Countries. No. of men employed Average wages Wages paid per mile. per annum. per mile. United Kingdom 18 $335 $6,000 Belgium 22 210 4,620 Russia 15 240 3,600 Germany 14 250 3,500 France 14 220 3,080 United States 5 555 2,625 The London and Northwestern Railway is 1,793 miles long and has over 55,000 employes, or over 30 per mile. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Company employs over 42 per mile. The train men of Europe work less hours and earn less per capita for their employers than do the train men of this country. The average annual gross earnings per employe on sixteen of the leading lines of Great Britain, as shown by Mr. Jeans, appear to be $975 against $1,600 on fifteen leading lines of the United States, while the average net earnings per employe are $465 on the British lines against $720 on the American lines; making a difference in favor of this country of 70 per cent. in gross earnings and 53 per cent. in net earnings. If American labor is more expensive, it is also more efficient than labor is elsewhere. It must also be considered that the average haul in Europe is much less than the average haul in the United States. It has always been maintained by the railroad companies, and very justly, too, that the terminal charges are as important a factor of freight rates as is the cost of carriage. The terminal charges are the same for a twenty-five-mile haul as for a thousand-mile haul; they form a comparatively large part of the total charges for the former and a very small part of the total charges for the latter. It is therefore manifestly unjust to compare the rates per ton per mile of Europe with those of the United States without making due allowance for the difference in the length of their average hauls. All other things being equal, a fair comparison between the freight rates of different countries should be based upon hauls of equal length. There is another consideration which should not be lost sight of. The commodities in the United States which contribute principally to the long haul are raw products. The universally low rates of these commodities greatly lower the general average. In Europe, on the other hand, manufactured goods predominate as long-haul freight, and based upon increased risk and increased cost of carriage, considerably swell the general average of freight charges. The railroads of the United States also do more business per train mile than those of any other country excepting perhaps Austria, Russia and India. This should certainly enable them to do business for less than it is done by transatlantic lines.