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Despite the clear-cut technological advantages, the railroad didn't become the primary means of transportation for nearly 20 years after the first pioneering American railroads were introduced in the early 1830s. Besides the stiff competition of water transport[1], an important hindrance to railroad development was public antipathy, which had its roots in ignorance, conservatism, and vested interest[2]. People thought that speeds of 20 to 30 miles per hour would be physically harmful to passengers. Many honestly believed that the railroad would prove to be impractical and uneconomical and would not provide service as dependable as that of the waterways.
Unsurprisingly, the most vigorous opposition to railroads came from groups whose economic interests suffered from the competition of the new industry. Millions of dollars had been spent on canals, rivers, highways, and plank roads, and thousands of people depended on these transportation enterprises for their livelihood. Tavern keepers feared their businesses would be ruined, and farmers envisioned the market for hay and grain disappearing as the "iron horse" replaced the flesh-and-blood animal that drew canal boats and pulled wagons.[3] Competitive interests joined to embarrass and hinder the railroads, causing several states to limit traffic on them to passengers and their baggage or to freight hauled only during the months when canal operations ceased.[4] One railroad company in Ohio was required to pay for any loss in canal traffic attributed to railroad competition. Other railroads were ordered to pay a tonnage tax to support the operation of canals.
These sentiments, however amusing today, were seriously espoused by national leaders, as seen in this 1829 letter from Martin Van Buren[5], then governor of New York, to President Andrew Jackson:
[INDENT]To: President Jackson
The canal system of this country is being threatened by the spread of a new form of transportation known as 'railroads.' The federal government must preserve the canals for the following reasons:
One. If canal boats are supplanted by 'railroads,' serious unemployment will result. Captains, cooks, drivers, hostlers, repairmen and lock tenders will be left without means of livelihood, not to mention the numerous farmers now employed in growing hay for horses.
Two. Boat builders would suffer and towline, whip and harness makers would be left destitute.
Three. Canal boats are absolutely essential to the defense of the United States. In the event of the expected trouble with England, the Erie Canal would be the only means by which we could ever move the supplies so vital to waging modern war.
As you may well know, Mr. President, 'railroad' carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by 'engines' which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty[6] certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.[/INDENT]
Despite the opposition of those who feared the railroads, construction went on. In sections of the country where canals could not be built, the railroad offered a means of cheap transportation for all kinds of commodities. In contrast to the municipality that wished to exclude the railroad, many cities and towns, as well as their state governments, did much to encourage railroad construction. And the federal government provided tariff exemptions on railroad iron.[7]
By 1840, railroad mileage in the United States was within 1,000 miles of the combined lengths of all canals, the volume of goods carried by water still exceeded that transported by rail. After the depression of the early 1840s, rail investments continued, mostly government assisted, and by 1850, the country had 9,000 miles of railroads, and the railroad's superiority was clear.[8]
With the more than 20,000 miles of rails added to the transportation system between 1850 and 1860, total trackage surpassed 30,000 at the end of the decade, and the volume of freight traffic equaled that of canals. All the states east of the Mississippi were connected during this decade. The eastern seaboard was linked with the Mississippi River system, and the Gulf and South Atlantic states could interchange traffic with the Great Lakes. Growing trunk lines[9] like the Erie, the Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore and Ohio completed construction of projects that had been started in the 1840s, and combinations of short lines provided new through routes. By the beginning of the Civil War, the eastern framework of the present rail-transportation system had been erected, and it was possible to travel by rail the entire distance from New York to Chicago to Memphis and back to New York.
Many modifications and improvements occurred,[10] and total factor productivity in railroads more than doubled in the two decades before the Civil War. Technological advances were reflected in the fact that the average traction force of locomotives more than doubled in these two decades. Freight car sizes also increased, with eight-wheel cars being common by 1859. Most of the productivity rise, however, resulted from increased utilization of existing facilities. The stock of capital -and other inputs -grew, but output grew much faster as the initial input[11] became more fully utilized.
儘管鐵路運輸在技術上有明顯優勢，但是美國的鐵路在19世紀30年代早期閃亮登場后的近20年中卻沒有成為首要的交通運輸手段。除了水上運輸的激烈競爭外，阻礙鐵路運輸發展的主要因素是公眾的反感，它根源於愚昧無知，守舊和既得利益。人們以為20－30英里的時速會對旅客的身體造成損害。許多人深信鐵路運輸不切實際、浪費資源，也不會提供像水路運輸那樣可靠的服務。
對鐵路最強烈的反對來自那些經濟利益受到這個新行業競爭衝擊的集團，這不足為怪。成百萬美元被用於建造運河、水道、公路及木板路，而成千上萬的人依靠這些運輸企業謀生。客棧老闆害怕生意受損，農民們預料到由「鐵馬」代替用來在運河上拖動船隻和駕車的有著血肉之軀的活馬以後，出售乾草與穀物的市場將不復存在。競爭利益集團聯手向鐵路運輸發難，導致幾個州限定鐵路只能用於運送乘客及其行李，或把鐵路貨運限制在運河停運的幾個月內。俄亥俄州的一家鐵路公司被要求賠付鐵路競爭對運河航運造成的任何損失。其他鐵路公司被勒令支付噸位稅用以支撐運河營運。
這些在今天看來十分可笑的觀點卻在當時得到了國家領導人的深切認同。這可以從1829年紐約州長馬丁 |
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