A GOOD deal has of late years been written by experts
touching the history, growth and management of rail-
ways, their duties to the State, and their relation to the
people. Many valuable conclusions have been arrived at,
and much technical knowledge has been made accessible
to the casual reader. In the excellent and well-known
work of Mr. Charles Francis Adams Jr. published in
1880,* and the late able works of Prof. Hadley † and Mr.
J. F. Hudson ‡ published in 1886, historical, adminis-
trative and political aspects of the subject have been
handled with accurate knowledge and in attractive form.
But, if we except the necessarily cumbrous works, which
deal with large masses of figures and require attentive
study for their profitable interpretation, the interest of
the investor, as such, and notably that of the European
investor in American railroad securities, seems to have
been overlooked or lightly regarded.
Possibly, if the European outlook had not been some-
what stormy, and large changes in the conditions affect-
ing property in the British Empire had not been distinctly
foreshadowed, the interest of the investor, as such, might
have rightly been considered a matter of small immediate
moment, and undeserving special consideration. But it