Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/535

Comparing the goods and passenger traffics and distances travelled with the present population, we find the following figures:

Per Head of Population.
Passenger		Number of persons …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …	02.39
		Miles travelled …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …	40.50
Goods tonnage		Number of tons …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …	00.30
		Miles transported …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …          …	16.40

The above table is compiled from the latest statistics, and the result shows that our people travel on an average only a little over twice per annum, and for a distance of forty miles, and also that only a third of a ton of freight is transported for a distance of sixteen miles per head of the population. These analyses show very clearly that as yet the use made of the railway by our people is still in its infancy. In order to encourage a more comprehensive use of the railways, it is necessary on the one hand to arrange for more direct communication, and on the other hand to adopt all the most important modern improvements in railway appliances and methods, so as to induce the public to become accustomed to railway travelling. The existence of so many small railway companies, each independent of the others, is not without its drawbacks in the way of advancement. If those isolated companies were to be consolidated, and enabled to carry on business in a more homogeneous and regularized system, might it not be regarded as a step in the direction of real progress of railway enterprise?