Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-03-13
Raiir0ad Investments How 20 make
them Less Unproiitabits
BY CHARLES Etssr, Jp., CIVIL ENGINEER.

II w AS14i NSsToN, OClODcF IL, 1907.
To The Edstors # TIC Nation iIae,iycncv
! GENTLEMEN, 1t must be admitted that
the railroad in the present state ef sceiety
is necessary machi.a, qs iadispcrsable as
the steam engine Hlica ariEes a boat or a
mill, as the cart which brings US our coal,
Egsr the furnace which converts our ore into
metal. A piece Of machinery which has
become absolutely necessary to populous and
wealthy communities, if judicioa4ssy direct
ed, ought certainly to pay reasonable profits
to its Erogrictors. Ecenle Kill pay for the
things they mast haze.
Itsis not, clearly, for want Of adequate
business that the great American railroads
NO 50 unreliable There are nanerous
Zines IN this eorntry Of which the stocks are
yalueless as mark ossAsse commodities, yet on
which business is so great that, when e,ihib-
tied in an apprcciable shape, it staggers
credulity.
| Let us take. for example, one Of the great
railroads Of New York, with the history and
present condition q w1aa.ii we are ali iiiirnii-
lara road which annually transports more
than u million Of passengers and orcr three
quarters Of q million ct toms Of ftctght-a
road Of which the stock is now selling at
prices ranging fcLa eigdt to twelve cents il
the dollar.
Did it over occur to you, AIessrs Editors,
to try to imagine what : Of q million Of
tons really is, by reducing that quantity t.,
some other form with which the eye and mind
are more familiar? Fog Ills purpose let us
suppose the tAsce- fourths Of million of
tons to be represented by -four in barrels
! TIE gross annual traffic Of this road in
freight is about equivalent to eight millions
of barrels of -four But still we are at a
loss to appreciate the quantity. 4 plis1aion
is too large a number for tlhs mind to Ssti-
mate
I Eight millions of i}asfcss of -four, Sen,
piled up with tie lead Of che barrel upon
the head of the asssar, wiz form column
sGlg enough to 2&-a.1 xs.sln the centre Of
Wall street to the centre Of this earth LaiG
side BY side in row, eight millions Of bar
rels would extend from New York to Lon
don.
| The transportation Of the whole of this
immense mass, with tie cars which contain
it, a distance OF about two hundred miles
is a part of the annual task Of single rail
road.
Rnt this same road carries also consider
ably more than nillioa Of passengers per
annum. 4 million Of persons placed as near
together as soldiers drawn up in order OF
battle, and occupying each two feet in file
will extend oyer space Of about four hum
dred nlileS Che aars passenger business
Ct Sllis great vrcsa~ is equal to the convey
ance Of the cnH~o populations Of Washing
ten aad Georgetown oyer = read -cRe bun
cred msslcs long twelve times 2 gear.
| Now, to appreciate tLe foloe practically
reguired to nose these vast quantities OF
men and things, imagine column Of thirty
Thousand locomotire engines, each making a
single trip one Of hundred miles.
! The stock Of the company which cen
Joys" this immcn,e trade, to the great as
constituent OF tn public, is worth very lit
tie. 10 person competent to study its
tariff Of toll, and to compare the charges
levied, with the necessary expenses of the
work to be done, the only matter Of legiti-
mate surprise is that tie stock, under the
actual charges, car be supposed to be worth
anything at all.
Yet, intrinsieally, the New York and Erie
Railroad is q most valuable improvement
which only does got pay because It's mana
gers, unskilled in the arrangement Of tar
If Of toll, have never permitted it to pay.
! 1t is Like noble ship driven, bow on, upon
the visible breakers No railroad can pos
Silly have command Of g trade so great, or
possess a monopoly SO complete. that it will
pot he in the power Of its managers to re
duce it to bankruptcy by adopting an i'm
properly arranged and inadequate tarif5.
Permit me to sag that | am broaehing
here no new destripe, Haeently conceived,
aad low for the frst time uttered an Is
sag on the Lens Of Trade; written nearly
twenty years ago. professional ,ccmm1ltica-
lions to the railroad Journals from time to
time and every company With which [ have
been connected, Will Aear witness to the
fact that |, for oaae, haze never failed to
raise a warning voice against the prevailing
but popular sentiment in favor Of the low
and ruiious tariffs which have been fastened
by indiscrction, or negligence, or reckless
competition, upon nearly all the railroads Of
this country.
| Act Us takc another illustration There
is railroad IL i cnnss lvaslia which usually
transports nearly eyery hvo reechs @ moss Of
cod sufficient to jill up the w1ole JreaolM Of
Wall street, from Brouamoy dozen to East
'rirer, and from the pauepaeM mp to the
cares Of the fire storied buildings uhich line
Its .foot,eqlhs. Or, to illustrate the magni-
tude Of Ike business Of this road by com
garrison with things naore familiar to your
selves, Messrs. Editors, Let me say that it
transports coal enough crery sac months to
I'll up the whole Of Pennsylvania avenue to
a depth Of forty feet, from the base Of the
Capitol to she Presidents manslqn with
vast quantities of merchandise, and a heavy
travel in addition. The stock Of this road
is selling for about one-stfA or o7ae-sercnNt
Of its par value, apparently borne down by
the magnitude of it's trade.
The true cause of the great depreciation
Of this stock also is SIMPLY an inadequate
tariff. Fourteen years ago, when this com.
,pary-the Reading Rail Road Company
declared its purpose to carry coal at a very
low figure, | was engaged in the investiga,
tion of the cost Of railroad transportation
and publishing the results of my inquiries
in this country and Europe. In the course
Ct those publications | announced, IS thc
ineMitahe consequence OF the policy thai
~