he laws of the state, published
in 1833, thus describes the effect of these improvements upon the
prosperity of Ohio:

"They have afforded to the farmer of the interior an easy access
to market, and have enhanced the value of his farm and his productions.
They have facilitated intercourse between different sections of
the state, and have thus tended to make the people more united, as
well as more prosperous. They have furnished to the people a common
object of generous interest and satisfaction. They have attracted
a large accession of population and capital. And they have made
the name and character of Ohio well-known throughout the civilized
world, as a name and character of which her sons may be justly
proud."

This period of prosperity continued for twenty years, when, in
1846, a still greater revolution was introduced by the building of
railroads. The first object of this was to furnish cheaper
transportation of the produce of the farmer to the Ohio River and
Lake Erie. The first railroads were from the interior, north and
south. They were little better than tramways, supported by cross-
ties with longitudinal stringpieces covered with thin strips of
iron. The carriages were propelled by feeble engines, and it was
thought a matter of great importance when, by this new motive power,
a bushel of wheat could be transported from the interior to distances
of from fifty to a hundred miles for from six to ten cents. While
a young attorney, I thought it a grievous injustice that my client,
one of the new railroad companies, was compelled by a jury to pay
$2,000 for the right-of-way over twenty miles of farm land. It
was soon discovered that railroads were to be so successful that
they would supersede for the transportation of persons and passengers
all kinds of water transportation, and that lines running long
distances east and west would have the benefit of the through travel
and traffic. In rapid succession several lines of railroad were
built from the eastern cities across the state to the northwest,
west and southwest. Within twenty years from the first construction
of railways they had almost superseded all former modes of
communication, and had reduced the rates of travel and transportation
to less than one-half the former rates.

After the close of the Civil War the construction of railroads
rapidly increased, so that in 1890 the total miles of railway track
in Ohio was 10,464, and the valuation for