Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-21
The annual repor. Of the Baltimore and Ohio

The annual report of the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad. which was submitted yesterday, seems
TO be a full and satisfactory statement OF the
roads actual condition, purposes, and pros
poets, which are too often concealed rather
than disclosed in these formal reports by such
corporations. Apparently the affairs OF the
railroad are now conducted upon a business
basis. and no petty pride in a showing Of divi-
bends or of increased earnings has prevented
proper expenditures for the equipment OF the
road and a candid showing of its real financial
condition in view Of these expenditures. While
there has been large increase Of freight and
passenger traffic in 1888 over 1887, there is an
apparent decrease of $685. 544 in gross earn
ings and S514,444 in net earnings. The sale of
The roads express and of the sleeping and
psrlor car franchises, and extraordinary re-
ceipts from the Central Ohio railroad in 1897 are
mentioned accounting in part for this de-
crease. But the additional expenditure in 1888
on equipment is of itself nearly sufficient to
explain the situation. There were expended
upon the roadway and bridges in 1888 more
than in 1887, S331.563, and upon locomotives
and freight cars IN 1888 more than in 1887,
fS3, $50. Another indication of a candid bust
ness-like graphing with the facts of the roads
plus fund to its real dimensions. This fund,
swelled to enormous proportions By an exag-
gerated valuation of the assets composing it,
has given to the corporation in the eyes Of a
part Of the public the deceptive appearance of
vast wealth, and in the eyes of another part
has elouded with suspicion the roads financial
showing upon all points concerning which re-
port has been made. This years report pune
lures the surplus bladder, and IT shrinks
30 less than half its former proportions. The
road now figures neither a Cresus nor as q
bankrupt juggling with figures to conceal his
insolvency, and can push forward to success,
unincumbered by the necessity of keeping up
deceptive appearances, in the sensible course
of management upon which it has entered.
. The expenditures for equipment, while they
have temporarily reduced the roads earnings,
lay the foundation for still greater earnings in
the future, and promise of continued hberality
in that respect is made. Among the costly
improvements required in the immediate
future are mentioned ''tbe erection of a new
passenger station at Washington, coupled,
most likely, with an expensive change of loca-
ton of nearly all the tracks of the company in
that city," and 'the completion of the double
track on the Metropolitan branch" The latter
improvement has long been promised. and both
the safety Of the public and the permanent
interests Of the road demand its speedy accom-
plishment. The abatement of the nuisance Of
surface tracks in northeast Washington and the
substitution of a creditable station in this city
for the ugly and inconvenient sheds which dis
figure the vicinity Of the capitol will repay the
railroad in the long run through the public
goodwill gained thereby, and the dollars and
cents in which that goodwill is expressed by
the travelling and shipping public. The neces-
sity of additional yard room in WASH
ington, which has been a pressing one.
has led to the purchase by the
company Of II acres of ground near the inter-
section of New York avenue and Boundary
street, and a freight yard and passenger station
are located there. When the Baltimore and
Ohio has made the additional expenditures
suggested in the report for the removal of its
tracks and the erection of a new station, and
has given the city competing line to Phiia-
dslphis and New York, it will need only to pro-
tect life along its route by running at the pre-
scribed rate of speed within the city limits
and by guarding its street crossings::as required
by law in order to become an accepted public
benefactor.