The record-union., 1893-02-08

1t will be seen that for the companies
wholly in California, there were on
December 81, 1872. 2.404 miles of road, on
which bonds were originally issued to
The amount of 81, ,T39, 500; but that of this
amount SS,6l3,500 have since their orig
mai issue been redeemed, leaving out
standing at the present time %, l26, 900. or
sZS, 100 per mile OF road. The redemp-
ton of bonds on those roads, wholly
within this state, average for all lines
s3,oS3 per mile. For the Central Pacific,
both within and without the State, bonds
nave been redeemed to the amount of
Sio, 449, 900. or 81, ,360 per mile of road.
FOR all the Pacific System lines, the bonds
redeemed amount to $4,000, 500, which
with such as have been refunded at lower
rates OF interest, have reduced the total
interest charge by the sum OF 81 $40, 800
per annum. The average bonded debt
per mile for the entire system, including
the Central Pacific Railroad, is at the
present time So. .036, and for the roads
wholly In California, SIS, I55. The
bonded debt on these lines and the inter
est charged thereon, have thus not been
| increased but materially reduced during
the years of their operation. 1t has been
| shown that the cost of construction for
the Pacific System lines has been much
greater than for the roads of the Mississ-
ippi Valley and the East. This is COM
mon to all lines here on account of the
greater cost of labor, materials and sup
pies; and has more or less additional APP
pllcatlon to each due to its proportion of
mountain and desert road. When these
known conditions of relative cost are
taken into consideration, a comparison of
the bonded debt of railroads here and in
the East will satisfy an unbiased mind
lnat the cost OF construction on the Pacific
system has been greatly in excess of the
amount of their bonded debt.
In the most thickly settled portion of
our country. on the Atlantic Coast, the
capitalization is the greatest. For the
group OF States designated in the statis-
tlcal report of the Interstate Commerce
commission as group 2 reports 1880, page
46), which includes New y ork, New Jer-
sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Mary
land, the average bonded debt per mile
is Soo,2l5. These roads also have issued
capital stock to the amount of SOL, ,G9S per
mile, on 52.73 per cent. of which divi-
dencs are paid. The greater capitaliza-
tlon in this group of States is due to the
more expensive roadway, terminal prop
critics and larger equipment required TO
conduct their greater volume of traffic.
An equal standard of construction there
would cost much less than here. Com
ing West to a territory OF lighter traffic
though greater than our own, we find in
Kansas a standard no higher. and / be-
lieve not so high as that of our Pacific
system lines, with which a comparison
may be made under conditions fairly
equal as to the standard of construction.
but differing materially as to the relative
price OF labor and materials and the topo-
graphical features of the country through
which the roads run,
Tho Railroad Commission in Kansas
seems by its course in that State to have
inspired the confidence of the San Fran
n Iraf
so that its testimony on this matter may
be quoted with confidence as having
at least no unduebias in favor of the rail-
roads. In considering this subject OF the
returns upon capital invested, in their
annual report for 1890 Up. 20l, they say:
1t Is quite common for inflated orators
10 assert that from $1,000 to $4,000 a mile
is all that railroad legitimately costs,
and that all capitalization above that is
water. We have an itemiZed statement of
the actual cash cost OF 1888 miles. l.O55
being in Kansas. erefer to the Chicago,
Kansas and Nebraska Railroad. All of
this road was built within the past four
years, under most favorable conditions
as to cost of labor and material, and built
by or under the auspices of a company
whose financial credit was high, en-
abling ii to place securities upon the mar
ket upon very favorable terms, yet the
actual cost and outlay for road and equip
luGuI up 10 June oU, 1883, was SZ9,ZO4,-
497 33, or 81, ,0S5 SO per mile. There is no
water in this.
1T is true that all the railroad mileage
in the State has not cost so much per mile
as the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska
lines, but some has cost good deal more.
Railroads that are cheapIy built in the
beginning cost more before they are fin
ished than they would if well constructed
at first. A railroad thrown down on the
prairie at a cost of $4,000 or 81, 200 per
mile is no criterion of the cost of a road
over which immense trains run with
safety thirty and forty miles an hour.
ut would, in our judgment, be
moderate estimate to put the actual aver
age cash cost of the total railroad mileage
of Kansas, including equipment, at the
cost OF the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska
lines, per mile"
OF the roads over which immense trains
run with safety thirty or forty miles an
hour, which the commission say "cost
good deal more per mile" than the
average prairie road of the State, find
the following lines, with the bonded debt
per mile of road issued on the lines in
Kansas (Rep. h r. Com. Kas.. 1891, D.
266):
Bonded debt
NAME OF ROAD. per mile of road
in kansas.
Atchson, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail
MISSOURI h.s6 Pacifc Railway %
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway 39,4O4
st. Joe and Grand Island Hallway. 34537
ST. Louis and san Francisco Railway 30,l43
Union Pacific Railway. 3SS9l
The mean issue for these principal lines
in Kansas is $50, $40 per mile. With the
southern Pacific Company lines in Cali
fornia we have shown it to be S2S, ,755, and
for the entire Pacific System including
the Central Pacific, with its mountain
grades, tunnels, snowsheds and war