The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-03-16

prevented by injunction. The case was
turned ont of court as soon as IL came to a
hearing and Mr.. HOWARD had to resign his
official connection with the Pennsylvania
Railroad: hut it Is believed by many In
Philadelphia that he acted under Mr. ScoTT's
directions, and that il he had succeeded he
would have retained his place. On the heels
of this attempt Mt reputation comes the
annual report Of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company. showing an apparent loss by the
working of the New Jersey lcnsc of nearly
si,jo0,0OO, and coupled with IL u proposition
by Mr. SCOTT to establish a sinking fund for
the purpose OF buying up the stock Of the
Zcw Jersey and other lessor companies.
The stock. under the combined Influence Of
Mr. HOwARD's suit, the reported loss on the
workings Of the lines IN 1877, and the apprc-
hrnded financial embarrassment OF the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, has fallen
to between 10 and 100. II is evident that If
IT could he purchased Mt those figures n bur
dcnsomc charge upon the main line would
be greatly allcvatcd. The proposition is
now under consideration by select COM
mittcc Of Pennsylvania stockholders and In
n modified form will probably bc adopted.
An examination Of the figures upon which
such heavy load upon the Pennsylvania
main line reveals some curious things One
is that white every ycar that there was n
loss. that loss is set forth with great pre-
cisiun and detail. IN the annual report OF the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company tho re-
port for the year 1876. in which there was n
profit, makes no mention OF that fact.
Another is that while the net earnings
of the New Jersey lines in 1877 wcro vastly
lcss than they wde in 1876, those of the
main line were greater. 4 third curiosity
il that by some mysterious process OF book
keeping it appears TO cost very much more
per mile to transport freight between New
York and Philadelphia than II does between
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
As We said. mention Of the profits Of the
New Jersey lines In 1876 was omitted In the
report OF the Pennsylvania Railroad for that
year, while in the report for 1877 the loss of
that year Is distinctly set forth. The want
is. however. supplied by the report which
the law Of New Jersey requires to he made
to its Legislature. and from that document
we learn that tho New Jersey railroads and
canal yielded To the lessccs In 1876, oven and
above all expenses, rentals, interest. and
dividends, a surplus Of sl.l76,s32. In 1877 it
appears that the deficiency was sl,4s25is
The difference in net earnings of the two
years Is consequently this
i@ sqs,, so sii5e,a =:
Difference between the two YEAR. ...... sl.ae.lso
Turning now to the Pennsylvania Railroad
report for 1877 we find these further figures
given:
N,tcarnins, ISL ali lines east OF Pii,,Gush i0i-;i7
Difference s2elet,.s
Thus. while from 1876 to 1877 the earnings
Of the New Jersey lines show falling Oft Of
81, Gj9.35), the combined earnings OF the New
Jersey and the Pcnns ylvGnia lines together.
for the same years. only show falling or
of S2,6t) .06s so that the Pennsylvania lines
apparently gained S9,3s2 net earnings in
1877 over 1876. This too, was notwthstand-
ing falling of in the business of the Penn
sylvania lines as elsewhere reported, thus
Tonnage mileage. main line. 1879 SO az ~
Tonnage mileage main line, ,fo} '~ l~
Decrease i3te4s2s
Passenger mileage main line. i~7e ..... asaia,rso
Passenger mileage, inain line. is77...... iis.ioaosi
Decrease las i5s 5s
This phenomenon OF an increase in net
earnings, resulting from diminution OF
business, is ascrlbcd to the cessation of the
railroad war Of 1876 which chiefly affected
freight earnings but we fail To see how the
loss of fifty yer cent. In passenger business
| is compensated for in this way.
The same phenomenon appears elsewhere
in the report in another form. Tho gross
earnings of the New Jersey Railroads for
1877. excluding the canal, are given at
Ss,oGilss. and their running expenses at
S5.7jl,o9j making the expenses II per cent.
OF TIA" gross earnings. The gross earnings
/ # the main lire are said to be Sls i56,
and its running expenses Sl0,7jl,l3S, or only
81 per cent. Of the gross earnings OF the
traffic Of the New Jersey lines one-half is
the carrying of passengers and IL should
not be more expensive than that of the main
line, thrce-quartrrs Of which is freight, par
ticularly when the light grades of New Jer-
sey are contrasted with the heavy grades OF
| the Allegheny mountains, through which,
for n great distance, the main line runs.
The same thing rcappears third time In
one uf those statistical tables with which
railroad officers seem to delight To perplcX
their constituents. Here we find this slngu-
lar fact:
Main hnc average ton OF freight permic u"ri-
Difference ........................... som17
That is to say, it costs more than twice as
much per mile 10 transport freight over the
easy grades of New Jersey as it does over
the mountains of Pennsylvania. As the
total tonnage mileage credited to the New
Jersey lines for 1877 Is 2jGl3i.099, this differ
encc results in dimnution Of their net
earnings on freight alone Of 81, 55i,73 while
the difference in their entire earnings owing
to the charge Of II per cent. for expenses in
stead Of 81 per cent. is sll2s,977. Light is
thrown upon this anomaly bv remark In
the report for 1875: "The traffic upon this
division is subject to very large terminal
expenses, which are heavy charge upon
the income of that portion Of the line,
That is to say, if it costs 81 per ton TO load
and unload freight at New York, the whole
OF that 81 is charged against the New Jersey
division, while the money received fol
transporting the freight all the way from
New York to Chicago is only appOrtionoo
ia. nti IANNt Ia