M. de Laverleye, has said in this Revue (*) that in the 16th century the abundance of the precious metals had contributed to the elevation of the common people, and that, in the 19th century, the abundance of gold would contribute to the emancipation of the people; nothing is more correct, and we prefer this kind of emancipation to that which the laborers dream of in their social Congress. It has the merit of being conformable to the laws of political economy, and of tending to no violent disorder. VICTOR BONNET.

CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO RAILROAD.

One of the chief projects of the State of Virginia has for many years been the construction of a railroad which should connect the waters of Chesapeake Bay with those of the Ohio River, the distance between Richmond, Va., and the mouth of Big Sandy River, the terminal points, being upwards of 400 miles.

The Virginia Central Railroad, including the Blue Ridge Railroad constructed by the State, covers a little more than one-half of this line, and together have cost nearly $6,000,000. The Covington and Ohio Railroad, the construction of which was undertaken by the State of Virginia alone, has to date cost about $3,250,000. Since the erection of the State of West Virginia nearly the whole of the unfinished line isincluded within its limits.

The important ends to be gained by the completion of the Covington and Ohio Railroad led to identical action on the part of the two States most interested, and under acts passed by the Legislatures of each in 1867 commissioners were appointed whose duty it was to contract with any party which could give satisfactory assurances of being able to complete the road between Covington, Va., and the confluence of the Big Sandy with the Ohio River. The acts specially referred to the Virginia Central Railroad Company, and provided that in case that Company should take the contract, they should acquire all rights, interests, &c., in the work now held by the States aforesaid and under the general title of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company become owners of the line.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, as thus organized, will begin at Richmond and run west through the Alleghany Mountains and West Virginia to the Ohio River, a distance of 405 miles. A branch line will also be built from a point 14 miles west of Charleston, W. Va., to Point

* See the Revue of April 1, 1367.

Pleasant, thereby making two termini on the Ohio River and connections with the network of railroads already completed or now being constructed in the Northwest, West and Southwest. At Richmond direct connection is made with West Point on the deep waters of York River and also with Norfolk. A line is also projected to connect with Newport News, together giving the road three termini on the tide-waters of the Atlantic ocean.

On the 31st of August, 1868, the commissioners appointed under the acts aforesaid and the Virginia Central Railroad Company signed a contract giving to the latter the authority necessary to construct the line from Covington, together with all the franchises, &c., conferred by said acts, and from that date the Company assumed the title of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company.

The amount of money required to complete the roads is about $13,000,000. Of this about $5,000,000 has been secured by stock subscriptions and the remainder by the issue of bonds secured by a fresh mortgage on all present and future property of the Company. For this purpose a mortgage for $10,000,000 was executed on the first day of October, 1868, the trustees being Philo C. Calhoun, William Butler Duncan and William Orton of New York, and Mathew F. Maury of Virginia. The bonds issued under this mortgage have thirty years to run from October 1st, 1868, and are made payable, principal and interest in gold, either in New York city or London. They bear seven per cent interest free from United States Government tax, payable in gold or sterling, at the option of the holders. The mortgage deed also provides for an accumulative sinking fund, to commence one year after the completion of the road. Of the total issue authorized, $2,000,000 are to be set apart in trust for the payment of the bonded and floating debt of the Virginia Central Railroad Company, to whose property, rights, branches, &c., the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company succeeds. By special acts of Virginia and West Virginia all the property of the Company is exempt from State taxation until 10 per cent dividends are declared from net earnings upon the capital stock.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad will pass through a country abounding in natural resources-iron, coal and salt being among its principal products. It will connect the Western waters and those of the Atlantic by the shortest line, and at its ocean termini find harbors capable of receiving the largest class of ships. Norfolk has 28 feet, Newport News 22 feet and West Point 21 feet water. The distance from Richmond to the Big Sandy is 405 and to Point Pleasant 398 miles. From Richmond to Cincinnati, by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, the distance is 545 miles, to Louisville 621 miles, to Chicago 792 miles, and to St. Louis 885 miles. The shortest existing lines from Cincinnati to New

York is 756 miles, from Chicago to New York 911 miles, and from Louisville to New York 862 miles. It is thus apparent that the distances from the Ohio River to tide-water are much shorter by this route than any now existing, and also that it must, in the order of things, become a strong competitor for the commerce originating in the great interior and aggregating in the Atlantic seaboard ports. The establishment of steamship lines from Norfolk to the principal freight ports is a part of the programme.

If we were to measure the ultimate success of the whole road by the success of a part which has been in operation for years, we should fall short of what promises to be the actual result. The existing portion of the line has no western connections, and its terminus is in the midst of a wild and bnt partially improved country. Yet in the year 1867-68, the gross earnings amounted to $599,354 06, and the net earnings, after paying all expenses on account of operations, amounted to $162,705 57, enough to pay 7 per cent on the whole outstanding debt and liabilities of the company and leave a considerable surplus for the stockholders. As the road is extended to the Ohio, it will then have changed its local characteristics and assumed those of a great trunk line, and with this change must come far more favorable results.

EVANSVILLE AND CRAWFORDSVILLE RAILROAD.

As now existing, the Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad expands in a north and south direction between Terre Haute and Evansville, Ind., a distance of 109 miles, with an extension northeast from the first-named city to Rockville, 23 miles in length. By July, 1869, Evansville, the southern terminus of the road, will be connected by the Evansville, Hend. erson and Nashville Railroad, now in rapid progress with Nashville, and thence with lines diverging southeast, south and southwest to the Atlantic, Gulf and Mississippi River. At Vincennes it will be intersected by the line now being constructed between Indianapolis and Cairo, and at Terre Haute by the line between Indianapolis and St. Louis. Terre Haute will also be the southern terminus of the Chicago, Danville and Terre Haute Railroad, which will afford a very direct line to Chicago, a few miles north of Terre Haute, the line now under construction between Indianapolis and Paris, and at Rockville the line between Indianapolis and Paris (the Indianapolis and St. Louis) will cross it. The further extension of the road to Crawfordsville, a distance of less than 20 miles, will connect it with the northern division of the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago Railroad, and also with the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railroad, and

other lines pointing north, northeast and east. Thus a line which has hitherto been almost isolated from the commercial world, is to become, at an early date, a link in one of the great central north and south lines from the Lakes at many points to the Gulf of Mexico, with connections which will give it outlets on the South Atlantic coast at Charleston and Savannah, and on the Mississippi at Memphis and New Orleans.

The rolling stock on the road is ample for its present business demands. At the close of the last fiscal year (August 31, 1868), this consisted of 15 locomotives and 216 revenue cars, viz.: 11 passenger, 1 paymaster's, 4 baggage, mail and express, 81 local and 37 compromise box freight, 28 platform, 31 coal, 10 stock and 10 construction cars; also 27 hand and 17 push cars. The number of miles run by trains in 1866-7) was 272,310, and in 1867-68, 254,192.

The gross earnings, expenses and profits for the last two years are compared in the following statement:

The following, compiled from the annual reports of the ccmpany, shows the progressive development of business on the road from 1858

The income account for 1867-68 shows the receipts from all sources, including balance from previous year, $32,427 97, at $486,768 18, and the expenditures on all accounts at $510,393 57-balance against income. $23,625 39. The expenditures were: Expenses as above, $335,266 25; interests $96,083 90; internal revenue taxes $6,108 98; State, county and municipal taxes $7,754 10; construction $46,028 71; equipment (new freight cars) $14,056 82; and increase of supplies $6,095 51-total, $510,393 57. No dividends were ever paid on the company's common stock since 1856, when a scrip distribution was made.

The financial condition of the company, as exhibited on the general balance sheet of August 31, 1868, is shown in the following summary:

The funded debt is described as follows:

First mortgage (main line) 7 p. cent bonds of 1952, due January 1, 1869..

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66

of 1854, due May 1, 1869.

(Rockville extension) 7 p. c. bonds, due Feb. 1, 1881

The first mortgage (main line) bonds, due in 1869, are being exchanged into new sinking fund bonds having twenty years to run.

AGGREGATE RESOURCES AND LIABILITIES OF THE NATIONAL BANKING ASSOCIATIONS FROM OCT., 1863, TO OCT., 1868.

We give below the official returns, showing the aggregate resources and liabilities of the National Banking Associations, from October 1863, the date of their first return, to October, 1868, the date of their last return. It will be seen that the total number of banks at the former date was sixty-six, with a capital of $7,188,393; while now there are 1,645 banks, with a capital of $420,634,511. Since October, 1866, however, both the amount of capital and the number of the banks have remained about the same, varying slightly from year to year. The National bank circulation now outstanding is $295,769,489, while the State bank circulation is reduced below $3,000,000. Some of the main items of the returns show the following progress from year to year:

Date. 1863, Oct.... 1864, Jan..

1864, Oct.

1865, Jan..

1865, Oct..

1866, Jan..

1866, Oct..

1867, Jan..

1867, Oct..

1868, Jan....

1868, Oct..

...

Loans.

United States Bank notes No. Capital. bonds. circulation. 66 $7,188,393 $5,466,088 $5,662,600 $....

10,666,095 15,112,250

30,155 45,260,504 66,769,375

189 14,740,522 507 86 782,802 93,2 8,657 108,064,496 643 135,618,874 166,448,718 176,578,750 1,513 893,157,206 487,170,136 427,781,300 171,321,903 1,579 403,857,346 500,650,109 440,379,350 213 239,530 1,643 415,27,969 6 3,247,503 426,657,350 280,129,558 1,644 419,779,739 608,411,901 428,120,700 291,093,294 1,643 420,073,415 609,675,214 418,963,050 293,887,941 1,642 420,260,790 616,603,479 420,544,450 2 4,377,390 1,645 420,664,511 657,668,847 414,664,800 295,769,489

Besides the foregoing national securities the banks have held, as will be seen, compound interest notes to a large amount, and at the last return held $59,080,000 of the Three Per Cent Certificates.