BRITISH RAILWAYS. ONE of the strongest proofs of the great commercial vitality of this country is furnished us by the railway statistics of the Board of Trade. Our capitalists have, at a cost which at the present time cannot have been far short of £600,000,000 sterling, provided the country with a system of some 16,000 miles of railways, more substantially built than in any other country in the world; and this has been done entirely by private enterprise, without the slightest drain upon the National Exchequer, either in the shape of subsidy, or guarantee, or grants of land. In this country there do not exist any "State lines" which are so common on the Continent and elsewhere. On the other hand, our railways have been made to contribute large sums both towards the imperial and local taxation of the country (Irish lines, however, being leniently treated in this respect), and in the face of other drawbacks, such as mismanagement and faulty legislation-drawbacks which, upon the establishment of a novel class of enterprise, could scarcely, perhaps, have been foreseen-the companies have so far prospered, that they have found themselves financially strong enough to provide for the ever increasing demands of the community for railway facilities.* The limits of this work will not permit of our enlarging upon the policy of the State with respect to railways, nor the position and prospects of these great undertakings. The following figures are, therefore, left to speak for themselves. In 1872 the railways in the United Kingdom paid £1,020,780 in local rates, and £502,626 in Government duty, levied on passenger traffic. CAPITAL PAID-UP. Railway Statistics of the Board of Trade.-Capital. Ordinary Guaranteed. Preferential. Debentures. Debenture 8,335 374,971,966 249,805,306,32,571,108 15,208, 295 297,584,709 169,605,442 10,433 399,414,827 288,691,611 38,838,741 20,599,775 348,130,127 190,791,067| 1869 14,247 642,853,408 418,277,679 56,575,607 27,409,601,502,262,887 233,023,854 15,145 609,267,653 143,209,357 110,392,559 15,637,117 518,779,761 226,788,133 25,203,671 130,553,989 101,729,398 34,504,570 15,537 596,178,382 440,169,455 62,512,297 27,226,921 529,908,673 229,282,150 36,188,320 122,503,764 90,713,779 51,220,660 15,814 644,589,353 473,639,591 66,711,762 28,695,993 569,047,346 239,039,089 63,004,313 114,760,361 66,224,217 86,019,366 15,376 615,726,890 461,368,616 64,282,911 27,028,580 552,680,107 230,250,152 64,555,255 108,496,620 82,095,545 67,282,535 86,019,366 Railway Statistics of the Board of Trade-continued.—Revenue. 18,363,369 8,845,924 9,517,445 2,144,398 1,015,710 1,098,679 999,832 408,066 23,472,946 11,258,104 12,214,842 2,925,229 1,306,128 1,619,101 1,368,447 745,311 27,766,622 13,187,368 14,579,254 591,766 21,507,599 10,299,709 11,207,890 927,147 35,890,113 17,149,073 18,741,040 890,554 39,479,999 19,848,952 19,631,047 996,293 42,695,927 20,780,078 21,915,849 623,136 30,166,311 14,560,826 15,605,485 3,986,741 1,778,333 2,208,408 1,737,061 809,914 33,398,222 16,764,520 16,633,702 4,209,158 2,102,367 2,106,791 1,872,619 982,065 36,105,122 17,504,308 18,600,814 4,564,894 2,246,152 2,318,742 2,025,911 1,029,618 38,122,161 18,227,739 19,894,422 4,825,264 2,400,853 2,424,411 2,130,718 1,086,933 1,043,785 45,078,143 21,715,525 23,362,618 41,383,065 19,387,483 21,995,582 5,237,329 2,583,786 2,653,543 2,272,386 1,181,591 1,090,795 48,892,780 23,152,860 25,739,920 45,039,155 22,065,151 22,974,004 5,775,090 2,943,518 2,831,572 2,421,265 1 65 1,284,635 1,136,630 53,235,510 26,293,304 26,942,206 0902,943,518 2,8 In 1872 the length of line in operation in England and Wales was returned at 11,136 miles, so that the cost per mile was £42,540, In England and Wales the rate of gross traffic to capital paid-up was 9 per cent., in Scotland 89 per cent., and in Ireland 8 per BRITISH COLONIAL DEBTS. GENERAL STATISTICS RESPECTING THE COLONIAL AND OTHER POSSESSIONS OF GREAT BRITAIN. THE following general statistics are for the most part compiled from the last number of the Colonial "Statistical Abstract," but alterations have been made where later information is available. From this statement it may be computed that the total area of our Colonial Empire reaches 4,525,085 square miles;* that the inhabitants thereon number 202,390,786 persons;* that the aggregate gross revenue of all the possessions (from which Heligoland, Aden, and a number of minor dependencies are excluded) amounts to £71,077,051; the gross expenditure to £71,519,213; that the aggregate public debt, happily, for the most part raised to provide reproductive works, is £188,428,262; that the imports, mostly inclusive of bullion and specie, are £132,537,480; and that the gross exports have increased to £154,633,815, being £22,100,000 more than the imports. It is very noteworthy that amongst all these possessions there have never occurred any instances of default or repudiation. The returns available of area and population cannot be regarded as complete. For instance, the South Australian Government lays claim to a territory of 750,000 square miles, stretching all across the continent, whereas only half that area is included in the statistics. British North America, too, is not only 632,418 square miles, but if we include Manitoba and the Hudson's Bay territory, lately ceded to Canada, fully another 1,000,000 square miles of habitable country would appear on the list. Including the whole of British North America, the area of the British empire exceeds 7,000,000 square miles. Both the population and area of the Cape of Good Hope largely exceed the figures furnished by the Census of 1865, the latest returns available. |