The plan of the Emperor was intricate but masterly. He said to the companies: "You must make these lines. The 4,525 miles of railway already made shall be a separate system for the present, under the name of Ancien Reseau, the old lines. You no longer require the guarantee of the State for these lines. But I will give you an extension of the ninety-nine years of your concessions, by allowing them to commence at later dates; beginning with 1852 for the Northern Company, and at various dates for the rest, up to 1862, for the Southern Company. I also engage that £9,000,000 sterling of the net revenue of these old lines shall for ever be divisable among the shareholders, without being liable for any deficit of the extension lines, an amount which will give you a clear and undefeasible dividend of 6 to 8 per cent.; with a strong probability—almost a certainty of getting much more from surplus traffic."

"Next the new lines, 5,128 miles in length, shall be a separate system, under the name of Nouveau Reseau, or extension lines. Their estimated cost is £124,000,000, and you, the companies, may raise this sum by debentures, on which the Government will guarantee 4 per cent. interest, and .65 sinking fund for paying them off in fifty years. Any extra cost you must pay yourselves."

These, in their briefest possible form, are the terms on which the Emperor imposed an average of nearly 1,000 miles per company on the six great companies of France. They were accepted with considerable reluctance. Their effect has been to lower the value of the shares of the great companies, for the bargain is considered disadvantageous. The companies cannot borrow at less than 5.75, so losing 1.10 per cent. per annum on every debenture; and as the lines cost more than the £124,000,000., the overplus has been raised by the companies by debentures, for which they alone are responsible. But on the other hand, they get an immense amount of fresh traffic over their old lines, which must ultimately more than repay this loss. English Railways would be thankful if their extensions cost them so little.

In the following years other lines were added, with similar guarantees and with considerable subventions from the State, and in 1863 an additional series of lines, 1,974 miles in length, were imposed on similar terms, but with some modifications of the conventions with two of the weakest companies.

Besides the Government lines, the Emperor encouraged to the utmost the efforts of the departments, and in July, 1865, a law was passed respecting chemins de fer d'interet local, which authorised departments and communes to undertake the construction of local railways at their own expense, or to aid concessionaires with subventions to the extent of onefourth, one-third, or in some cases one-half the expense, not exceeding £240,000.

Not content with passing this law, the minister of public works, in the very next month wrote to the prefets of the 88 departments of France, to acquaint them fully with its provisions, and to invite them to communicate with their councils general, and deliberate upon the subject. The result was that sixteen councils requested their prefets to make surveys and inquiries to ascertain what lines would be advisable. 32 departments authorized their prefets to prepare special plans, and even to make provisional agreements with the companies to carry out lines, subject to confir

mation by the councils. Two of these made immediate votes, viz., the department of Ain, £56,000, and Herault, £260,000 for lines which they approved. A third, the department of Calvados, voted subventions amounting to £1,000 per mile for one line, and £2,000 per mile for another line. Besides, these five departments put railroads into immediate execution by contracts with independent companies. Among these were:

By these measures the Emperor has brought up the concessions to the following total:

Ancien Reseau, or old lines

Nouveau 66 or extension lines..

Miles.

5,027

7,565

12,592

Being very nearly the length of our constructed lines in 1864.

But of this mileage there has been constructed up to the present time only... 8,134 Leaving still unconstructed.....

4,458

being one-third of the whole concessions. Of this, 1,800 miles are now being constructed, and 1,600 miles are expected to be opened by the end of 1867.

Hence the lines constructed in France up to and including 1865, are 8,134 miles, or about the same length as the lines constructed in the United Kingdom to the end of 1855; so that France is ten years behind England in actual length of railways constructed, and at least fifteen years behind England if her larger territory and population are taken into account; and I must add that France would have been very much farther behind had it not been for the vigorous impulse and the wise measures of the Emperor Napoleon.

The progress of completion from 1837 to the present time is shown in the following table:

This table shows the insignificant rate of progress up to 1845, and the

larger but still slow progress up to 1855. From that time the effect of the Emperor's policy becomes visible in the increased rate of progression. It is is expected that between 1852 and 1872 more than 9,500 miles will have been opened, quadrupling the number constructed in the previous twenty years, and contributing in the highest degree to the prosperity and wealth of the French nation.

Railway history in France may be briefly summed up in four periods: 1. The period of independent companies from 1831 to 1841.

2. The period of joint partnership of the State and the companies from

1842 to 1851.

3. The period of Imperial amalgamations and guarantees from 1852 to 1857.

4. The period of guaranteed extension lines from 1858 to the present time.

[To be Continued.]

CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY.

This road extends from Phillipsburg, on the Delaware, to Elizabethport on the waters of the harbor of New York, a distance of 64 miles, with an extension to Jersey City, opposite New York (opened in 1864), a further distance of 10 miles. It is, throughout. a double track road, and a third rail is laid between the junction of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, at Hampton, to Elizabethport, for the accommodation of the wide cars of that line. A third track is about tobe laid between Elizabeth City and Jersey City, the traffic on this portion of the line having increased beyond the capacity of the two existing tracks. During the past year a stock yard and market, covering 40 acres, has been opened at Communipaw, and the new coal depot at Port Johnston has been brought into use. The works of the American Dock and Improvement Company are also being carried on with energy and success. Though the stock yard and dock properties belong to separate organizations, the Central company own the largest interest therein, and exercise full control over both. The improvements made by the company during the past three years have more than doubled its capital account: but the increase of business in consequence of their completion has been sufficient to ensure the continuance of the usual 10 per cent. dividend. It is not intended to make further new expenses on account of construction, but simply to finish up the work on hand.

The amount of rolling stock owned by the company at the close of each of the last five fiscal years is shown in the following statement:

-the four and six wheel cars being reduced to their equivalent in eight

wheel cars.

The receipts and expenses on account of operating the road and ferries

of the company for the same years were as follows:

An extra dividend of 10 per cent was paid from the renewal fund or surplus earnings as found at the end of 1863. This amounted to $515,000, leaving in the fund named $63,255, to which was added $60,000 premium on new stock issued-making the true balance at the end of 1863 $123,255, and with the surplus of 1864 a total of $628,159, at which amount the renewal fund still remains.

The following statements exhibit the operations on the road and ferries for the same five years :

The gross receipts per mile run by trains and the cost of operating are shown in the following table:

Capital stock..

The financial condition of the company as shown on the general balance sheet at the close of each fiscal year reads as follows:

Funded debt...

Dividend payable January 1 proximo

99,750 110,355 159,118

261,711

299,293

Interest accrued..

Accounts payable.

33,250

820,434

Renewal fund (balance)..

292,277 429,399 233,176 638,255

543,665

250,400

628,159

Total.....

Port Johnston coal wharves.

.$6,322,193 $7,708,880 $9,764,509 $13,661,735 $15,211,192

-accounted for, as shown in the following exhibit:

Railroad

Extension to Jersey City..

167,166

218,736

293,421

Lands and works at Elizabethport

Ferry interest and boats..

Engines...

Passenger cars.........

Freight cars.......

Coal cars.

99,861

553,650

Communipaw filling and bulkheads..

Lands, docks, mach'y, &c....

4,427,979

Iron and ties on hand..

86,411

Materials & fuel on hand..

189,787

Cash & acc'ts receivable...

128,286

424,579 359,497

Total ....

.$6,322,193 $7,708,880 $9,764,509 $13,661,735 $15,711,102

The following table shows the relation of capital, earnings, &c.:

The market value of the company's stock, based on the monthly

range of selling prices at New York, is shown in the following statement:

The sale prices for the first six months of 1867 have been as follows: January, 124@125; February, 120@123; March, 116@118; April, 1134@115; May, 115@118; June, 1174@120. Half year, 1131@125. The last notice of this railroad will be found in Vol. LIV. page 450.