Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1883-08-24

The new volume of Poor's Manual Of the
Railroads of the United States" furnishes
abundant information concerning the devel.
opment Of the railroad system Of the coun-
try down to the close Of 1852. The aggre-
gate figures given are somewhat imposing.
They show that at the close Of last year we
had in the United States 113, 32g miles Of
railroad, which was more than two.ffths Of
the entire mileage Of the world The length
Of railroad lines in the United States has
considerably more than doubled since 1870.
The amount Of nominal capital invested in
these works is simply prodigous. The az
gregate Of share capital represented at the
close Of the respective fiscal years Of the
companies was So 45G O7S, 1876, and that of
funded debt was So ISL 41j, POI. The total
liabilities including floating debt, was Sc
500, GGl $50, or an average Of SOL per
mile Of completed road. The gross earnings
Of the last year amounted to $40, $50, 7lG,
Of which SOP, 40, 10 came from passenger
traffic, $500 3G7 pa from freight and SOL,
SIS, 734 from miscellaneous sources The net
earnings of the year were SBlO, Gs2, 81, out
Of which S149, 295, $50 was paid in interest
and SlO2, O3l ,i3l in dividends The per
centage Of gross earnings to investment was
lip per cent, Of net earnings 40 per cent.
These figures give a general idea Of the
enormous extent OF the railroad business of
the country. 1t may be a little more defn-
itely expressed, perhaps in the statement
that the total number of passengers carried
during the last year was 2sg, 100. 7s3, or near
ly six times the entire population Of the
country, and that the entire amount of
freight conveyed was 800, $50, 37j tons or u
little over seven tons per head for the popu-
laton. The charge for passengers varied
from an average Of . ] cents per mile in the
New England states to 81 cents per mile in
the Pacific coast states, the average for the
country being So cents per mile. Freight
charges varied from cent per ton per mile
in the middle states to 3. cents in the Pacific
states the average for the entire country be-
ing - cents
An interesting and instructive feature Of
the statistics Of Mr.. Poors book is to be
found in the statement Of the increase made
IL the three years 1850, 1851, and 1852,
which cover period of extraordinary activi-
ty in railroad construction. The increase of
mileage i'll the first Of these years was 7,l74
miles, in the second o. 7so and il the third
1l,jal, or p, Sol mile. in all, The increase
Of share capital and indebted ss for the
same period was 81, OPS, GAG, So or al aver
age Of about $40, 900 per mile foi the road
constructed 1t is stated in the manual that
the cash cost per mile OF all this road did not
exceed $50, 600 a mile, or, in round numbers,
$500, 600, 600 in all II liberal addition il
made for improvement on old lines included
in construction accounts, IA thousand millions
may safely be taken for the amount Of cap
ital actually expended. This is an enormous
sum to be absorbed in railroad building in
three years, representing drain Of approx
mRtely 81 900, 900 a day from the available
resources Of the country. Tha: it should be
borne without any perceptible strain upon
the money market is remarkable. But in
the expenditure OF that sum securities
were issued to more than double the amount
Is it any wonder that a food of a thousand
million dollars in fictitious stocks in three
years should demoralize the market and pro-
duce dstrust in the solidity Of railroad secu-
rites The methods which enrich projec-
torr and inside operators are calculated to
impoyerish unsuspecting investors and to
bring about reaction in railroad building
The business is under depression now from
which it will not revive for some time, and
many other interests suffer as a result of spec
ulatiye overriding The worst Of the mis-
chief is that the penalty does not fall on
those who are responsible for the wrong.
They pocket their gains and leave others to
pocket the losses, but the distrust for new
railroad projects that is produced will dimin-
ish the opportunities of the spectators.