Per hundred thousand inhabitants, the mileage of the system is as follows: In European Russia, 26 miles; in Asiatic Russia, 32; in the United States, 259; in France, 80; in Great Britain, 50; and in Germany, 58. These figures show that the Russian railroad system must be increased about three times. This means that about 100,000 miles of railroad lines must be constructed in the very near future. The operation of the Russian railway system at present gives good financial returns, the net earnings being, on the average, 6% on the capital invested.
The tonnage carried by the Russian railways increases constantly and rapidly. For instance, during the last three years the annual increase of tonnage was 10%. This figure is very significant, as it shows how rapidly the economic life of the country is progressing and how insistently it demands the improvement of the railroad lines already existing and the construction of new ones. Two-thirds of the Russian railroads are owned and operated by the Government, and one-third is owned and operated by private companies. The private railroad companies are under Government control and almost all enjoy the privilege of Government guarantee. This means that the Government guarantees the payment of interest on railroad bonds even when the net earnings of the railroad are not sufficient.
What I have just said is enough to indicate that in the railroad field, Americans, when working in co-operation with Russians, will find highly favorable conditions for the application of their capital and energy.
. . . It is sometimes permissible to indulge in a little daydreaming. It seems to me that three or four decades from now, Russia's railroad system and her trade with America will have developed so much that it will be quite natural to realize that, as a matter of fact, we are very close neighbors, that our territories are separated only by a narrow strip of water, scarcely thirty-five miles in width. Then it will be well to remember also that the Russian and the American railroad builders have always been bold, that they have never stopped before the most serious problems, and have always solved them successfully. And then, perhaps, our two Continents will be joined together by one line of rail, and your children and grandchildren will be traveling in a Russian-American Through Express train from New York, across the Behring Strait, direct to Petrograd. And let me assure you, they will be greeted there with the sincerest Russian welcome!
