s of the
Central Road amounted to $936,000 in gold, and in 1867 they are
estimated at one million dollars; and this surplus is applied to the
construction of the road. The net earnings of the Union Pacific
(Nebraska) Road for the quarter ending July 31, 1867, were $376,589 in
currency. Those of the Eastern or Kansas branch, for the month of
August alone, $235,000. Of course these estimates of the profit of the
roads under the present circumstances are but faint indications of the
wealth which must accrue to them upon their completion, and after the
fuller development of the resources upon which they depend. At the
sources of this future wealth we shall glance presently.

There can be no possible occasion for rivalry between these three
companies. Each road will take its place in the great work of
interoceanic communication, and each will find its capacities meagre as
compared with the commerce which awaits it. But apart from a merely
commercial view, there are certain points of comparison between the
various routes which demand a brief notice. The Kansas route will
probably prove most attractive to the tourists, especially in the event
of its making the detour through New Mexico above alluded to. The
Nebraska route will be more monotonous, running across the level and
treeless valley of the Platte for three hundred miles. To the traveller
there will always be presented the same swift but shallow river at his
side, the same bare, misty hills along the horizon, the same limitless
stretch of the plain before and behind, and the same solitary sky above,
save as it is varied by sunrise and sunset, until the Black Hills come
to his relief, and he enters upon the snow-whelmed Sierra. The Central
route is more picturesque, and also has more elements of grandeur, than
either of the others. The Nebraska Road, on account of the character of
the country through which it passes, will probably derive its main
revenue from the through trade; while the Kansas--if its present purpose
be carried out--will depend upon the local trade and its multifarious
connections.

Having traced the history of these Pacific roads, the difficulties which
they have met and in a large degree conquered, and their general
features, our consideration of them must from this point grow out of
their national importance and world-wide significance. For the Pacific
Railroad is not simply a gigantic public work, it is the world's great
highway. The world has had