Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-08-17
Railway Statistics.
A Book Full of Them Issued
at Washington.
SOME OF THE FACTS EXHIBITED.

Interesting Figures for the People to
Study-The President Arrives at the
CspItai-A Problem for the Depart
ment of Justice-Gen. Badly smiths
Luok-Our Goldfish Hatchery n Success
| Another Little Pension once DIM
Guilty Reported.
WASHINGTON CITY, Aug. IA wonder
| ful story Is that told in the small blue vol
ume lust given to the public by the inter-
state commerce commission 1t is entitled
-Statistics of Railways in the United States, I"
| and il the first annual volume OF the sort is.
sued by the new commission, and the first
thorough showing of the details OF railway
construction, ownership and operation ever
made by the federal government The book
Is thus interesting in that it marks tho first
serious effort by the government to follow
the example long since set it in England,
where government insists upon the right to
possess Information concerning all details of
the railway industry. The man who pre-
pared this book, Henry C. Adams, is Stats
| tician Of some renown and no little accumen.
One of his most important tables presents a
summary of the rsilway capital Of the
United States -representing 1876, sSS miles Of
road-which consists OF 1854 AS, 055 in
stocks; -, sG9, 2l6, 3t5 in funded debt, and
s39d, los, 81 in current LIABILITIES; total, 81. =
10, IS7, ISL, or $500 per mile of road
| ststistician Adams Comppsnts-
MIR. Adams points out that Ownership of
81, OOU, 0O0, 900 Of stock capital gives absolute
cont oil of more than 5000, 600, 900 OF prop
L Ia,
per cent gives control OF 100 per cent Mr.
| Adams adds
OF the total capital 47.5s per cent is
| Rssignable To stocks and 45.6D Ter cent
/ to funded debt, leavingN as per cent.
| In the form of liabilities The sig
/ nificance of the facts just disclosed will be
/ readily seen, IL the peculiarP nature of each
form Of property is held in min l.. In theory.
stocks represent the property of the RESPONSE
| BILE owners OF the road. and bonds are an in
| cumbrance To that property. According to
this theory n railway enterprise should begin
| with an issue of stock somewhere near the value
OF property to be created, and no more bonds
should be issued than are necessary 10 com
plete the enterprise. But this theory does not
conform To the general history Of railway con-
struotion In the United States. The truth is
railroads are built on borrowed capital and
the stock issued represents, in the majority OF
cases, the difference between the actual cost
| Of the undertaking and the confidence of the
public expressed by the amount OF bonds il l.
willing to absorb in the ultimate success Of
the venture.
Earnings and Income.
The summary of the earnings and income
| Of the lS6, SS3 miles of road shows that on pas
sengers these roads earned s277. S59, $50; on
freight, S6l3 29O, G7g, and otherwise SIS, 99l,-
l39, total of $1,000, ia, 69l. The total ex-
pensss OF operation we're 1894 994, Csc, and
AwaI .k.r
tai expenditure of $3.50, 4S7. Os9 From these
figures the statisticisn deduces the following
facts: The revenue per passenger per mile
was 2. $40 cents; revenue per ton of freight
per mile, 1.O0l; cost of carrying one ton of
| freight one mile O. $50: revenue per train
mile, passenger trains, 81, l39; cost of running
| n passenger train one mile, 81 1911 cents rev.
enue per train mile, freight trains 81, 657 ;
| cost of running freight train one mile,
81. OSe; cost per train mile of all trains earn
ing revenue, 96 $50; percentage of operating
| expenses to operating income, 1884
Per Cent. of Profits
Another table shows that of the grand
| total Of stocks and bonds 81. A rer cent Of
| the former paid no dividends and 81 CO per
| cent. of the hitter no interest: - 6S per cent
Of stocks and 40 40 per cent of the bonds
paid from under l per cent to per cent
and IL SO per cent IF stocks paid from to IL
per cent dividends, while 81 Al per cent Of
bonds d to IL per cent interest
Comparative Mileage.
According to this official report Illinois
still retains the lead in railway mileage, that
state having, June 30. 1883, 9,7O7 miles, or
| 90 per cent. OF the l4g, aOl miles in the whole
country Next To Illinois comes Kansas
with ), 49, miles. Iowa follows with sea,
Pennsylvania with 1891, Texas with 1901,
Ohio with Z, 523, New York with Z, AS, Mich
igan with 6,345, Indiana with s. 723, Mis-
souri, with ), no Wisconsin with 5,O57, Min
nesota with 5,03l, Nebraska with 4, $40, and
Dakota, the fiedgling state, with ,3g2. OF
$50, 900 miles of rail but 81, 900 in round
numbers, lie east Of the Alleghenies, count
ing Georgia with the Atlantic states
Number Of Companies.
An effort has been made To reach the legal
| status and an account OF the property OF all
the railways in the United States 1t appears
that the astonishing number Of ], ASS rail-
way companies are in legal existence,
though the effects OF consolidation are
marked by the fact that these l, ass railways
are operated by about sos companies. Thus
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe has swal-
lowed up no fewer than thirty three roads,
\ tss baltimore and Ohio twsnty-fiye the
/ Boston and mime an equal number, tine n
linOis Central twelve, the Louisville and
/ Nashville nineteen, the Missouri Pacific
thirty eight. the New York, Lake Erie and
Western forty-four, while the Pennsylvania
company and the Pennsy lvnnia Railroad
company hnve taken in no fewer than lO9
/ ofhar