Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/527

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RAILWAYS
487

Construction Bureau, and those of private railway companies are under the supervision of the respective joint-stock railway companies. The total mileage of railways under the control of the Traffic and Construction Bureau is 1,226, and that of the Nippon Railway Company is 860. Next in order of mileage come the Kyushyu, operating 400 miles; the Sanyo, 340 miles; the Tanko, 270 miles.

The smallest railways (under ten miles) are those owned by the Ryugasaki, the Nishinari, the Kanan, and the Sano Railway Companies. Dividing the total mileage owned by private companies by the number of the companies, we obtain an average of ninety-nine miles per company. The following table shows the existing conditions of various companies:

Under
10 Miles.
Over
10 Miles
to 50 Miles.
Over
50 Miles
to 100 Miles.
Over
100 Miles.
Total.
Government Railways
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
2 02
Private Railways
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
3 30 3 5 41

From the above table it is surprising to find how many small railway companies there are in existence.

It is needless to mention that the construction of railways requires an enormous sum of money. The gross capital spent in construction at the close of the thirty-fourth fiscal year aggregated 340,000,000 yen, inclusive of the construction expenses for incomplete lines. Details of this are shown in the following table:

Government.
Construction expenses for open lines
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
100,590,209 yen.
Construction expenses incomplete lines
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
22,335,382 yen.
Fixed operating fund
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
200,000 yen.
Stores fund
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
2,215,000 yen.
Miscellaneous
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
1,893,261 yen.
Total
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
127,167,852 yen.
Private.
Construction expenses for open lines
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
202,804,045 yen.
Construction expenses incomplete lines
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
4,598,747 yen.
Fixed working fund, stores fund, miscellaneous
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
12,306,640 yen.
Total
…          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …
219,709,432 yen.