The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1882-05-04

part ~ tie ionnHylVhnlh HlHleWf e0' Hll'a
In length, and trayerslqg. u populous and
wealthy region, received IN the year 1850, |
~ average from each passenger per mile,
within u small fraction Of three cents per
capita. The exact figures are .R.Oll-
for all practical purposes three cents
The cost vt Transporting these passengers
per mile was two C0nts .O23, or net prnht
per passenger per mile, .OO.O2l' The miles
run by these passenger trains during the
year were / ] ,lG2 ,Gj3 the number OF passen-
gers carried ilO, lO2,
For the same period. the Texas h Pacific
railway company, about 500 miles long,
carried lOl ,0js passengers (0f which $1,000
were through, and 900 lOcaO, with u
revenue of Sl56,05is2. The mileage OF the
passenger trains on the Texas ~ Pacihc
railway was 1874 ,075. The rate for through
passengers carried was an average OF about
three cents, n large proportion OF that class
being cmiGranis, and carried AZ u very ~"
rate.
1t was asserted in the senate chamber, IN
support of bill regulating passenger traihc,
| by u distinguished senator, That nGur ~
| transported from Chicago to New York Tor
! fifty cents per barrel, and passengers ior
/ two and halt cents per mlle and inns was was
made predicate, or Justification, ior III
minishing the rate of passenger ana com
mercal traffic in the state OF leXaS. DuI
the distinguished senator inadvertently
overlooked the totally different conditions
surrounding the two railway systems;
New York railroad, one of the leading lines
bet yeen New York and Chicago, because
of its low grades and superior road bed,
ballast being abundant and cheap, can,
and does haul with one engine forty-hve
loaded cars, while the Texas & Pacific rail
way company, having the greatest mileage
in your state, cannot average more th;lh
eleven loaded cars to the engine. Inc
New York Central gets loads both ways,
and hauls, comparatively, no ehptles'
while the Texas e. Pacific, as its statistics
will show for the past year, hauled ABOUT
| 50 per cent of empty cars or exactly ,49S-lO
per cent; and | have already shown you
| that it costs as much to haul train OF
empty as of loaded cars. The tonnage be-
tween Chicago ana New York Is so many
times greater, and so much better dlstrlo'
uted during all seasons of the year than In
Texas, that the wheels of those lines are
never idle. In the most densely populated
region of your state, traversed by the Texas
Il Pacific railway company, to wit: ON the
| lines east of Fort WORTH the daily average
of passengers is twenty-five, while between
New York and Chicago the daily average
on one road alone is hundred times or
more greater, while the compensation TOR
carrying the mails and express matter Is
multiplied many times by the amount re-
ceived per mile by the Texas d Pacihc rail-
| way company.
THE DIFFERENCE IN COST OF OPERATION OF
LINES EAST, ANB IN TEXAS.
Fuel on the trunk lines lead..l5 out OF
Chicago to New York, is put upon their
| tenders for an average cost, for COAL OF $l 90
per ton, while in Texas coal of an inferior
| quality will cost upon tender at least 30
| per ton, taking an average OF all the lines
in the state The coal fused on the eastern
trunk lines is at least 10 per cent. better
than the coal we get in Texas; that is, its eff
fectiveness in transportation will bring ~
per cent. better results. and there is a cor
responding difference running through all
material and supplies used in the opera.
! ton of railway lines. The wages OF
all classes of railway employees are
at least from twenty to twenty-five
per cent. higher in Texas than in New
York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, or any OF
| the other eastern states. While we pay
brakesmen, in Texas, from $50 to $40 per
month, they receive in the east only from
$50 to $35 We pay conductors here from
800 to 800 per month, and in the east they
receive only from sos to S75 per month.
The same ratio runs through all other pay
| rolls.
The lines of the Texas Pacific railway
| from Colorado City to Eel Paso, distance
of nearly 400 miles Exactly 1888 miles,, had
| as well run through an unbroken tunnel
ent local business is concerned; anu the
| through business must be the wur nj time
and wise management From Weather
| ford to Colorado City, a distance OF 10
miles, the country is very sparsely popu,
| lated, and the business to be transported
comparatively small.
| Thus on our new extensions of nearly 600
miles we must look to the future for popu.
lation and enterprise, and development OF
the hidden resources Of the country, to
| furnish us business enough to pay the
charges representing the operating and
management accounts, and a low rate OF IN
terest upon the actual cost OF construction.
The question is often asked, what ill.,
| ducement is there to build railroads in a
country where the business does not pay a
fair return on its capital?' The reply is a
very natural one. In Europe, railroads are
| built only as population and commerce
will Justify their construction. There the
engineer and track-layer follow civilization.
In America, especially since the civil war,
the energy, enterprise and push oil our PEG,
pie has reversed the European rule, and
railroads have been made the forerunners of
population, wealth and civilization. Instead
of following population, wealth and com
merce, they anticipate and lead it, and are
the great pioneers IN penetrating the will
derness and preparing the way for the habi-
taiion of man.
| but lLlS marvellous vi Oui
| American capitalists, the wonderful pros
perity of the southwest and the great west,
which We have lived to see and rejoice over.
would only have been witnessed by gener-
ations yet unborn. You would not have
had Our million aud half OF people, ol
which you boast to-day; you could not re-
ioice over your vast products and OF your
rapidly increasing wealth.
TEXAS & PACIFIC NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. TRAP
On the eastern division of this line, com.
prising the Southern and Transcontinental
| lines 10 Fort Worth, 5l2 miles, for the year
1881, with a maximum passenger tariff OF
cents per mile the net revenue per passen-
ger was "a 100 Of a cent per mile, that is
9O.10O cents per mile gross, as against
| G6-lO0 cents per mile for the cost OF carry
ing passengers. True, we carried emigrants
at less than cents per capita per mile, or
! less than the actual cost OF moving them.
I The motive OF the company was TO n large
extent selfish, believing as Il did that the
increase Of population would bring corre-
spending increase Of both freight and pas
senger traffic. That IL has been the means
/ OF largely increasing the population Of
your state. and In correspond
Ing degree enhancing its taxable values, no
one will deny. And this spirit OF liberality
on the part Of this and other railroads nc
counts In a large measure Tor the doubling
Of your population in the last ten years.
IL is said, however, In high quarters. that
THE YREE LIST
in the passenger department IL too large.
That may be true for the immediate pres
ent. when regarded from a purely financial
standpoint. Our own as well as other rail-
ways have been liberal In giving either
free or reduced transportation 20 the vast
multitude u prospectOrs visiting the coun-
try 10 buy lands, establish farms, on the
hunt FOR mining property and ranches, and
and 10 look for business In oil depart
menis. They have transported free OF
charge, the deaf and dumb, and The
blind. 20 and from the asylums p-O-
vided fur these unfortunate people ~
I tine enlightened AMI humane liberniity
I of fna afafn Thrv have time aud sraiu