The chief economic value of these railways heretofore has been to bring the products of each general section to the coast, and communi cation between northern, southern and western states is still largely by ocean or river steamer. The traveler visiting the several coast cities has little use for the railways until he reaches Rio de Janeiro. From Rio the usual journey (re Quinng all of one day), is by rail to Sao Paulo, one of the most thriving commercial cities of South America, and then to the coast again at Santos, where steamer connection is made for southern Brazil and the river Plata. However, the traveler, if he wishes to do so, can reach both Uruguay and Argentina by rail from Rio de Janeiro. Sleeping and dining-car service is provided, but the rates are high.
The line 'that connects the capital with many of the important cities of southern Brazil and the oldest line in the country is the Central of Brazil Railway, whose broad and metre gauge tracks lead to Sao Paulo in the southwest and to Bello Morizonte and other important centres in the north. It is government-owned, and returns a large annual deficit. The coun try's best-paying line is the Sao Paulo Railway, running from Santos to Jundiahy via Sao Paulo, which carries a tremendous freight of coffee annually. There are two tracks over the 50 miles between Sao Paulo and Santos, and grades of 8 per 'cent are surmounted by means of endless-cable systems. Other import ant lines of this region that should be men tioned are the Mogyana, Sorocabana, Paulista, South Minas, West of Mines and Brazil Rail way systems. The last named is the compre hensive system controlled by a company known as the Farquhar Syndicate, incorporated in Maine, which carried forward ambitious de velopment plans that involved railway construc tion or control in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. This development, however, was largely suspended by financial difficulties on the outbreak of the European War, and the company passed into the hands of a receiver: The southernmost states of Brazil are served by this line and by the. Great Southern, the region to the north of Rio de Janeiro by the Leopoldina Railway, the region around Pernam buco by the Great Western, the state of Ceara by the Brazil North Eastern, and Bahia by the state •of Bahia Southwestern. There is at present no through rail connection between north and south, but it is planned to have the Central of Brazil extended eventually to Para, thus affording railway communication for all the states on the Atlantic seaboard. Construc tion is also reaching out toward the western plains, and a transcontinental line through Bolivia will eventually be built.
Far removed from all other lines is the Madeira-Mamore Railway, 1,800 miles into the interior, which spans a series of rapids in the Madeira, Mamore and Beni rivers. These rapids are the only obstruction to river traffic from the interior of Bolivia to the Atlantic, and the road of 225 miles was constructed (with great difficulty and only after repeated failures) to afford an outlet for the products of eastern Bolivia.
Maxim.— Before the revolution broke out in 1910 Mexico had witnessed a steady expan sion of its railways, which formed a network that afforded an outlet for the products of almost all parts of this potentially wealthy coun try. In the years that followed the overthrow of Diaz not only has new construction been materially diminished (though not entirely sus pended) but millions of dollars' worth of track and rolling stock have been destroyed. In normal times the country is well served by its railways. It has about 16,000 miles of rail way, mostly standard gauge (four feet eight and one-half inches) of which about 7,300 miles are owned or controlled (but not operated) by one system, the National Railways of Mexico. The government organized this system by combining the National Railroad of Mexico and the Mexi can Central, in 1908, and later adding the Mexican International, the Vera Cruz and Isthmus• and the Pan-American.' The govern ment owns 50.3 per cent of the ordinary stock and thus has full control. The principal line of the system runs from Nuevo Laredo, on the northern border, through the states. of Nuevo Leon and San Luis Potosi on down to Mexico City, with several branches east and west.
Other important lines of Mexico include the Southern Pacific of Mexico, running from the northern border through the western states of Sonora and Sinaloa to Tepic, whence it will be continued to join the National Railways of Mexico at Guadalajara; the Mexico North Western Railway, one of the two lines joining El Paso and Chihuahua; the Mexican Rail way, running from Vera Cruz to Mexico City, with several branches; the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, which when completed will join Kansas City with the port of Topolo bampo on the Gulf of California; and the Tehuantepec National Railway, running from coast to coast between Salina Cruz and Puerto Mexico. The only isolated system is the United Railroads of Yucatan, and a line is pro jected which will join this with the other rail ways of the country.
Mexico has a carefully worked out body of railway law, and the Minister of Communica tions is assisted by a standing advisory Railway Commission of nine members.