the way fare reduced to 23 cents per mile, the Boston and Worcester Railroad acquiescing; and a night train was established, at 1 cents per mile, for through passengers between Boston and Albany. The aggregate revenue has been For the first six months of 1846,. 66 1845,. Increase, 21 per cent,.. $410,104 339,141 $70,962 A result which would, doubtless, have been still larger if the night train had been converted into a day train, and continued.* The result, thus far, is highly encouraging to the friends of moderate prices. Thus has the theory of moderate charges been sustained by the experience of Massachusetts; a theory leading to immediate and practical results of the highest importance to the interests of that State. The decline of rates, accelerated, if not occasioned, by the discussion begun seven years since, has enlarged the trade, promoted the manufactures, and aided the mechanics of Massachusetts and of Boston, and has added millions to their wealth. Each decline of rates enlarges the circle of trade, and enhances the value of the labor and skill of operatives, by giving them quick and cheap access to the best markets for what constitutes their disposable capital. The railroads and the country, under a beneficent and liberal administration, prosper together; while such administration, like Shakspeare's mercy, is "Twice blessed; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." The doctrines advanced have ceased, in Massachusetts, to be theory; they have become cardinal principles, and the question now is, to what extent may they be safely carried? The rates are now low, but experience has not shown they may not be reduced, with benefit, still lower. The cost of transit is declining with the increase of business and the progress of art. Our rates are still above those of Belgium, and it may be predicted that, within seven years more, the average rate of passage in Massachusetts will fall to 14 cents per mile, and the rate of charge for freight to 2 cents per ton a mile, in addition to the cost of loading and unloading. Is this prediction unsafe? Even now, in the infancy of railroad science,' coal has been carried over the Reading Railroad at a cost less than onehalf a cent per ton a mile, in trains averaging one hundred and fifty tons. Where sufficient freight offers, our New England trains can average, with ease, one hundred tons, and make a large profit, at the rate predicted. They have already averaged one hundred and forty-two tons per train, on the Concord and Nashua Railroad. With respect to passengers, the cost The details are not yet published. The three dollar train was continued for a few weeks, leaving Albany and Boston at 7 P. M., and running by night only. The trains upon the line had, to this date, drawn three-fourths of their patronage from way travel; but this train was confined to through travellers. These, although much increased in numbers from those of the previous year, were insufficient at the outset to make the train profitable; and, after a brief experiment, it was discontinued. It is just to add, also, that some benefit, perhaps to the extent of 4 per cent, has been derived during the present year, from a new apportionment between the Western and Boston and Worcester Railroad Companies. of transit is declining with the increase of numbers. In Belgium, trains have averaged, on the principal lines, more than two hundred passengers. The average cost per mile of a passenger train is less than sixty-four cents. In Massachusetts, on the Fitchburg, and other modern lines, it does not exceed fifty. Let us assume it at 62 cents, and an average of fifty passengers at 14 cents per mile, defrays the entire cost of running the line. Let the average rise to one hundred or one hundred and fifty, and a large profit ensues. With the decline of price and growth of business, is the latter average below the promise of the future? But it may well be asked, has the experience of Europe cast no light upon the subject of fares and freights? While England has taken the lead of the civilized world in the construction of railroads, and finished many magnificent works; while Belgium has followed closely in her footsteps, and covered her well cultivated and prosperous districts with a net-work of iron; and France, cautiously waiting the progress of each, perfecting her own surveys, is extending her great chains of communication from the Alps to the Pyrenees, and from the Atlantic to the sunny shores of the Mediterranean, have the records of Europe furnished no results in accordance with those of the new world? In the summer of 1840, within a year after the discussion of this ques. tion had begun in Boston, two works, in the original French, were imported into Boston, which materially aided the advocates of moderate charges. These were the printed reports of Michael Chevalier and Edmund Teisserence, to the French minister of public works. The government of France, struck with the progress of railroads, before commencing its system, sent some of its most enlightened men abroad, to examine the works of other countries, to inquire into their administration. Edmund Teisserence visited England and Belgium, and Michael Chevalier crossed the Atlantic. They both returned with a mass of valuable information, and both recommended very moderate tariffs. In conformity to their conclusion, France established the following maximum rates of charge, which, with few deviations, have been prescribed in her charters, and adopted on her lines, viz: So successful have been the low rates adopted under these limits, that all the great lines she has yet opened, from Paris to Rouen, Orleans, and Tours, are earning from 8 to 10 per cent, while the stock commands from 50 to 100 per cent premium. Among the facts reported by her distinguished commissioners, we find some important particulars as to Belgium. Here the government had constructed the railroads, and with parental kindness to its subjects fixed rates of fare, varying from eight-tenths of a cent to two cents per mile for each passenger, the average amount of charge being but one cent and a tenth per mile. At this low rate the section between Antwerp and Brussels had paid 20 per cent, per annum, from passengers alone. On the St. Germain road in France, a small private enterprise, somewhat higher rates had been adopted, with indifferent success; and on these lines opposite experiments were tried about the same period, in 1839, and the results are given in the following translations from the commissioners' From Michael Chevalier's work on Internal Improvements, published in Paris and in "The fares on the Belgian railroads were, at the very outset, placed extremely low. Instead of an increase of four to six, as had been the case on many lines, the increase of passengers between Brussels and Antwerp was fifteen to one. But at the end of 1838, the section then recently opened producing but a small revenue, the administration be. came alarmed, and the fares were raised, on the 20th February, 1839, still leaving them, however, at very low rates. The immediate effect of this rise of fares was to diminish the number of passengers to such a degree that the revenue was less than at the original fares. The administration judging itself sufficiently enlightened, in the month of July, 1839, tried, without further delay, a new experiment. It doubled the number of trains upon all the lines, and divided them in two classes, one class, (the quick train,) stopping only at stations of the first order, and the other class, (the slower train,) stopping more frequently, and moving at the same speed as the quick train, from which speed must be deducted the time lost by the more frequent stops. "It kept up the rate of fares of the 20th February for the quick trains; but for the slower trains it came down to the original fares. This modifi cation instantly lifted up the receipts to an amount above that at which they stood before raising the fares." From the Official Report of Edward Teisserence, to the Minister of Public Works in BELGIAN RAILROADS, MEAN RECEIPTS PER DAY FOR EACH SECTION. Together,.. 2,550 francs, after raising the fare about 40 per cent. Loss of receipts by the higher fare in each section, per day,............ ST. GERMAIN RAILROAD, (NEAR PARIS.) 1838.-Jan'y, Feb'y, and March, at the original fare,.. Thus presenting, by the lower fare, a gain, for 3 months, of RECAPITULATION. The increase of 40 per cent, in the fare on the Belgian Railroad, gave a loss of 9 per cent in the receipts. The reduction of 25 per cent, in the fare on the St. Germain Railroad, gave a gain of 10 per cent in the receipts. The following extracts are translated from the report of E. Teisserence to the French government, as published in the Journal of Public Works, at Paris, 1840, February number, pp. 72, 73. 1 248 Administration of the Railroads of Massachusetts: "The passage between Liverpool and Manchester, is performed in an hour and a half, as well as the passage between Glasgow and Paisley, and between Brussels and Antwerp." "The population of three principal cities on each of these lines, is as follows: Railway from Liverpool to Manchester. Manchester,...... 270,963 Liverpool,........ 196,694 Warrington,...... 19,155 Total inhabit., 486,812 Quick Canal-boats from Glasgow,..... Railway from Glasgow to Paisley. 202,422 57,471 Antwerp,.......... 80,000 2,833 Malines,.. 21,000 262,726 221,000 Paisley,..... Renfrew,..... "At the expiration of three years from the completion, we find the following annual result, in regard to the passengers who pay the lowest fares, which alone influences the number of passengers, viz: In the same proportion to population, as for Antwerp and Brussels, Liverpool and Manchester should give..................... Instead of........ And Glasgow and Paisley should give...... Instead of... The same report continues : "I have before me the statements which were issued as a basis for the subscription to the English railways. I find at that time, (before the railways were built,) the number of passengers was— Between Newcastle and Carlisle, per annum,........................ Liverpool and Manchester, " "The railway between Newcastle and Carlisle has reduced the fare to one-third of the old price, and the number of passengers has increased 900 per cent. "The railway between Liverpool and Manchester has reduced the fare one-half, and the number of passengers has increased 200 per cent. "The railway between London and Birmingham has left the price about the same, and the number of passengers has increased only 10 per cent."* From the same report we learn that in two years after the opening of the railways, the tonnage of shipping at Antwerp increased 50 per cent, But since 1840, a remarkable change has and at Ostend 30 per cent. occurred in the administration of the English railroads. The immense The Eastern Railroad, when first opened, reduced the charge between Boston and Salem 50 per cent, but the way fare rather less. By Senate document, No. 77, for 1836, it appears the number of passengers; before the railroad was opened, was 116,700; for the year 1839, the number by railroad was 298,813, or 156 per cent increase. cost of the first works in England, doubtless led her to adopt and tenaciously adhere to rates corresponding to those of the stage coach. Her price for a seat in a first-class car, corresponded to the price of an inside seat by the fast coach. Her charge for a seat in the second-class car equalled that of an outside seat by the fast coach, or an inside seat by the slow coach; and the third-class car-a mere open pen, often without a seat was so charged as to make it a poor substitute for the wagon or outside of the slow coach, and on some lines no third-class car was adopted. The unfortunate passengers who could not command the high price were, in the cold and moist climate of England, exposed alike to the cinders and inclemency of the weather, summer and winter, and complaints and allusions to Belgium were the consequence, for few would occupy the costly seats.* At length some lines were induced to lower their charges, and improve their inferior cars. Increased revenue followed. The government at last interfered, and appointed commissioners to investigate, and in 1844, the English railroads were required by law to provide comfortable third-class cars, with seats and covers, at a charge not exceeding two cents per mile for each passenger. The effect of this decisive measure was the immediate reduction of the charge on all classes,-this being found the wisest course; for unless a proportionate reduction had been made in the first and second classes, their passengers would have taken refuge in the new third-class cars. On the Southeastern or Dover Railroad, under the guidance of Mr. McGregor, and the London and Brighton, over which Rowland Hill, the author of the post-office reform, presides; on the Manchester and Leeds, and London and Birmingham, the reduction has been large, and attended with the most brilliant success. Trade has been promoted; stocks greatly depressed in value, have risen to a high premium; large dividends declared; great fortunes realized; and with the revival of commerce, an enthusiasm awakened which bids fair to cover England with railroads. In corresponding first weeks of June, the following roads earned respectively per mile a week : Producing an average increase of 57 per cent. The report of the board of trade to Parliament, in 1844, informs us that in 1839, the average charge per mile for all classes of passengers on British railways, was 3.41 cents; and on freight per ton, per mile, 5 cents, being less than the rates then current in Massachusetts. Since then, an average reduction of more than 20 per cent has been made in England, and the average charge per mile, must be less than 2.7 per passenger, and 4 cents per ton for freight. This reduction is more striking from the fact that in 1839, the average cost per mile of English railways is stated in the same report to have been, in our currency, $150,000 per mile, * In 1843, the writer visited Europe, with a view to acquire further information as to the progress of railroads and improvements in their administration. On his return, he published a sketch of his observations, under the title of "Two Months Abroad," in which he contrasted the policy of England and Belgium, and described the English thirdclass cars. An edition of this work was sent to England. |