Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1867-01-12
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE.
The Var Unan Railroads.
TFrom the Daily Wisconsin. /

grOundleSS IN It's aSSefblOnS. leu, Ocn'
Birney claims attention to his asser-
tions upon the subject of the cost of
railroad traffic upon the ground OF
personal experience. His comparl-
son of military railroads with those run
by corporations, is unfortunate for his
own purposes. He says the cost to the
military department for transportation,
when running the roads themselves,
with cheap labor of soldiers. was four
| and a half cents per ton per mile, consld-
erably more than the average of the
charges of the railroads of the United
States when operated by private cor
porations.
The comparison between the cost and
charges of. English and American Rail
ways is also unfortunate for his pur-
poses. The cost of operating and main
| tanning English railways Is from % to
60 per cent of gross earnings. That OF
operating and maintaining American
RAILWAYS is from GO to 70 per cent of
gross earnings. In the case of English
railways the capital investment is much
greater than in this country, the roads
aud equipment are much more substan-
TALLY built, and hence require less out
Law TO maintain and renew them. Our
taxes are much heavier than in England.
The New York Central pays five per
/ cent of its gross revenue in taxes. Tue
railroads OF Wisconsin pay nearly seven
per cent of their gross revenue III taxes.
The taxes of English railways are from
one and half to three per cent, or an
average of two per cent on gross reye-
nue.. We might go on to show the
many disadvantages which our railways
encounter, chief among them is the
sparseness of population. English rail
WAYS are operated in a country contain
ing "A population of three hundred to
four hundred per square mile, while the
population of the United States is less
than ten to the square mile, and the
average in the States in which railroads
are actually constructed, is less than
) forty per square mile.
Gen. Birney asserts, as the result of
evidence produced, that "one mill is
the actual cost of transporting an
average passenger one mile IL the pas
senger trains in use in the United
States" This amount does not cover
dividends to stockholders. "Allowing
for dividends" he says, ''the maximum
proper and reasonable passenger fare
should be one-ffth of a cent per mile. T"
In the same extraordinary manner,
Gen. Birney goes on to assert that
''the proper freight charge per mile
per ton should be two cents. T"
Gen. Birney says the costs OF running
railroads is kept secret by the mOnopo-
lists, and in the next paragraph he
, duotes from railway statistics to prove
some of his assertions. We think rail-
, way managers will tell him that of late
years the cost has been no secret, but
a palpable fact known to all stock and
bondholders. The fact is all we'll
ORGANIZED railroads make annual re-
ports of all their operations and ex-
penseS. In most states very elaborate
reports of railways are made to the
? state authorities under the most strin-
a gent statutes.
The New York Central Railway is con-
sidered by business men a well managed
3 corporation. 1t is certainly subjected
2 to as rigid state surveillance as can be
: asked.
Let us compare facts with the theo-
ry of Gen. Birney. The Central Road
! transported 212, 900, 600 passengers one
! mile. in the year ending Sept. last, for
o which they received S4,360,24 The
total expense of transporting these
, passengers was $4,143, 312; that is,
5 about one cent eight mills per mile per
: passenger. Now for theory. If the
a central had charged only one-fifth of a
} cent per mile for passengers, 1t would
have received for transporting its pas
sengers in the year ending last Sep
!. tember S422, 900; or about One-tenh the
4 amount of actual cost of transportation.
: Mind that this mathematical general
g saws this sum includes operating ex-
1 penses, maintenance, dividends and in
: terest. Who cannot see that such ar
eument and such figures are rope OF
sand and only mislead instead of en-
Tightening the people.
q The Milwaukee & Prairie du Chen
Railway transported ii, 1856, 146 passen-
gers one mile In 1866. for which they
! charged and received 1861, 911. What
lunatic out of an asylum thinks this
number of passengers could have been
: transported for 1913, $50, or two mills
per mile. The oil and waste alone in
the year 1865 cost this road S28, 900.
The statements of Gen. Birney as the
: proper charges for freight are more
lfchSOIdDlC, Dub are Sbli Wluo VI bhS
lpractical results in this country. The
+ New York Central Railway transported,
in 1866, 331, 000, 900 tons one mile, at a
cost TO the company for operating and
maintaining, Sc, $40, 0O0 At two cents
a per mile, the receipts would have been
Sc. 620, 900; or $3.50, 600 less than the
e actual cost of doing the service, and
o Exclusive OF all payments on bonds and
d stock.
Gen. Birney does not claim that the
: military railroads were able to trans
] port their freight for less than fouT
! and a half cents per ton per mile, yet
the average cost on he railroads, under
the present tariff of which he COM
plains is less than three cents per ton
J per mile. The average price charged
7 by the n. Y. Central Railroad is two
( cents and one tenth. BY the Milwau-
kee & Prairie du Chen Railway, a
| little over three cents per ton per mile.
1t makes a great difference in ascer-
tanning the proper charges of rail
! way, whether the road runs through a
populous country like England of 400
to the square mile; New York, with
population of 100 to the square mile,
or Wisconsin with a population of
, 10 to the square mile. When Wiscon-
} sin has a population of four millions of
people, aud becomes, as we think
she will, the Empire State of
the Northwest, we have no doubt the
Milwaukee & Prairie du Chen
Railway will take freight as cheaply as