The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-09-19
ENGLISH RAILWAYS.
HOW THEY ARE MANAGED AND THEIR
ACCOUNTS MADE Ur.
The sontrSl that Parliament Exercises
over the Maiire0ds ana Its
saggd Effects.


over the RAILROADS. ana Its
Goed Effects.
IL. J. Jennings in N. Y. Wot1dl
JoNpos. Aug. gt.-Perhaps your read. |
srs will not object to my placing before
them an extract from that letter. It Is |
written by an American gentleman who
lived some time In London, and who Is
thoroughly familiar with railroad bnsi-
ness or, both sides Of the water. The
letter is dated New York, August II.
After referring to certain conversations
held by the writer with practical men In
New York, he goes ON TO say:
II any one wishes to get ct the par
tieulnrs that ean be collected with re-
gard TO any American line. he naturally
goes to "Poor's Manual" Here, the
same sort Of information, though on q
much more thorough and satisfactory
scale, is given every year In "Blue
Book"=a report drawn up by the au-
thority Of the government, in the sta.
tistieal department Of the B0ard OF
Trade, and laid before both houses OF
Parliament. It Is. OF course, easily pro-
durable by the general puolic.. The re-
port for the year 1876, recently Issued,
lies before me, and the cost OF 1T is
marked on the eover-ts Al, or % cents.
cheap enough to bring IT within range
OF everybody who cares - have 1T. This
book gives o complete return OF the
authorized share and loan capital OF
every railroad company in Great
Britain. and Of their paid up, ordinary.
guaranteed and preferential capital,
with the debentt1rs stock or funded
debt-in other words, 1t lays bare to
the eve the actual financial condition
Of every railroad in these islands.
The figures are arranged in col.
umns under suitable headings, and
may be understood by q child. Thsre
are no details relative to the condition
or working Of any road which would be
looked for In vain. The return also
shows the number Of passengers and
quantity Of goods conveyed over each
| line: tho number of miles the amount
Of working expenditure and the re-
| cejpts ths receipts from each class OF
passengers, and the length OF railways
| Under construction. / will send you the
copy of this new return. 50 that you
may, If you choose. show 1t to any one
who is interested In the subject. AS all
your readers cannot see 1t, will quote
| from 1t the detailed statement OF work
| ing expenditure, ETC., OF one OF the chief
| lines in England. the Great Western,
for the year ending December 81, 1876.
I must, Of course, transform the account
| from o. columnar into paragraph form,
because the full double page Of the
original return would be too wide Tor
your columns:
Length OF line In miles, 2o59; main
tenance Of way, work, etc, 1920, ,34s, To-
comotive power, including stationary
engines, g8e3 ,e54 repair and renewals
OF carriages and wagons, g266, ,203 traffic
expenses, coaching and merehandise),
| az t1n
rates and taxes, gt20, ,462; government
duty, ELI, ACT compensation for per-
sonal injury, g27 ,O0O compensation for
damage and loss of goods, g44 ,155, legal
and parliamentary expenses, $25.oG3 ;
steamboat, canal and harbor expenses,
CHS, ,2g7 miscellaneous working expen-
diture not included in the foregoing,
gs2, ,042, total working expenditure, &c.
70s, ,2O3 total receipts, g7,o32,3 net
receipts, 1924, 118, proportion per cent
Of expenditure to total receipts, So.
Rolling. stock: Locomotives, 1471 car
riages for passengers only, 2746 other
vehicles attached to passenger trains,
1881 wagons Of all kinds, 30,s01 any
other carriages or wagons, 1909; total
number Of vehicles OF all descriptions,
36,B47.
The details OF the finances Of the COM
pany are given in different return. In
this are included all the loans raised by
the company, the dividends paid, etc.
1T were to copy out the return In full,
relating to the Great Western Railroad.
] fear your readers would complain that
/ was littering up your columns with
figures, and they, as we'll as your com
positors, would be " out OF sorts :" but j
must try to give you come Idea as to the
scope OF the return, and therefore will
take the totals only: Authorized capi-
tai, gs2, ,5e4, ,14e; ordinary stock, G14,-
4 s57, ,211; dividend paid, per cent; guar
anteed stock, g19 1923, 100; dividend paid,
S per cent; preferential stock, 1864,
204; dividends paid, a and per cent
} total paid-up stock and share capital,
GA, ga sos; total amount raised by
loans and debenture stock (detaila
total capital paid up and raised by loans
and debenture stock, g59,674,7 ,70s; sub
scriptions to other companies, 81 ,478,.
CAT.
Another return gives full details OIL
the traffic, from which will only quote
, two or three items, still confining my
self to the Great Western Number o
passengers carried In 1876, 1920, PAT
total receipts from passengers and pas
sengers' baggage, e3,1S1, ,777; total re
ceipts from goods traffic, G3,717,9 ,903
| LOtai Tecelpto IEoIu dli 5ouICtS VI tidlle
1902, ,321.
The reader will be kind enough to un
derstand that there is no line In al
Great Britain about which the same
,, particulars may not be instantly ascer
tanned upon reference to this return
issued by a1d under the authority O
! the government.
Meetings OF the shareholders are helc
half-yearly, and the chairman (or presi
dent and other officials OF the roac
have to be present, and are expected te
to them, The accounts are made up te
the end OF the half year, In a form pre-
scribed by act Of Parliament, No un
usual expenses can be incurred, no "ex
, tensions" made, no new loans taken up
!. without being first submitted to two
several meetings Of the proprietors
Furthermore, no new issues OF stock
etc.. can be made without application
to Parliament. ALI supplies Of every
I l. H.