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"I must confess," said the lieutenant to Windblow, "that your numbers are sufficient not only to justify a surrender on my part, but to demand it. But you are undisciplined, ill-equipped, and you have too little ammunition."

"We have any quantity of powder and ball in town," replied Windblow; "I rely, however, on the bayonet!"

At this moment the Lieutenant's eye fell upon old Tobias Jones and his boy, John.

"Colonel, I give up," he said. "When even the old women come against me, I must surrender. You will allow me honorable terms, of course?"

"Of course," answered Windblow. "I can afford to be magnanimous."

The stipulations were readily agreed upon, as Windblow was eager to have the affair over. It was shrewdly suspected at the time, that had the commandant of the arsenal demanded a few hundred of the Southern force to be taken away with him as prisoners, the condition would have been allowed. However, both sides were magnanimous. The lieutenant saluted the stars and stripes, and marched his forty men away with all the honors of war. Taking ship, he sailed direct to New York.

Great was the gratulation over this success. Windblow addressed his troops:

"Soldiers!" said he, "we have come, we have seen, and we have conquered! We have not fleshed our maiden swords; but I know that you all hungered for the conflict, with an appetite equal to my own, and we can therefore consider all heroic deeds as having been done by us! Our triumph is a double one, for the great dramatist tells us that a victory is twice itself, when the achiever brings home full numbers.' It is our boast that we have none killed and none wounded-"

"But our loss in missing is heavy," interjected Mr. Jones. "Seven hundred!"

Windblow frowned, and continued: "This day's deeds will live in history, and generations yet unborn will commemorate the date with the blazing turpentine-ball and the resounding Chinese cracker! Let us be proud of what we have done, and let us hold our heads high in the land we have delivered! "

And they were proud. Veterans of Mexico and 1812 were humiliated in their presence. They were treated on all hands as conquering heroes, fresh from the field of their glory. Libations of various strong drinks were poured to them. They were truly ardent spirits. The taking of the arsenal was duly chronicled, by all the Southern press, as "a brilliant affair," and Windblow's name was mentioned as

"freedom's now, and fame's; One of the few immortal names That were not born to die!"

Windblow's report of the matter was a grandiloquent document, far surpassing the simple relation here attempted. That report, indeed, surpassed any thing of the kind ever done by Lee or Beauregard; and if it should ever fall under the eye of General Grant, it will cause that officer thenceforth to esteem the taking of Richmond and the capture of Lee as very trifling affairs. Windblow still proudly wears the laurels he won that day; and it is said that, by dint of constant effort, at home and abroad, he has even succeeded in the difficult art of impressing his valet with his heroism of character and achievement. But, alas, he still finds it impossible to subdue his wife! That wilful woman will persist, to her dying day, in her ignoble estimate of her spouse's qualities, avowing that she can chase a thousand like him with a broomstick. But, for that matter, where is the intrepid individual who could withstand an irate female, armed with the prescriptive weapon of her sex? Echo answers, where?

PACIFIC RAILROAD GRANTS.

DURING the past half-century, since the practical application of steam to mechanical uses, how marvellous has been the material advancement of civilized nations! More than any other conquest of the natural forces has the use of steam contributed to the sum of human comforts, and the "bettering of man's estate in this world." It has lightened human toil, has made men richer in blessings and in leisure, has increased their activity, shielded them from the scourge of tempest and famine, enlarged the area available for man's residence and subsistence, enabled him to do more in the same period and practically lengthened the term of his life, and in these ways aided the spread of knowledge and virtue over all the earth. In nothing is its influence more clearly to be seen than in the means of travel and transport. Formerly men did avail themselves of the power of wind and current on the water, to carry themselves and their burdens; but on land, where, of necessity, the greater part of human labor and human effort must be expended, there was no manageable power stronger than the draught-animal or the beast of burden. The road-wagon was a vast improvement on the packtrain, but the interval between the locomotive and iron-road and the best horsepower transport was immense. The utmost limit of the former was the development of muscular power; the latter. is a rill from the exhaustless reservoir of natural forces which coëxist with matter, the beginnings of which we see with wonder, but the unfolding of which the boldest cannot forecast.

The American people, standing in the fore-front of the civilized world, have reaped the most signal advantages from this new servant. It has multiplied indefinitely their creative activity, and is a mark of their intellectual advancement.

In 1830 there were but 41 miles of completed railroad in the United States. Ten years later there were 2,147 miles, or at an average rate of increase of more than 200 miles per annum. In 1850 again there were 7,478 miles, or at an average rate of 500 miles per annum. In 1860 there were 28,771 miles, or at an average rate of 2,000 miles per annum increase during the decade. From 1860 to 1865-a period more favorable to the destruction than the construction of railroads-there were constructed about six thousand miles additional, or at an average rate of 1,200 miles per annum. By the close of 1870, it is a reasonable estimate that there will be completed 50,000 miles of railroad, or at an average annual rate of increase of 1,500 miles per annum for the last half of the decade. At this time (or, to be more exact, at the close of this year) there will be built, in round numbers, 40,000 miles of railroad communication in the United States, or four-tenths of all the railroad in the world. This is a grand distinction for America, the youngest of the great nations. This will give us a mile of railroad to each 900 of population-a proportion twice as large as that of any European State, and approached only by the Canadas, where the railroads have for the most part been built by the Imperial Government. It is proper to say, here, that these figures nakedly express the total length of the lines along which communication is maintained by means of the railroad and the steam locomotive. If we consider the perfection, convenience, and safety of the railroad transportation, the comparisons would favor the European lines. While the greater part of our lines have but a single track, the greater part of the European lines are double, and some are even quadruple.

Our lines, though inferior, are nearly

as good as we can afford until a denser population and increased capital enables us to perfect them. The aggregate cost of these 40,000 miles of railroad, built and to be completed within the year, with their equipment, is estimated at $1,800,000,000, or at an average rate of $45,000 per mile. By way of comparison, it may be stated that the cost of the 13,289 miles of railroad in Great Britain, at the close of 1865, is stated at no less than £456,420,000,-a sum half as large as the debt of that kingdom, and a full third larger than the cost of our own roads having a threefold length. We must remember, however, that this includes the cost of some very expensive docks, terminal and city lines, where the right-of-way was purchased at enormous rates. The average cost per mile of English railroads is stated at £41,033, Scotch at £22,820, and Irish at £14,360.

This enormous sum of eighteen hun dred millions of dollars-three fourths the amount of our National Debt-has been furnished mainly by private capitalists-is, in fact, the investment of thrifty, public-spirited citizens, and the ownership is represented by an equal amount of capital stock, bonds and mortgages. The latter bear rates of interest averaging not far from seven per cent. per annum, while the dividends upon capital stock will not exceed, if they reach, five per cent. The net return in cash revenues it is believed upon this great investment is not far from six per cent., or an annual net earning of $108,000,000. As an investment merely, the full yielding-power of railroads has not been reached, and there is scarcely a railroad whose property is liable to depreciation or whose franchise is not increasing in value. The average traffic shows a steady increase, and the returns upon the investments may be expected to grow also.

These results are satisfactory of themselves, but they are among the least of the benefits to the community. The value of every acre brought within their influence has been enhanced all the way from 25 to 500 per cent. In the cases

of town-sites and cities, the appreciation has been thousands per cent. In other words, if these roads had not been built, we should have been twenty-five years backward in our career. Population would have hugged the shores of navigable streams, the struggle with the primitive forests would have been severe, and settlement tardy. The Mississippi Valley would have had less than four millions instead of the ten or twelve which now inhabit it, and the gross product of the country would not have exceeded a third of its present dimen sions. Besides being beneficial to their builders, these roads have multiplied the wealth of the community, and thereby lightened the public burdens.

As a pertinent illustration of the influence of railroads upon population, production, and wealth, note a few figures drawn from the growth of the five great States north and west of the Ohio river :-Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In 1840, without railroads, their aggregate population was 2,924,000. In 1850 their railroads had increased to 2,500 miles, and their population to 4, 533,000. The annual product of cereals had risen to 255,636,000 bushels, and their aggregate wealth, according to the census, to $966,850,000. In 1860 the population had risen to 7,000,000 and the railroad mileage to 10,000; the cereal product had risen to 415,146,000 bushels, and the wealth to $2,500,000,000. Thus it will be seen that the increase of railroad facilities was accompanied by a remarkable increase in population (ninety per cent. in 15 years) and a still greater increase in production (230 per cent. in 15 years), and in wealth a still greater proportion. At the same rates of increase, by 1870 these five States will then comprise a third part of the entire population of the country, more than a third part of the cereal products, and a fourth of the taxable wealth. It is impossible to conceive that this development of resources could have followed so rapidly without this extension of railroads.

Railroads have a most intimate connection with production, and therefore

with commerce. The further a barrel of flour can be carried for the minimum cost, which is regulated at the great centres of consumption, the larger the area in which flour can be profitably produced. Or, stated in another way, the cheaper the means of transportation, the more profit for the producer and consumer. The cost of rail-transport compared with wagon-freight over long distances is as one to ten. A barrel of flour hauled 100 miles by wagon would have its price doubled, while it would require 3,000 miles of rail-transport to double it. The quantity of commodities we consume must bear, in the long run, some proportion to those we produce, and the surplus we export is the measure of the imports. The more bags of wheat we can send to seaboard under a given price, the more bales of fabrics we can return to the interior for consumption.

There has been a wide circulation, of late, of some arguments read by a Mr. Baxter before the Statistical Society of London, that "the commerce of a country increases in direct proportion to the improvement of its railway system." This is far too broad a statement, as will be seen upon reflecting that some countries had a great commerce without railways, and still retain a powerful trade without them. That "railroad development is one of the most powerful and evident causes of the increase of its commerce," is quite true, as we have demonstrated above. The comparison of the total imports and exports extending over a series of years, with the railroad expansion in England, shows a constantly increasing ratio to the increased mileage of railroad. But if there should be a suspension of railroad building in England, as is likely, in consequence of ruinous competition, it is not supposable that the commerce of the country would cease to increase from other causes. is instructive to note, however, that the total imports and exports of Great Britain, from some causes, rose from £85,500,000 in 1830, to £171,800,000 in 1850, and further to £490,000,000 in 1865. No doubt, one among these causes

It

was manufacture by steam, and another was railroad extension. The same coincidence is seen in France, where, side by side with her railroad extension, from 338 miles in 1840 to 8,134 miles in 1865, we find a total of exports in 1840 of £82,520,000, to £293,144,000 in 1865. Belgium, one of the smallest and richest countries of Europe, presents the same concordance, her total commerce in 1835, at the beginning of railroads, being £10,760,000, and in 1864, after she had been covered by a network of roads, it had reached £97,270,000, or at the rate of more than 30 per cent. per annum average increase. Indeed, our own commerce tells the same story; that, within certain limits, every extension of railroads increases the field of production, lessens the cost of bringing products to market, and at once swells the general trade of the country. In 1830 our foreign commerce amounted to $155,000,000; in 1860, when our railroad and canal system was in full operation, it reached $790,000,000. Of course, this would not have been possible without the great growth of railroad communication.

Fifteen years ago, the French Emperor, turning his attention to the internal improvement of his country, and the needs of his people, approved a plan for distributing the whole territory among a few of the strongest existing railroad corporations, requiring a prompt extension of necessary lines to all parts of the empire, and granting, therefore, franchises, having ninety-nine years to run, and guaranteeing upon the stock of the old and new lines dividends of from four to eight per cent., so as to invite private capital to embark in the enterprises.

The results have surpassed the most sanguine expectations. France has been seamed and furrowed with railroads, placed in the hands of companies strong enough to carry out the enterprises and to invite capital to the work. The French Government has not been called upon to pay the guaranteed dividends; and at the expiration of the charters, within less than a century, it will own

lapsed franchises sufficient in value to pay off the entire national debt. The details of this scheme are intrusted to a railway commission, to see that the rights of the Government are protected, but the roads themselves are administered by the private corporations.

Similarly, the Belgian railway system, begun in 1834, was built out of money borrowed by the State for the purpose, nearly £8,000,000 for 352 miles. These State lines have a sinking fund in operation for the redemption of the loans, and are earning a net revenue of over £525,000 per annum. There are, besides, 1,000 miles of road, the franchises of which will revert to the State in less than 90 years, which, together with the State investments, will be more than sufficient to cancel the national debt. This policy, first inaugurated by Belgium, was copied in substance by France, and at later periods by Holland, Spain, Austria, and by England in behalf of her colonial possessions.

This brings us to the question, What can the General Government do for our railroads; and what ought it to do? Thus far it has done very little toward the actual building of railroads, and there are those who argue that the Government should leave such matters entirely to private enterprise. Such a priori propositions have no sanction from either constitutional law or past usage. Among other things committed to the Congress and Executive were the common defense, the promotion of internal commerce, and the construction and maintenance of post-roads. The Cumberland turupike-road across the Alleghanies was constructed by the Government, partly as a military and partly as a commercial measure. We are building lighthouses, deepening harbors and channels continually to improve water communication. The vast extension of railroads throughout the country could not have been carried out by corporate enterprise merely. If the states, counties and municipalities had not perceived the advantage of improved communication and extended their aid in substantial ways, we should have had far less taxable

wealth to-day. New York taxed herself to aid the Erie Railroad. Missouri, Georgia, and some other States have generously fostered railroad enterprises by loans of credit, but until the outbreak of the rebellion, and the threatened secession of some of the States, the General Government made no appropriation of credit. Then it granted a loan of fifty millions for the construction of the Pacific Railroad Line from Omaha to Sacramento.

In 1850 Congress inaugurated the policy of granting alternate sections of the public lands to railroad corporations in the Western States and Territories. The Illinois Central Company, backed by foreign capital, were the first to build a road under this stimulus, and the results have been very encouraging. The line was mostly over a prairie-country, of easy settlement, and the natural traffic proved to be very large. The stocks and bonds of the Company proved to be very valuable, and the lands - which could not have been sold at 12 1-2 cents per acre before the line was built-have netted a sum equal to the cost of the road. The value of the unsold land is estimated at $12.50 per acre. Since that time 65 companies have received similar grants of the public land, amounting to 154,175,000 acres in all or an area equal to the extent of New England. But few of these land-grant Companies are making progress; none of them notably so, except such as are receiving the aid of government credit also. Legislatures are prompt to give charters, and franchises are as plenty as could be desired. In fact, the more numerous the franchises the less the inducement to private capital. The country needs more railroads, and, as has been shown, every investment in lines actually or prospectively needed is certain to be remunerative to the investors and to the community, in the long run. Now, it is obviously impossible to adopt the plan of the French Emperor in its details. No Railroad Commission could be depended upon to see that the dividends guaranteed did not come out of the National Treasury. The Belgian scheme would work better

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