mile. The significance of these figures will bebetter understood by stating that they are the equivalent of hauling a ton of freight 2419 miles for every man, woman, and child in the United States, and giving each of them a ride on a passenger-train of 327 miles. The number of tons of freight moved over each mile of railway during a year is the measure of the freight work performed for the country by the railways. This was —
| In the United States | 969,000 tons one mile in 1909 |
| In England | 530,000 tons one mile in 1908 |
| In Germany | 880,000 tons one mile in 1908 |
| In France | 497,000 tons one mile in 1907 |
— showing that the American railways are furnishing a greater service per mile of railway than the older countries.
Since 1889 the miles of railway in the United States have increased 52.7 per cent; the passengers carried one mile on those railways have increased 154.8 per cent, and the tons of freight carried one mile 224.3 per cent; the number of employees 116.2 per cent, and the taxes 230.8 per cent.
With ninety million busy people In this
