor. This highway, protected by high walls built two hundred yards
apart, was over four miles long, and enabled the Athenians, as long as
they held the command of the sea, to bring supplies to their city, even
when it was surrounded by an enemy on the land.
Rome is the connecting link between antiquity and mediaevalism. The great
empire sprang from a single city, whose power and dominion grew until
it comprised every civilized nation living upon the three continents
then known. Under the emperors, the Roman empire extended from the
Atlantic to the Euphrates, a distance of more than three thousand miles,
and from the Danube and the English Channel to the cataracts of the Nile
and the Desert of Sahara. Its population was from eighty to one hundred
and twenty millions. The empire was covered with a net-work of excellent
roads, which stimulated, together with the safety and peace which
followed the civil wars, traffic and intercourse between the different
regions united under the imperial government. More than 50,000 miles of
solidly constructed highways connected the various provinces of this
vast realm. There was one great chain of communication of 4,080 Roman
miles in length from the Wall of Antoninus in the northwest to Rome, and
thence to Jerusalem, a southeastern point of the empire. There were
several thousand miles of road in Italy alone. Rome's highways were
constructed for the purpose of facilitating military movements, but the
benefits which commerce derived from them cannot easily be
overestimated. These military roads were usually laid out in straight
lines from one station to another. Natural obstacles were frequently
passed by means of very extensive works, as excavations, bridges, and,
in some instances, long tunnels. The resources of the Roman Empire were
almost inexhaustible, and no public expenditures were larger than those
made on account of the construction of new roads. The fact that many of
these roads have borne the traffic of almost two thousand years without
material injury is abundant proof of the unsurpassed solidity of their
construction. The Roman engineers always secured a firm bottom, which
was done, when necessary, by ramming the ground with small stones, or
fragments of brick. Upon this foundation was placed a pavement of large
stones, which were firmly set in cement. These stones were sometimes
square, but more frequently irregular. They were, however, always
accurately fitted to each other. Many varieties of stone were used, but
the preference was given to basalt. Where large blocks could not be
conveniently obtained, small stones of hard quality were sometimes
cemented together with lime, forming a kind of concrete, of which masses
extending to a depth of several feet are still in existence. The
strength of the pavements is illustrated by the fact that the substrata
of some have been so completely washed away by water, without disturbing
the surface, that a man may creep under the road from side to side while
carriages pass over the pavement as over a bridge. The roads were
generally raised above the ordinary surface of the ground. They
frequently had two wagon-tracks, which were separated by a raised
foot-path in the center, and blocks of stone at intervals, to enable
travelers to mount on horseback. Furthermore, each mile was marked by a
numbered post, the distance being counted from the gate of the wall of
Servius. The mile-post was at first a roughly hewn stone, which in time
was exchanged for a monument, especially in the vicinity of Rome and
other large cities. The most celebrated road of Italy, which has always
excited the admiration of the student of antiquity, was the Via Appia,
the remains of which are still an object of wonder. It was first built
from Rome to Capua by Appius Claudius Caecus in the fourth century before
Christ, and was afterwards continued as far as Brundisium. It was broad
enough for two carriages to pass each other, and was built of solid
stone. The stones were hewn sharp and smooth, and their corners fitted
into one another without the aid of any connecting material, so that,
according to Procopius, the whole appeared to be one natural stone. Each
side of the street had a high border for foot-passengers, on which were
also placed alternately seats and mile-stones. In spite of its age and
heavy traffic parts of this road are still in a good state of
preservation. After the completion of the Via Appia similar roads were
constructed, so that under the emperors seven great highways started
from Rome, viz.: the Via Appia and Latina to the south; two, Valeria and
Salaria, to the Adriatic; two, Cassia and Aurelia, to the northwest; and
the Via AEmilia, serving for both banks of the Po.
Nor were the provinces by any means neglected. During the last Punic war
a paved road was constructed from Spain through Gaul to the Alps, and
similar roads were afterwards built in every part of Spain and Gaul,
through Illyricum, Macedonia and Thrace, to Constantinople, and along
the Danube to its mouths on the Black Sea. So, likewise, were the
islands of Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily and Great Britain crossed by them.
It has justly been said that the roads of the Roman Empire, whose strong
net-work enlaced the known world, were the architectural glory of its
people. These military roads caused in the various parts of the empire a
wonderful social and commercial revolution. They made it possible for
civilization to penetrate into the most remote retreats and to conquer
their inhabitants more completely than could Caesar at the head of his
legions.
The Romans also had an efficient postal service, which was first
instituted by Augustus and greatly improved by Hadrian. The former, as
Gibbon states in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," placed
upon all roads leading away from the golden milestone of the Forum, at
short distances, relays of young men to serve as couriers, and later
provided vehicles to hurry information from the provinces. These posts
facilitated communication through all parts of the empire, and while
they were originally established in the interest of the government, they
proved serviceable to individuals as well, for there is no doubt, that,
together with the official dispatches, every courier carried private
letters also.
The expenses of the post were largely defrayed by the cities through
which it passed, these cities being obliged to provide the stations
established within their territories with the necessary stores. At the
principal stations were found inns, where the proprietors were held
responsible for injuries suffered by travelers while in their houses.
The communication of the Roman Empire was scarcely less free and open by
sea than it was by land. Italy has by nature few safe harbors, but the
energy and industry of the Romans corrected the deficiencies of nature
by the construction of several artificial ports.
After the downfall of the Roman Empire its roads were either destroyed
by the people through whose territories they led or by the conquerors,
to render more difficult the approach of an enemy.
Civilization and commerce greatly suffered through the downfall of Rome,
and did not again revive until after the struggles of the Northern
Christian races with the Southern and Eastern nations, which had become
Mohammedan. The sixth and seventh centuries were the darkest in the
history of Europe. Charlemagne, toward the close of the eighth century,
caused many of the old Roman roads to be repaired and new ones to be
constructed. He, as well as several of his immediate successors, made
use of mounted messengers to send imperial mandates from one part of the
realm to the other. The rulers of the succeeding centuries did not
profit, however, by this example, and the roads of the empire again fell
into decay. Moreover, the public safety was greatly impaired by robbers
and feudal knights, whose depredations were so heavy a tax upon commerce
as to greatly discourage it. Trade under these circumstances would have
been entirely destroyed, had it not been for the merchants' unions which
were formed by the larger cities for the protection of their interests.
These organizations maintained the most important thoroughfares, and
even furnished armed escorts to wayfaring merchants. Commerce thus
flourished in, and commercial relations were kept up among, the cities
immediate between Venice and Genoa, as well as the cities on the Rhine
and Danube. Florence, Verona, Milan, Strasbourg, Mayence, Augsburg, Ulm,
Ratisbon, Vienna and Nuremberg were flourishing marts, and through them
flowed the currents of trade between the north and the south. Out of
these commercial unions grew in time the Hanseatic League, which from
the thirteenth to the fifteenth century controlled the commerce of the
northern part of Europe on both the water and the land. The object of
this league, which at the height of its power included eighty-five
cities, was to protect its members against the feudal lords on the land
and against pirates on the sea. Its power extended from Norway to
Belgium and from England to Russia. In all the principal towns on the
highways of commerce the flag of the Hansa floated over its counting
houses. Wherever its influence reached, its members controlled roads,
mines, agriculture and manufactures. It often dictated terms to kings,
and almost succeeded in monopolizing the trade of Europe north of
Italy.
It is characteristic of the social and political condition of this time
that the postal service was not carried on by the state, but was in the
hands of the various municipalities, convents and universities. During
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries national power and national life
made themselves felt, and with a change in the political system the
system of communication and transportation changed also. Louis XI. of
France took the first step toward making a nation of the French when he
transferred the postal service from the cities and other feudal
authorities to the state. Two or three centuries later, France obtained
a national system of roads and canals. The idea was largely due to
Colbert, the minister of Louis XIV. It was, however, not executed in
detail until the middle of the last century. Many abuses grew up in
connection with it, but on the whole it was probably the soundest and
most efficient part of the French administration. A system of lines of
communication, radiating from Paris, was constructed by skilled
engineers, and placed under the supervision of men of talent, especially
trained for the purpose at the Ecole des Fonts et Chaussees. The whole
system was further improved by Napoleon, and has served as a basis for
the present system of railroad supervision.
The first artificial waterway constructed in France was the Languedoc
Canal, connecting the Bay of Biscay with the Mediterranean. This
gigantic work, designed by Riquet, was commenced in 1666, and completed
in 1681. The canal is 148 miles long and its summit level is 600 feet
above the sea, the works along its line embracing over one hundred locks
and fifty aqueducts. A large number of canals have since been
constructed, and France has at present over 4,000 miles of artificial
waterways, or more than any other country of Europe.
Nowhere else was the same completeness of organization possible. The
regular mail service of Germany dates back to the year of 1516, when
Emperor Maximilian established a postal route between Brussels and
Vienna and made Francis Count of Taxis Imperial Postmaster-General. The
postal service of the empire greatly improved up to the time of the
Thirty Years' War, which completely demoralized it. After the war the
individual states and free cities, usurping imperial prerogatives,
established postal routes of their own and thereby crippled the national
service. The same war also did great damage to the public thoroughfares,
and the commercial and manufacturing interests of the German empire were
until the end of the eighteenth century in a deplorable condition.
Frederick the Great, recognizing the fact that the industrial paralysis
of Germany was owing chiefly to its defective means of communication,
commenced to construct turnpikes and canals in Prussia, and the minor
German princes one by one imitated his example, until the Napoleonic
wars again put an end to internal improvements. The good work was
resumed, however, after the downfall of Napoleon, and in 1830 Germany
was intercrossed by from three to four thousand miles of turnpike.
In the Netherlands canals were constructed as early as the twelfth
century. Being particularly well adapted to the flat country of Holland,
they were rapidly extended until they connected all the cities, towns
and villages of the country, and to a large extent took the place of
roads. The largest canal of Holland is the one which connects the city
of Amsterdam with the North Sea. It was constructed between the years
of 1819 and 1825 at an expense of more than four million dollars. The
city of Amsterdam owes to this canal its present commercial prosperity.
Public roads and the state postal service are of comparatively recent
origin in Great Britain. The first public postal route was established
in 1635, during the reign of Charles I. In 1678 a public stage-coach
route was established between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The distance is
only forty-four miles, but the roads were so bad that, though the coach
was drawn by six able horses, the journey took three days. It was
considered a great improvement when in 1750 it could be completed in
half the time originally required. In 1763 a mail-coach made only
monthly trips between London and Edinburgh, eight long days being
required for the journey, which to-day is made in less than twelve
hours. The number of stage passengers between these two capitals
averaged about twenty-five a month, and rose to fifty on extraordinary
occasions. In those days coaches were very heavy and without springs,
and travelers not unfrequently cut short their journeys for want of
conveniences.
Turnpikes in Great Britain do not even date as far back as
stage-coaches. It is true the first turnpike act was passed as early as
1653, but the system was not extensively adopted until a century later.
Previous to that time the roads of England, such as they were, were
maintained by parish and statute labor. In the latter half of the last
century, under improved methods of construction, turnpike roads
multiplied rapidly. Both roads and vehicles attained, previous to the
advent of the railroads, such a degree of perfection that the
stage-coach made the journey between London and Manchester, 178 miles,
in 19 hours; between London and Liverpool, 203 miles, in less than 21
hours; and between London and Holyhead, 261 miles, in less than 27
hours.
In spite of these improved facilities, the transportation of merchandise
continued to be very expensive. Goods had to be conveyed from town to
town by heavy wagons, and the cost of land-carriage between Manchester
and Liverpool, a distance of thirty miles, was at times as high as forty
shillings per ton.
The various disadvantages of land transportation directed, toward the
middle of the last century, the attention of the British people to the
importance of a system of canals. They realized that these water
highways would open an easier and cheaper communication between distant
parts of the country, thus enabling manufacturers to collect their
materials and fuel from remote districts with less labor and expense,
and to convey their goods to a more distant and more profitable market.
It would also facilitate the conveyance of farm produce to a greater
distance and would thereby benefit both the producer and consumer. The
canal era was formally inaugurated in 1761, when the Duke of Bridgewater
presented to Parliament a petition for a bill to construct the canal
which has since borne his name. The canal was commenced in 1767 and was
completed in 1772. The next forty years were a period of great activity
in canal building, but it was left to private enterprise, with very
little aid from the government. Over a hundred canal acts were passed by
Parliament before the year 1800. The largest canal of the British Isles
is the Caledonian, extending from Inverness to Fort William, a distance
of sixty-three miles. It was commenced in 1803 and completed in 1847,
and cost L1,256,000. Other canals of importance are the Great Canal,
which connects the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, and the Grand
Function Canal, which is over one hundred miles long and connects most
of the water-ways of central England with the Thames River. It is
estimated that there were over 2,200 miles of navigable canals in Great
Britain before the introduction of railroads.
Canal-building in Spain dates back to the beginning of the sixteenth
century, when Charles V. built the Imperial Canal of Aragon, which is
over sixty miles long. The political and commercial decline of the
country during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however,
brought the development of her highways to a standstill, and, with the
exception of Turkey, probably no European country has at the present
time more deficient transportation facilities than Spain.
The comparatively high state of civilization which existed in the
Italian cities during the middle ages, their commercial and industrial
thrift and the importance of Rome as the metropolis of the Catholic
Church combined to maintain many of the excellent ancient highways of
Italy. A number of canals were built in Northern Italy as early as the
fifteenth century, and it is claimed by some writers that locks were
first used on the Milanese canals in 1497. But while public
thoroughfares have always been well maintained in Northern Italy and
even as far south as Naples, they were during the past two or three
centuries permitted to greatly deteriorate in the southern part of the
peninsula, to the great detriment of both agriculture and commerce. The
condition of the large Italian islands is still more lamentable, Sicily
and Sardinia being almost entirely devoid of roads. She that was the
granary of ancient Rome to-day scarcely produces enough grain to supply
her own people.
Denmark and the Scandinavian peninsula had a good system of highways
long before the railroad era. Among the many excellent canals of Sweden
may be mentioned the Goeta Canal, which was commenced by Charles XII. in
the early part of the last century, but was not entirely completed until
1832. It is, inclusive of the lakes, 118 miles long, and its
construction cost $3,750,000, three-fifths of which was contributed by
the state. This canal connects the Baltic Sea with Lake Wener, as well
as, through the Goeta-Elf, with the North Sea.
Next to Turkey and Spain, no country of Europe has been as slow to
appreciate the advantages of a system of highways as Russia. At the
beginning of the nineteenth century the vast empire of the Czar had but
a few roads connecting its principal cities, and these were almost
impassable in the spring and fall. Much progress has, however, been made
since then, and at present Russia has over 75,000 miles of wagon-road
and artificial waterway, and 19,000 miles of railroad. A road has been
built through Siberia, extending from the Ural Mountains to the city of
Jakutsk on the Lena and sending out many branch roads north and south.
The development of Russia's resources has kept pace with that of her
system of highways, and the agricultural and mineral products of that
country are in the markets of the world constantly gaining ground in
their competition with the products of Western Europe and America.
Passing now to the Western Hemisphere, we find that in ancient Peru the
Incas built great roads, the remains of which still attest their
magnificence. Probably the most remarkable were the two which extended
from Quito to Cuzco, and thence on toward Chile, one passing over the
great Plateau, the other following the coast, Humboldt, in his "Aspects
of Nature," says of this mountain road: "But what above all things
relieves the severe aspect of the deserts of the Cordilleras are the
remains, as marvelous as unexpected, of a gigantic road, the work of the
Incas. In the pass of the Andes between Mausi and Loja we found on the
plain of Puttal much difficulty in making a way for the mules over a
marshy piece of ground, while for more than a German mile our sight
continually rested on the superb remains of a paved road of the Incas,
twenty feet wide, which we marked resting on its deep foundations, and
paved with well-cut, dark porphyritic stone. This road was wonderful and
does not fall behind the most imposing Roman ways which I have seen in
France, Spain and Italy. By barometrical observation I found that this
colossal work was at an elevation of 12,440 feet." The length of this
road, of which only parts remain, is variously estimated at from 1,500
to 2,000 miles. It was built of stone and was, in some parts at least,
covered with a bituminous cement, which time had made harder than the
stone itself. All the difficulties which a mountainous country presents
to the construction of roads were here overcome. Suspension bridges led
over mountain torrents, stairways cut in the rock made possible the
climbing of steep precipices, and mounds of solid masonry facilitated
the crossing of ravines. Under the rule of the Spaniards the roads of
the Incas went to ruin. In fact, throughout South America but little, if
anything, was done by the mother country to aid transportation.
North America, or at least that part of it which was settled by the
Anglo-Saxon race, fared much better in this respect. The great utility
of good roads was universally recognized even in the colonial times, but
the scarcity of capital, the great extent of territory as compared with
the population, and the want of harmonious action among the various
colonies, delayed extensive road and canal building until after the
establishment of the Union. Mistaken local interests but too often
wrecked well-advanced plans, and what road-building was done during the
colonial times was almost entirely left to individual exertion, without
any direct aid from the government.
The first American turnpike was built in Pennsylvania in 1790. From
there the system extended into New York and Southern New England. Up to
1822 more than six million dollars had been expended in Pennsylvania for
turnpikes, one-third of which sum, or over $1,000 a mile, had been
contributed by the commonwealth.
In 1800 three wagon-roads connected the Atlantic coast with the country
west of the Alleghanies, one leading from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh,
one from the Potomac to the Monongahela, and a third passed through
Virginia to Knoxville, in Tennessee. Much as was done during this period
for the improvement of the roads, stage-coach travel remained for years
comparatively slow. In 1792 Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State,
wrote to the Postmaster-General to know if the post, which was then
carried at the rate of fifty miles a day, could not be expedited to one
hundred. Even this latter rate was considered slow on the great
post-roads forty years later. In the year 1800 one general mail-route
was extended from Maine to Georgia, the trip being made in twenty days.
From Philadelphia a line went to Lexington in sixteen and to Nashville
in twenty-two days. The government of the United States, appreciating
the importance, for military purposes, of good roads leading to the
frontiers, commenced the construction of national, or military, roads.
A road was thus built from Baltimore through Cincinnati to St. Louis,
and another from Bangor to Houlton, in Maine. In 1807 Albert Gallatin,
Secretary of the Treasury, advocated the extensive construction of
public roads and canals by the general government. Mr. Gallatin took the
ground that the inconveniences, complaints, and perhaps dangers,
resulting from a vast extent of territory cannot otherwise be radically
removed than by opening speedy and easy communications through all its
parts; that good roads and canals would shorten distances, facilitate
commercial and personal intercourse, and unite by a still more intimate
community of interests the most remote quarters of the United States,
and that no other single operation within the power of the government
could more effectually tend to strengthen and perpetuate that union
which secured external independence, domestic peace and internal
liberty. The principal improvements recommended by Mr. Gallatin were the
following:
1. Canals opening an inland navigation from Massachusetts to North
Carolina.
2. Improvement of the navigation of the four great Atlantic rivers,
including canals parallel to them.
3. Great inland navigation by canals from the North River to Lake
Ontario.
4. Inland navigation from the North River to Lake Champlain.
5. Canal around the Falls and Rapids of Niagara.
6. A great turnpike road from Maine to Georgia, along the whole extent
of the Atlantic sea-coast.
7. Four turnpike roads from the four great Atlantic rivers across the
mountains to the four corresponding Western rivers.
8. Improvement of the roads to Detroit, St. Louis and New Orleans.
Mr. Gallatin also recommended that a sufficient number of local
improvements, consisting either of roads or canals, be undertaken so as
to do substantial justice to all parts of the country. The expenditure
necessary for these improvements was estimated at twenty million
dollars. Local jealousy and State rights prejudice practically defeated
this movement, the Cumberland road, or National Pike, being the only
result of any importance. The failure of the government to provide the
country with adequate roads left the construction of turnpike roads to
private enterprise, and these roads, before the general introduction of
railroads, often yielded much profit to capitalists. Great as were the
conveniences afforded by the turnpike, they were entirely inadequate for
the development of the resources of the interior of the country. The
products of a forest or a mine could not be transported upon them to any
great extent. The crossing of a single water-shed, owing to the
necessity for largely increased motive power, would often materially
decrease the value of the goods to be transported.
These drawbacks of land transportation directed, toward the close of the
last century, the attention of the people of the United States to the
necessity of providing for a system of canals that should bind together
the various parts of their extended country in the interest of commerce.
General Washington was among the first to urge upon his countrymen the
introduction of this great highway of interstate traffic, although but
little was done in this direction until after the War of 1812. The
people of New York had from an early period of the settlement of their
State been impressed with the importance of connecting the Hudson with
the Western lakes. In 1768 the provincial legislature discussed this
subject, but the political agitations of the times and the following
revolutionary struggle arrested further proceedings. After the war the
project was frequently brought before the legislature, but nothing was
done until 1808, when the assembly appointed a committee to investigate
the subject and to solicit the cooperation of the general government, if
the project should be found practicable. The report of the committee
concerning the practicability of the undertaking was in every respect
favorable, and in 1810 the legislature provided for a survey of the
entire route from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. The survey was made,
but, the expected aid from the national government not being
forthcoming, the matter rested until after the war with England. In 1816
a new board of commissioners was appointed, and the following year an
act was passed providing for a system of internal improvements in the
State. On the 4th day of July next the excavation of the Erie Canal was
commenced, and on the 26th of October, 1825, the first boat passed from
Lake Erie to the Hudson. The canal was 378 miles long and four feet
deep. It had a width of 40 feet at the surface and 28 feet on the
bottom, and carried boats of 76 tons burden. Owing to the rapid increase
of trade, the capacity of the canal was found inadequate within ten
years after its opening, and in 1835 measures were taken to enlarge it
to a width of 70 and 56 feet by a depth of seven feet, thus allowing the
passage of boats of 240 tons. The total length of the canal was,
however, subsequently shortened 12-1/2 miles, making its present length
365-1/2 miles. This enlargement was completed in 1862, and cost the
State over $7,000,000, making the total cost of the canal about
$50,000,000. New York has, inclusive of branches, some ten other canals
in operation, among them the Champlain Canal, extending from the head of
Lake Champlain to its junction with the Erie Canal at Waterford; the
Oswego Canal, from Lake Ontario at the city of Oswego to the Erie Canal
at Syracuse; the Black River Canal, from Rome to Lyon Falls; the Cayuga
and Seneca canals, extending from the Erie Canal to the Seneca and
Cayuga lakes. The State has expended for the construction of canals not
less than $70,000,000.
Canal-building in the State of Pennsylvania commenced about the time
that the original Erie Canal was completed in New York. In 1824 the
legislature authorized the appointment of commissioners to explore canal
routes from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and the West. A year later
surveys were authorized to be made from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, from
Allegheny to Erie, from Philadelphia to the northern boundary of the
State, and also south to the Potomac River. The construction of the main
lines of communication between the east and the west and the coal fields
in the north was soon commenced. Large loans were repeatedly made, and
the work was vigorously prosecuted. In 1834 Pennsylvania had 589 miles
of State canals, among them the Central Division Canal, 172 miles long,
and the Western Division Canal, 104 miles long. Public opinion strongly
favored an extended system of internal improvements, and it was believed
that these water-ways would soon become a source of revenue to the
State. These expectations might have been realized had the State carried
on enterprises on a less extensive and more economical basis. In 1840
the financial condition of the State had become such that canal-building
had to be abandoned. The amount expended by the State of Pennsylvania
for canals, including the Columbia Railroad, was about $40,000,000,
while the difference between net earnings and interest paid by the State
up to that time is estimated at $30,000,000. In 1857 and 1858 these
works were sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and the Sunbury and
Erie Railway Company for $11,375,000, or about one-sixth of their cost
to the State.
In Ohio the legislature authorized the survey of a canal from Lake Erie
to the Ohio River. In 1825 an act was passed providing for the
construction of the Ohio Canal and a number of feeders. In 1831 the
canal was in operation from Cleveland to Newark, a distance of 176
miles, and the whole system was finished in 1833.
The State of Illinois completed in 1848 the Illinois and Michigan Canal,
connecting Chicago with La Salle on the Illinois River. This canal is
102 miles long, 60 feet wide and six feet deep. The construction by the
general government of the Hennepin Ship Canal, connecting the
Mississippi with Lake Michigan, has long been agitated in the Northwest.
Such a canal would be one of the most important channels of commerce in
the country, and it is to be hoped that this great project will be
completed at no distant day.
We have besides in the United States a large number of canals that were
constructed, and are still operated, by private companies, as the
Delaware and Hudson in New York and Pennsylvania, the Schuylkill, Lehigh
and Union canals in Pennsylvania, the Morris Canal in New Jersey, the
Chesapeake and Ohio and Maryland, etc. A large number of canals, some
public and others private property, have since the construction of
railroads been abandoned. Thus in New York 356 miles of canals, costing
$10,235,000; in Pennsylvania 477 miles, costing $12,745,000; in Ohio 205
miles, costing $3,000,000; in Indiana 379 miles, costing $6,325,000, are
no longer in use. All the canals that were ever built in New England
have likewise been abandoned for commercial purposes.
Nor was Canada slow in realizing the advantages which a system of canals
connecting the great lakes with the Atlantic Ocean promised to give her.
The construction of the Welland and St. Lawrence canals made it possible
for vessels to clear from Chicago direct for Liverpool, and this has to
a considerable extent diverted grain shipments to Montreal, giving the
Canadian dealers a decided advantage in this traffic.
It is a strange fact that, at least in this country, the zenith of the
canal-building era is found in the decade following the invention of the
steam railroad. For many years it was not believed that under ordinary
circumstances the iron horse could ever compete with the canal boat in
rates. The most sagacious business men had unlimited faith in the
destiny of the canal as a prime commercial factor and invested largely
in canal stocks. To many these investments proved a disappointment. The
marvelous improvements in locomotives and other rolling stock, the
unprecedented reductions in the prices of iron and steel, and above all
the fact that in our climate canal carriage is unavailable during five
months of the year, gave the railroads a decided advantage in their
competition with canal transportation. There can be no doubt, however,
that the presence of this competition was one of the chief causes of the
great reduction of railroad rates on through routes. In this respect
alone the canals have accomplished a very important mission. In the
transportation of many of the raw products of the soil and the mine
canals still compete successfully with the railroads, and it is still an
open question whether future inventions may not enable them to regain
lost ground in the carriage of other goods. It would certainly be a
short-sighted policy for our people to discourage the construction of
new canals.
For the improvement of navigable rivers, appropriations have been made
by Congress ever since the establishment of our national government, and
these appropriations now amount to millions of dollars annually. Since
the introduction of railroads the usefulness of these national highways
of commerce has ceased to depend upon the tonnage carried upon them, but
the influence which they exert upon the cost of transportation is so
great that it is not likely that the policy of making annual
appropriations for the improvement of these water ways will be abandoned
by the American people for many years to come.
There has recently been a strong agitation in some portions of the
United States in favor of extending government aid to the Nicaragua Ship
Canal, and there seem to be indeed many arguments in favor of such a
policy. President Harrison said in his annual message to Congress in
December, 1891:
"The annual report of the Maritime Canal Company of
Nicaragua shows that much costly and necessary preparatory
work has been done during the past year in the construction
of shops, railroad tracks and harbor piers and breakwaters,
and that the work of canal construction has made some
progress. I deem it to be a matter of the highest concern to
the United States that this canal, connecting the waters of
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and giving to us a short
water communication between our ports upon those two great
seas, should be speedily constructed, and at the smallest
practical limit of cost. The gain in freights to the people
and the direct saving to the government of the United
States in the use of its naval vessels would pay the entire
cost of the work within a short series of years. The report
of the Secretary of the Navy shows the saving in our naval
expenditures which would result. The Senator from Alabama,
Mr. Morgan, in his argument upon this subject before the
Senate of the last session, did not overestimate the
importance of the work when he said that 'The canal is the
most important subject now connected with the commercial
growth and progress of the United States.'"
And in his message of 1892 that:
"It is impossible to overestimate the value from every
standpoint of this great enterprise, and I hope that there
will be time, even in this Congress, to give it an impetus
that will insure the early completion of the canal and
secure to the United States its proper relation to it when
completed."
It is sincerely to be hoped that the people of the United States can be
convinced of the advisability of extending government aid to this
enterprise. It must be admitted that the experience of our government
with the Pacific railroads has created a strong prejudice among the
masses against such subsidies as were granted to those corporations, but
it is probable, with the people on the alert, that Congress would not
again permit great impositions to be practiced against the government.
When the great advantages to be derived by the people of the United
States from the use of this canal and the small outlay required are
considered, it would seem to be a wise policy for our government at once
to take such steps as are necessary to secure the early completion and
the future control of this great international highway.