mile."

This statement, even if correct, is certainly misleading. No allowance
is made for the greater distances and the greater average haul in
America, and none for our bulky raw products, which require more car
room than the manufactured goods predominating as freight in Europe.

If Mr. Hadley's statement of miles run by trains annually is used in
connection with Mr. Poor's statement showing the length, for 1889, of
the railroads of the countries given in the above table, it can be shown
that the average number of trains run annually per mile is considerably
less here than in Europe:

Length of Average Number
Railroad Miles run of Trains
in miles by Trains per mile per
Countries. (1889). annually. annum.

United States 161,396 724,000,000 4,485
Great Britain 19,930 303,000,000 15,203
Germany 25,360 181,000,000 7,137
France 21,910 145,000,000 6,618
Austria-Hungary 15,990 66,000,000 4,127

It is seen that while the average number of trains run per mile per
annum is only 4,485 in the United States, it is 6,618 in France, 7,137
in Germany, and 15,203 in Great Britain. In Austria-Hungary it is
somewhat less than here. It is not claimed that this is in every respect
a fair argument; but it is at least as fair as Mr. Hadley's. As has been
stated before, the average earnings per train mile are larger in the
United States than in most nations, and, excepting Sweden, railway
capital has the highest gross earnings of any nation in the world; and
when Mr. Hadley bases his argument in favor of higher rates for American
railroads than for those of Europe upon the claim that the latter secure
larger train loads, he simply reasons from false premises.

Mr. Hadley then continues:

"But why cannot our railroad men, with our present train
service, secure larger loads by making lower rates, and give
us cheap service as well as plenty of it? Why cannot we
secure two good things instead of one? For two reasons:
First, because it is not certain that low rates will be
followed by greatly increased travel; second, because such
increased travel would not be so economical to handle in
America as it is in Europe. It is wrong to assume that,
because reduc