210 4,620
Russia 15 240 3,600
Germany 14 250 3,500
France 14 220 3,080
United States 5 555 2,625

The London and Northwestern Railway is 1,793 miles long and has over
55,000 employes, or over 30 per mile. The Lancashire and Yorkshire
Company employs over 42 per mile.

The train men of Europe work less hours and earn less per capita for
their employers than do the train men of this country. The average
annual gross earnings per employe on sixteen of the leading lines of
Great Britain, as shown by Mr. Jeans, appear to be $975 against $1,600
on fifteen leading lines of the United States, while the average net
earnings per employe are $465 on the British lines against $720 on the
American lines; making a difference in favor of this country of 70 per
cent. in gross earnings and 53 per cent. in net earnings. If American
labor is more expensive, it is also more efficient than labor is
elsewhere.

It must also be considered that the average haul in Europe is much less
than the average haul in the United States. It has always been
maintained by the railroad companies, and very justly, too, that the
terminal charges are as important a factor of freight rates as is the
cost of carriage. The terminal charges are the same for a
twenty-five-mile haul as for a thousand-mile haul; they form a
comparatively large part of the total charges for the former and a very
small part of the total charges for the latter. It is therefore
manifestly unjust to compare the rates per ton per mile of Europe with
those of the United States without making due allowance for the
difference in the length of their average hauls. All other things being
equal, a fair comparison between the freight rates of different
countries should be based upon hauls of equal length.

There is another consideration which should not be lost sight of. The
commodities in the United States which contribute principally to the
long haul are raw products. The universally low rates of these
commodities greatly lower the general average. In Europe, on the other
hand, manufactured goods predominate as long-haul freight, and based
upon increased risk and increased cost of carriage, considerably swell
the general average of freight charges. The railroads of the United
States also do more business