A great line of railway, which will intersect the States from south to north, connecting the port of Mobile on the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Michigan and the lead mines of Galena on the Upper Mississippi, is also in progress of construction, large grants of land being conceded to the company by the Federal Government. This line will probably be opened in 1854.

It is difficult to obtain authentic reports from which the movement of the traffic on the American railways can be ascertained with precision. Dr. Lardner, however, obtained the necessary statistical data relating to nearly 1,200 miles of railway in the States of New England and New York, from which he was enabled to collect all the circumstances attending the working of these lines, the principal of which are collected in the following table:—

Tabular analysis of the average daily movement of the traffic on 28 of the principal railways in the States of New England and New York.

Passenger Traffic.—Number booked23,981
Mileage437,350
Receipts£2,723
Mileage of trains8,091
Goods Traffic.—Tons booked6,547
Mileage248,351
Receipts£1,860
Mileage of trains4,560
Total length of the above railways in the State of New York490 miles
Ditto, in the States of New England670 "
——
Total1,160 miles.
Average cost of construction and stock in the State of New York£7,010
Ditto, in the States of New England£10,800
General average£9,200
Receipts Expenses. Profits.
Total average receipts, expenses, and £ £ £
profits per day in the State of New York 1,654 684 970
Ditto, States of New England 3,040 1,505 1,535
Totals 4,694 2,189 2,505
Per mile of railway per day.Per mile run by trains.Per cent. per annum on capital.
£
Receipts 4,05 7s. 5d. 16,1
Expenses 1,893s. 5-1/2d. 7,5
Profits 2,162s.11-1/2d. 8,6
Expense per cent. of receipts46,8
Average receipts for passengers booked27,0d.
Average distance travelled per passenger18,2 miles
Average receipts per passenger per mile1,47d.
Average number of passengers per train54,0
Total average receipts per passenger train per mile7s.
Average receipts per ton of goods booked6s. 8-1/2d.
Average distance carried per ton38,0 miles
Average receipts per ton per mile1s. 8d.
Average number of tons per train54,5
Total average receipts per goods per mile8,2s.

The railways, of whose traffic we have here given a synopsis, are those of the most active and profitable description in the United States. It would, therefore, be a great error to infer from the results here exhibited general conclusions as to the financial condition of the American railways. It appears, on the other hand, from a more complete analysis, that the dividends on the American lines, exclusive of those contained in the preceding analysis, are in general small, and in many instances nothing. It is, therefore, probable that in the aggregate the average profits on the total amount of capital invested in the American railways does not exceed, if it indeed equal, the average profits obtained on the capital invested in English railways, which we have in a former article shown to produce little more than 3 per cent.

The extraordinary extent of railway constructed at so early a period in the United States has been by some ascribed to the absence of a sufficient extent of communication by common roads. Although this cause has operated to some extent in certain districts it is by no means so general as has been supposed. In the year 1838 the United States' mails circulated over a length of way amounting on the whole to 136,218 miles, of which two-thirds were land transport, including railways as well as common roads. Of the latter there must have been about 80,000 miles in operation, of which, however, a considerable portion was bridle-roads. The price of transport in the stage coaches was, upon an average, 3.25d. per passenger per mile, the average price by railway being about 1.47d. per mile.