=352. Development of the railroad system after 1850.=—Improvements in the construction, the equipment, and the operation of railroads, for the mere suggestion of which there is scarcely space here, explain the rapid growth of the railroad system shown in the figures at the opening of the chapter. It will be noted that over 99 per cent of mileage has been constructed since 1840, and that even in 1850 the world had made but a mere beginning in railroad construction. About the middle of the century began a movement toward the consolidation of existing lines, which had formerly been operated in short stretches by independent companies. The student should note that this consolidation proceeded largely along the length of railroads, not in the modern fashion by the union of parallel and competing lines; and it is almost impossible to exaggerate the benefits that resulted, in increased efficiency of management, improved service, and lower rates. About this time (1854) the first railroad was built across the Alps; the Union and Central Pacific route was opened in 1869, beginning the era of the transcontinental roads; and investors and engineers, who found the older and more advanced sections adequately supplied with railroads, began now to build lines far out into new territory, to open up fresh land and develop new trade. =353. Importance of railroads at present.=—Some attention will be paid hereafter to the decisive influence which the railroad has exercised on recent commercial development; and in the history of commerce in particular countries the thoughtful student will not fail to recognize this influence even when it is not specifically pointed out. In leaving the subject at this point, however, the student may be grateful for a summary estimate of the relative importance of railroads and other instruments of production in our modern life. A good authority has estimated that one quarter or even one third of the total invested capital of civilized nations has taken the form of railroads. It is doubtful whether the manufacturing establishments of the world are equal in value to its railroads; while the world’s whole stock of money would buy but a fraction of them. The railroads of the United States carried in 1900 a thousand million tons of freight at a cost of a thousand million dollars, and at the rate of less than three quarters of a cent per ton-mile. The student may, from these figures, estimate the service of railroads to the average individual in the country, and may rest assured that the work they do could not be accomplished by the means in use a century ago, even if the whole annual product of the country were squandered in the attempt to carry it on. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS