The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-01-21
OUR RAILROADS.

FROM the lllTQ annual report OF Llh Ia
terstate Commerce Commission we gather
some useful information regarding the rail-
road interest. On June 80. 1890, when the
report closed its figures, the total railroad
mileage was 1U3, jy7 miles. This mileage
was capitalized at S9671, 57S. $50. OF $50. $40
per mile Of line; but the market value Of
the property. estimated by IS earnings, was
only S6.GZ7, 45l14O, or S42,374 per mile Of
line. Tie difference between the two rep
reseuts water, which earns little il any legit-
innate income. The securities which repre-
sent the property in the exchanges are
stocks and bonds; taking the country as a
whole each mile Of railroad is represented
by S29, 250 Of bonds and SOS 1913 Of stock.
The gross earnings Of all the railroads in
the country during the year 1So9-90
amounted to SI,C51, ST., $50, or as nearly as
possible S17 per capita Of the total popula-
ton.
For purposes Of comparison the Interstate
Commission has divided the railroad sys-
TEN Of tie country into ten groups, the
tenth comprising Washington, Idaho Ore
gon. California, Nevada. [ tab, Arizona and
the western half Of New Mexico. In this
group the total mileage operated in 1S69-90
was l3J miles, of which 1856 miles were
In California; this mileage earned in the
year Sj9I51.729. The Southern Pacific,
with a mileage OF 6052 miles. earned
S43, S74, 234; during the current year
1912 is earnings will exceed fifty mill
ions. III the more thickly settled portions
Of the country the net earnings OF some
roads. such as the Lake Erie and Western,
the Baltimore and Ohio, the original Union
Pacific, without its western extensions, the
Louisville and Nashville, etc. amount TO
three and four thousand dollars per mile
the net earnings per mile Of the Southern
Pacific are given as S2547, which is in excess
Of the net earnings of the Burlington and
Quincy. the Northern Pacific, the Atchsun
the Rock Island, the Wabash, the Missouri,
Kansas aud Texas, the Chesapeake and
Ohio and other lines. But when the capital o
lzatiOn Of the roads in group X-that is to
say, on the Pacific Slope is compared with
the capitalization Of Eastern roads. it is evil
dent that low dividends on the stock Of the
former do not necessarily imply small
profits by The builders and owners Of the
roads. In New England the average amount
Of bonds issued on each mile Of road is only
SIS, 412, and of stock S27, S29-S47. 241 in all &;
whereas on tie Pacific Coast an average Of
S3j, 845 in bonds and S48128 in stock has
been issued-a total capitalization Of S87, 104
per mile.
The total number of passengers carried
on all the railroads Of the United States
was in 1889-90, l,847, 49,, Gl7. and the tons
Of freight moved were 636, al, 617. OF these
totals the Pacific Coast railroads carried
/ 20374 100 passengers and 10,04j, 237 tons Of
freight. Thus, with about 6 per cent OF the
tof Ia, l.
! carried about 1.6 per cent of the total pas
/ sengers and is per cent Of the total freight.
| The condensed income account of this
group Of railroads shows a deficit in net in
come. The earnings Of the system were alb
sOrbed in paying interest on bonds which
were nothing but water. That the railroads
would have made money il had they been
capitalized a a fair valuation may be in-
ferred from the fact that the highest rate Of
revenue for passenger and freight service
throughout the country Is found on the Pa
cihC Slope, the charge per ton per mile on
freight being Los cents as against 90 Of a
cent in the States Of Indiana, Michigan and
Ohio, while the average cost OF hauling a
ton a mile in the whole country is .604 Of a
cent.
These reports Of the Interstate Commits
sion viii evidently furnish a basis for future
legislation, whether the commission answers
its intended purpose or not. 1t is impos-
sible that an interest which takes out of the
public three times as much money every
year as the General Government does can
remain under the exclusive control of pri-
vate corporations, administered by rapa-
ci0us individuals, bent wholly on personal
emohment. PRESIDENTS for every line of
policy are to be found in modern legislation
Some day we shall be confronted with the
| exigencies which compelled the Italian Gov
eminent to purchase and lease the railroads
Of the Nilanese, and induced the Austro-
! Hungarian Government 10 devise the zone
plan, which is now being followed in Ger
many. Many Americans cherish an aver
sion to the spread of paternalism. They
dislike the idea that the departments at
Washington shall ran the railroads. But
the interest is growing so large that its fric-
ton with the public is sure sooner or later
to lead to national interference, and the
sooner wise measure Of regulation is de-
vised, with due consideration for all inter-
ests, the better it will be for the companie S.
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ONE ASPECT OF HYDRAULIC MINING