Commercial Geography / A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges

by Jacques W. Redway

In the United States and Canada the farms of the great central plain, together with the coal-mines, are the great centres of production, while the seaports of the two coasts form great centres of distribution. Most of the trunk lines, therefore, extend east and west; of the north and south lines only two are important. The reason for the east-west direction of the great trunk lines is obvious; the great markets of North America, Europe, and Asia lie respectively to the east and the west.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RAILWAYS OF THE UNITED STATES THEIR POSITION DEPENDS ON THE PRODUCTION OF THE LAND

Railway Ownership.—The ownership of railways is vested either in national governments or else in corporate companies; in only a few instances are roads held individually by private owners, and these are mainly lumber or plantation roads. Thus, the railways of Prussia are owned by the state; most of those of the smaller German states are owned either by the state or by the empire; still others are owned by corporate companies and managed by the imperial government. In their management military use is considered as first in importance.

In France governmental ownership and management have been less successful. Plans for an elaborate system of state railways failed, and the state now owns and operates only 1,700 miles, mainly, in the southwest. Belgium controls and operates all her lines, but as the latter are short and the area of the state small, there are no difficulties in the way of excellent management. In Great Britain all the railways are owned and controlled by corporate companies. The great transcontinental line of the Russian Empire was built by the government, but the latter does not own it.

In the United States the railways are now owned by corporate companies. Some of the western roads were built by Government subsidies;[21] other roads were built by the aid of States, counties, or cities, which afterward sold them to corporate companies. The first transcontinental railways required Government assistance, and could not have been built without it; nowadays, however, corporate companies find no difficulty in providing the capital for any railway that is needed.

Inasmuch as the railway is a positive necessity, upon whose existence depends the transportation of the food daily required in the great centres of population, the charter of the railway gives the company extraordinary powers. Most steam railway companies are permitted by the State to exercise the power of eminent domain—that is, they may seize and hold the land on which to locate their tracks and buildings, if it cannot be acquired by the consent of the owners; they may also seize coal and other materials consigned to them for shipment if such materials are necessary to operate their lines.

Therefore, in consideration of the unusual powers possessed by the companies, the various States reserve the right to regulate the freight and passenger tariffs. They may also compel the companies to afford equal facilities to all patrons, and take the measures necessary to prevent discrimination.

The control of the railways by the government may be absolute, as in the German state of Prussia; or it may consist of a general supervision, as in the case of the Canadian railways. In almost every European state there is a director or else a commission to act as a representative between the railways and the people. In the United States the various States have each a railway commission, while the general Government is represented by the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Electric Railways.—The use of electricity as a motive power has not only revolutionized suburban traffic but it has become a great factor in rural transportation as well. The speed of the horse-car rarely exceeded five or six miles per hour, while that of the electric car is about ten miles per hour in city streets and about twice as great over rural roads. As a result, the suburban limits of the large centres of population have greatly extended, and the population of the outlying districts has been increased from four to ten fold.