Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-11-26
CHEAP TRANSPORTATION.
The Other Side of the Cues
lion. Experience Of u
Great Corporation.
igrom the Nat!onl

The London and Northwestern
Railway Company controls one-sey-
cath part OF all the railroad mileage
Of England. BY construction, ANAL
gamation, or lease, il owns aud oper-
ates 500 miles OF track, represented
by Ell, 5UO, 900 of capital, while its
revenues ia 1873 amounted to Is, i67,-
7l9, aud its net income Tor that year
WAS not less than 81, Isl, 6CI. This,
we presume, now that the East India
Company is extinct, is the largest
and most wealthy private corpora
tion in the Old World. 1t has, how
ever, been surpassed in the New.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Compa-
nv controls 5000 miles Of track, rep
resented by 500, 900 10000 OF secnri-
ties; its annual revenues amount to
so 900 900, leaving go, ODD, 900 Of net
income in the hands of the Com
pany.
In both cases, these colossal figures
represent less than half century
OF growth, for the English road was
begun in 1926, and the American ut
until 1881. Only "a recently as 1881
was the latter completed from Phila-
delphia to Pittsburg, and not until
1869 did the enterprise ut last enter
upon its career Of startling develop
ment. Vanderbilt had then taken
control of the New York Central,
while Fisk and Gould were Inanipu-
lating the Erie; both were stretch
ing out to the West, and seeking to
grasp and nonopolize the vast COM
merce which flowed to and fro be-
tween the valley OF the Mississippi
and the seaboard. The project, com.
binntioils, and threats soon aw0ke
the Pennsylvania interest to a sense
of impending danger, and under the
energetic lead Of its first vice presi-
dent, Col Scott, that interest soon
made its presence and power felt.
IL would have been difficult to con-
ceive and impossible 10 depict de-
feat more Iudicrou5ly decisive than
that which then brfeIl the Erie rob
hers. They were no match for their
Formidable competitors, who lherpaf
ter and for the time being seemed
both ubiquitous and unsuitable.
First, tho great region west Of the
AlIeghauies, aud bUrClerei by the
u =
were secured; the control was OH
tanned Of tine roads Of New Jersey
next came development to the South,
and the Potomac and the Ohio were
both crossed, the first IN the dIrer.
tiou Of Richmond, Charlotte, and
Montgomery, the last with an eye to
New Orleans. Here the corporation
rested, but those to whom was con
flied the conduct Of its affairs did
not. They were equally active IN
Michigan, in Minnesota, and in
Texas. They manipulated the Pa
ellie railways, and managed construc-
ton companies; they were manifest
ly Ubiquitous; they were apparently
surcpastul.
Here Il railroading on the largest
possible scale, and it Is only through,
rllr0ading on the largest possible
scale that certain results can
be accomplished To trans
port either persons or merchandise
ut no lowest possible cost, corpora
tlon5 must operate thousands ol
miles Of road, must Handle millions
Of tons, and must deal with tens oil
millions Of money. THIS the Penn.
sylvania corporation did, until,
alarmed ut the rapidity OF its pace
those Interested in it insisted on
p,using to take, w it were, an ac
count Of stock. They did so; and
the results ~ now made pubic, are
nf great interest in their bearings on
what - known a- the transportation
problem. A few OF these results W.
now propose to discuss for the bene-
tit Of railroad reformcrs, real and pro.
fessed.
First, aJ To the cost Of railroads and
the plotit on capital invested IN
them. The Pennsylvania Railroad
proper includes $50 miles Of r1,d,
winch re re ems AL actual present
value, intlulinS equ! pment and ter
mi'nl facilities, $40 10, 900, though
the Investment stands at but Sls,-
50O,0O9, or $l32,00D per mile. On
this trunk road. ii is alleged, the net
earnings are no less than 10 per cent.
perannunl. But the parent line has
Directly connected with it, east Of
Pittsburg, 656 miles Of branches, and
also LEASES 1887 additional miles of
railroad, and 108 miles Of canal; ma.
King 4 total Of 2,Sl6 miles Of railroad
aud canal, representing mn aggregate
cost OF $7G 900 per mile, upon which,
taken together, net annual profit of
787 per cent. Ii realized. West of
Pittsburg the corporation controls
3,n25 miles OF road. By one system,
of ,G07 miles, 1t reaches Chicago and
the lakes; by another, OF ,3ls miles
IL gets access to Cincinnati and st.
Louis on the south and west. The
FIRST. Of these two systems is repre-
senied by capital of over $5l 900 per
milo, upon which the annual profit
Is S.52 per cent; the last by an aver
age OF 500 900, upon which the annual
profit Is Las per cent. The average
capital account Of the whole 5000
miles Is close upon S67 900 per mile.
This, 1t will be noticed, is as near as
may be 90 per cent. more than the
average of railroads in the United
States. Probably, AL allowances be-
ing made. including interest and
cost OF equipment and terminal IA
cilities, this $4,000 per mile repre-
SCENTS, much more nearly than would