ully developed here. While in Norway the greater part of the
lines is owned by the state, the roads of Sweden are chiefly in the
hands of private companies which on an average control but little more
than twenty-five miles each. The total mileage of Sweden is 5,970, and
that of Norway 970.

The first line of railroad in the Russian Empire was constructed from
St. Petersburg, sixteen miles, to Tsarskoji-Sielo, in 1842. The St.
Petersburg and Moscow line was opened in 1851. Railroad building then
stagnated until after the Crimean War, when a large number of lines
were constructed at once. The roads were surveyed by the government, but
constructed and operated by private companies.

State aid was, however, freely given. During the past ten years the
Russian government has directed its attention to the development of the
railroad system in its Asiatic possessions. A railway between the Black
and Caspian seas was completed in 1883, and the Siberian railroad is
extended as fast as the financial condition of the empire permits. There
are now about 20,000 miles of road in the Russian Empire operated by
private companies. The construction of a large number of the Russian
railways was dictated by military rather than commercial considerations.
Maximum rates are specified in charter, and every change of rates must
be approved by the Minister of Finance.

In the Balkan Peninsula railroad facilities are still ill provided for.
A few lines have been built, but these are, as a rule, badly managed.
Trains are slow, and rates often so high as to be prohibitory. Roumania
has undoubtedly the best railroad system of any of the Balkan states,
the government controlling 1,000 miles of road. Greece is also making
some progress and has at the present time 610 miles of railway. There is
reason to believe that through communication will soon be established in
these countries on a larger scale.

The introduction of the railway into Asia has been, except in the
Russian and English possessions, a very difficult task. The conservatism
or ignorance of the governments and the superstition of the people
combined to throw numberless obstacles before those who proposed to pave
the way for the iron horse. British India opened her first railway for
public traffic between Bombay and Tannah on November 18, 1852. In 1855
she had 841 miles of road, which increased to 6,515 miles in 1875 and to
15,828 miles in 1889, of which 8,423 miles were owned and operat