Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/478

Rh 460 with the year 1866, and is closely connected with the eco- nomical and political progress of Germany. Numerous great undertakings were then set on foot, partly to remedy the defects of the existing system. Everywhere it became a primary object to establish the most direct lines of com- niunication between important pl-aces of industry and com- merce. As a consequence the German railway system was immensely enlarged, and from 1865-75 it has nearly been doubled. In 1872, 2000 miles were opened, the average fron1 1869 to 1877 being 1080 miles annually, so that Ger- many now owns a greater length of railways than any other state in Europe. On the 31st December 1877 Germany had 18,830 miles, Great Britain and Ireland 17,092, France 14,785. As regards proportion to the area a11d population, however, Belgi11m, Great Britain, and Switzerland are still in a_lvance. In 1877 Belgium had 320 miles of railways to every 1000 square miles, Great Britain 273, Switzerland 155, and Germany 147. The following table exhibits the development of the German railways, including those of Alsace—Lorraine :— I Length of Lines Years. Of which Cost of Dec. 31. open for ’I‘rat’ﬁc. double Lines. Construction. Miles. .Iiles. £ 1840 304 1850 3,753 1860 7,195 1865 8.887 1870 11,457 3,699 207,608,000 1875 17,061 5,622 339.225.000 1876 18,080 5,735 373,553,000 1877 18,830 In recent years the multiplication of competing rail- ways has greatly reduced the receipts of the older lines. The total amount of capital sunk in railway construction is estimated for the year 1876 at £373,558,000, or just about half the capital invested for the same purpose in ( ireat Britain (£741,800,000). From the subjoined table it will be seen that the working expenses have considerably advanced during late years, and dividends accordingly have experienced a great decline. Railways formerly pay- ing 15 to 18 per cent. have gone down to 5 to 6; the average dividend, which in 1870 was still 6 per cent., in 1876 had fallen to 4'4 per cent. I . 'r 1:1 T t 1w -1:" - . P"°P°"P'°“ 0‘ neciitts., £x$cna‘iiuI-'.’f 3“ P~°°°*P*S~ Egginggggggtgo 1! l .6 12 Per cent. 1870 25,312,000 1 12,770,000 12,543,000 50-5 1875 42,151,000 i 26,534,000 15,617,000 63'0 1876 142,862,000 1 26,559,000 16,303,000 620 The making of railways has from the outset been regarded by some German states as exclusively a func- tion of the Government. The South German states, for example, possess only state railways. In Prussia numerous companies have in the ﬁrst instance constructed their systems, and the state has contented itself for the most part with laying lines in such districts only as were not likely to attract private capital. Yet, in order to establish a preponderating inﬂuence over the administration of all German railways, the Government has for some time been buying up private lines. Saxony not long ago pur- chased all the Saxon railways belonging to private com- panies. The following table gives the proportion of state and private railways at 31st December 1877, the minor North German states being classed along with Prussia. Of these Oldenburg alone possesses a greater length of rail- ways belonging to the state than of those in the hands of private companies. The railways of Alsace—Lorraine are the GE1’t)1-.'Y [con1.u.'1c.-'r1o.'. property of the empire. The number of independent man- ugements in 1878 was 67. 1 Private _ I State. .Iilcs. l Miles. Miles Miles. Prussia and minor Ger- 1 3 OS, _, 060 6 8,” 1,, 0w, man States .......... .. S "' J "’ ’ ‘ “"' " Bavaria ..................... .. 2,241 160 371 2, 4 81 Saxony ...................... .. 1,035 235 ‘ 170 1,328 Wiirtembcrg .............. . . 76 1 . . ] 0 7 T 1 Baden ...................... .. 651 77 4 I 7132 Hesse ....................... .. 1 79 2 70 4 -J ‘J Alsace- Lorraine .......... .. 660 . 7 0417 Total ....... .. 8,812 | 2,329 7,689 1.5.830 C'cm.a_ls.—Gern1any cannot be said to be rich in canals. In South Germany the Ludwigs-canal was until the an- nexation of Alsace-Lorraine the only one of importance. It was constructed by King Ludwig of Bavaria in order to unite the German Ocean and the Black Sea, and extends from the .Iain at Bamberg to Kelheim on the Danube. Alsace-Lorraine had canals for connecting the Rhine with the Rhone and the Marne; the coals of the Saar valley were conveyed by canals to Lorraine. The North German plain has several canals, of which only the more important need be named. In the east a canal l)y which Russian grain is conveyed to Kiinigsberg joins the Pregel to the Memel. The Netze canal unites the Yistula and Oder. The Upper Silesian coal-ﬁeld is in communi- cation with the Oder by me-.n1s of a canal. The greatest number of canals is found around Berlin; they serve to join the Spree to the Oder and Elbe. Smaller canals are found also in the north-west. The Meuse and the Rhine are also connected by a canal. The 70 canals in Germany have a total length of only 1250 miles, a very small extent when the other canal systems of western Europe are com- pared with it. POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS. With the exception of Bavaria and Wﬁrteniberg, which have administrations of their own, all the German states belong to the system of the reichspost. Since 187-1 the postal and telegraphic departments have been combined. Both branches of administration have undergone a surprising development during the last 10 years, especially since the reduction of the postal rates. Germany, including Bavaria and Wi'n'temberg, constitutes with Austria-Hungary a special postal union (Deutsch—Oesterreichischer Postverband), besides forming part of the international postal union. There are no statistics of posts and telegraphs before 1867, for it was only when the North German union was formed -that the lesser states resigned their right of carrying mails in favour of the central authority. Formerly the prince of Thurn-and-Taxis was postmaster—general of Germany, but only some of the central states belonged to his postal terri- tory. The seat of management was Frankfort. Of late years the number of post-oﬂices has increased considerably, as will be seen from the following ﬁgures, in which the statis- tics of the Bavarian and Wiirtemberg post—of’riecs are in- cluded, as well as those of the rcichspost. In 1872 there were 7-100 post-offices ; in 1877, 8600. In the latter year therefore there was one post—oﬂice for every ‘.23 square miles. In 1877 there were 3194 imperial post-and-telegraph offices, and 3746 imperial post-oﬂices, while the Bavarian post—of’ﬁces numbered 12-13, and those of Wiirtemberg -199. The following table shows the increase of letter circulation from 1872 to 1877:-