New-York tribune., 1891-01-30
BUSINESS WITHOUT PROFIT.
A REVIEW OF THE RAILROAD SITUATION AT
THE CLOSE OF 1880.
GROSS EARNINGS SATISFACTORY, But no NET
EARNINGS FOR THE INvEsToRs-CAUsLs

GROSS EARNINGS SATISFACTORY, But no NET
EARNINGS FOR THE INVESTORS
FOUND IL NATIONAL LEGIsLATIoN.
In an article Oh the financial prospects for ls0l'
"The Railroad Gazette" says today
The railroad situation to-day, when looked at ron
the investors standpoint, presents such hNIuIe Vi
good ana Dad iestule> tha II Is HadG ~ hd a. il
was in l--4 or lse when roads had been lechIe7sil
duplicated beyond the capacity OF o te ,roa. co'n
per mile falling rapidly sun les Is IL NiIH,S |
good As in iSe0 o. t. cgrS Az GH'en. go,tu an mn u 10 it,
railroad faclue, and there was prOltdDie y.,t,
enough for all 70 mabe money. Ie present
i no; so simple. There has been no over cons
Of roads u,e l5a7. bu, wait IN vain ioI the soHo
results Of our sefrestant There seems 10 16c Dc
business enough, sut II i, Improbable business. t &
no. ca,Iu.S are satisfactory the statsticdn pu'
the net earning, fail 20 meet the wants of tle Vesi0 NV
A. tag construction go.s the country na17 DS. @
about time enough TO grow p to the prenstare "fe nNr
of 1851 IN that year It VIII Ie rar eT,,.n u
the country The three following years nave aDer~Eeu
less than Dan that amolE'-a !ttc Hndes ,VUV .
In lass little over 1900 mel lncrea~e) III -" anu
iusf abont 5000 N l-J0 What Is more TO tIe PVm'
the new construction Of the last tiTce year ,, nS
nearly all been put where Il needed 10 cFac ne"
bn,incss rather than - light for what already eA'pl
Meantime the population Of the COUNTRY Wa aS
in gross earnings In the aggregate for all road, ~
showed Il slight advance over l,77 l019 Gec!utd a..
be stiH more decided. But the increase Of inlltaf'
such that the average per Miie .H @ iiS ot nv
he fi=C
any means made up this lJo, IN the two years sIy
Cceding II is not the eros, earnings. however WiHCh
make the trouble. II i tha continually iIcieis"'s
nprcentage OF operating expense. Whch ltdNVN 4"
tn1alI,r margin Of nci profit. Traffic Is constantly car
ried AT lower rates, and often al rates which are hN
above the expense, Of handI.ns IN lo9a we a'o'-
receipts per ton mile were 1904 cents IN l0r0 "a;
cent In l--9 O976 cent. In tho fiscal years 0i ty'
railroad companies. which rule end on June 80 ue
figures for so VIII probably not 10 much lower I, va
for ls0 but for the last half of the year It Is Ihey
that freight has been carried a an average ' ABOUT
nine tentAs Of a cent ton mile - ..,,, o., 70,
Thus it happens that the cams IN gross O
$500 have not been accompanied By CORES p"hdiHI
gains in net and during the latter part OF ur tttl
fbe not earnings have shown positive loss I'tAlhE
thc Gguros of The Financial Chronicle Is basis we
find that 1l6 roads. from January 10 Novembcr 1U'
show gross earnings Of S51jOOOOOo for S9O w @ SgSiS
more than per cent but the net earnr rS were Sl9l
900 900 i'm 1900 "a against S1e3o0OOO 900 In l-e9, a
gain Of lille over per cent nm year since @ Gnc
20 four months out of the five show positive
While IL is unsafe To gcneralize. may say that
state legislation has had rather less influence N thlN
matter than commonly supposed and National Ieg,
lation rather more. The only group which snow. d
face VI very large increase in groS>-s in the Mla1I
Western which has suffered little at the hand of
has been twofold By the prohibition Of pool, II has
nrevented fine maintenance Of rates. by the Shfthhul
clause il ha, forced l0c2l reductions TO b. made gen
eraI and ha> COMPELLED road to treat different ptr'N
of its business without much regard 10 their relative
economy This last Influence has had bad ch"c' az
both ends causing rates 10 bc lowered and expenses
increased. both ~ the same time. L.,
I-nder these circumstances il i no wonder that in
vcstors are shy. While the stock market mas ie'DN
cred from the temporary depression incident 4" Va"
panic a couple OF months az. there are no aIs,i, 'I
any permanent demand such as manifested it-"h s."
strongly in @-G and the beginning ~ -. 70 J. N
desirable that there shoI'd De- Iher" J.. IN the prr~
cn temper Of public feeling. real danger of additional
lerislati6n The only tri>tw rhv -afccuard against
such legislation is found in the tmidy Of investors