There is a remarkable difference in the cost of construction of English and Continental lines—a fact of which Sir B. Samuelson takes no adequate account when he says “the average cost of construction has been considerably less in the case of German railways than in that of our own.” Without citing many figures on the point, it may be stated that at the end of 1884 the amount of capital expended in the construction of railways in the United Kingdom was £801,464,367, or £42,486 per mile of line opened; and in England and Wales alone £665,055,879, or £49,854 per mile. If the rates for carriage of goods and passengers were based solely on cost per mile, those in force in the United Kingdom and England and Wales respectively would exceed the rates of other countries to the extent shown in the following table:—

 On the average cost in 
the United Kingdom.		On the average cost in
England and Wales.
FranceBy 45·41 per cent.70·62 per cent. 
GermanyBy 97·73 per cent.132·02 per cent. 
Belgium (State)By 54·67 per cent.81·13 per cent. 
HollandBy 121·42 per cent.159·82 per cent. 

Not only has the construction of the railways in this country been more costly, but private companies have accomplished a task which has not yet been fulfilled in some Continental countries, even with all the aid of the State, and which, if ever fully carried out, must entail further liabilities upon the Governments of those countries. In England private companies have not only made trunk lines, but, to a degree unknown abroad, they have constructed branch lines, penetrating into sparsely-peopled districts of the country, yielding little traffic, and necessarily involving heavy working expenses and loss of interest. Official figures show that private enterprise has hitherto given one mile of railway to every

6·41  square miles in  the United Kingdom,
4·36” ”England and Wales,
as compared with
10·42” ”France,
9·38” ”Germany,[54]
4·2” ”Belgium,
7·82” ”Holland.

It further appears from official statistics that the capital outlay for every 1,000 inhabitants has been

£22,287  in  the United Kingdom.
24,512”England and Wales,
13,977”France,
10,593”Germany,
11,365”Belgium,
7,252”Holland.

SECTION XIII.
WORKING OF ENGLISH AND CONTINENTAL RAILWAYS—
COMPARATIVE FACILITIES AFFORDED BY THEM.

So much for the strikingly different modes in which the English and continental railways have been constructed; the one system a history of unaided private enterprise, the other a history of a policy pursued by great States with the resources of Imperial Exchequers, and with English experience as a guide. Had railways in this country received the same assistance as foreign lines, the cost and working expenses being the same, the demand that the former should have rates as low as the latter would not be unreasonable. But a comparison of the facilities afforded here and on the Continent to trades and production will not be unfavourable to the English companies. It will be seen that, in the words of the late Professor Stanley Jevons, “Taking all circumstances into account, England and Wales are better supplied with railways than any other country in the world,” whether we have regard to extent or efficiency.