Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1894-09-28


dent man would excer else before he in,
dulged in the purchase Of costly farm
machinery. .~'e..: o"'. .~><:
We must have something better than
guess work before we propose to issue
government obligations amounting in
all to over two or three times the
amount of the entire national. debt at
the close of the war.
Capital Stock and Indebtedness of Rail-
roads. ..'
Poor's Manual for 1894, which is the
universally accepted authority on rail
road statistics and is several months
later in its compilation of facts than
the report Of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, states that the capital
stock Of the railroads OF the country at
the end of the year 1898 amounted to
$3.50, 032,9J4.
,Inese ,<snl3 roads had funded debt
OF $500, ,G13, al unfunded debt of
SAlU, 56l, 503, AMI current debt of
$685., 2J1, 672; making the total liabilities
Of the railroad Systems OF this country,
$1l ,443, SSS, 1872. Il. ill., \ s5s.s.
This Il ,u:e furnishes the problem
With which we have to deal. 7. G 3v
It's eaF'y to sag that large portion
OF this amount represents watered stock
or fraudulent transactions, but there
exists no authority competent to say
what portion of tits of that character,
and no Tribunal that could scale down
the amount.
Actual Cost Of Raj way Property. Per Milo
1t will be observed that one of the
authorities quoted above says that $780,
GOO per, mile should be assumed as the
cost Of cpnstrueting&t these railroads. Y"
Thatsis apurely arbitrary; assumption.
.ltsis less ethan eone=hah the actual
cost; and there is no more reason afor
dedpctings 604per cent in this case than
there il why - man who desires his
neighbor's horse torN farm should not
oooAy appropriate it, paying only one
ha1f the price asked by the owner, and
defending his action onsthe ground that
thistisaall that the chattel was worth. 4
The average cost per mile: of the rail
ways ofsthe United Kingdom is put at
S21y,775. >>zsf <.tr ar z-e-:, -. Il p, =
Il Hit is ass srted that these figures are
inordinately large, by reason of the
high prioesto be. paid for real estate APP
proprlated, reference may be made to
New South Wales, where the conditions
N on IL
own country. @I~tz 49,. @s5- ..
The average cost of construction there
is given officially in the report made be-
fore the worlds congress at $40, $50.
There is mo country in the world,
even where labor is cheapest, where a
system Of railroads was ever constructed
for $50, 900 per mile or anyt thing like it.
There is no court which would ever
afix any such price as, that to our rail-
roads il condemnation proceedings were
had before it. It may as well be under
stood first as last by those who have
been filed with wild vagaries upon this
subject, that the railroad property can
be taken for public use under the con
stitution only by due process Of law.
That due process Of law means con-
domination proceedings before court
Of competent jurisdiction under the law
Of eminent domain.
q And that such condemnation can be
made only upon the payment - the
owners of such property the compensa-
ton agreed upon and approved by the
court. @ III SD
United States Railways Would Cost the
Government Ten billion Dollars. s5
No court exists or can exist III any
civilized country that would assign to
the railroad properties Of the United
States, whose aggregate liabilities rep
resent nearly $1l, 500. oo0, 900, pur-
chase price Of scarcely half that
amount.
While there IS some watered stock IN
! the aggregate liabilities, = great deal of
! i represents an actual increase ii the
cost value and earning capacity Of rail
road property which was appor toned
among the owners 81 stock IN this way.
instead Of By largely increased diYi-
dends 81.
81 the light Of our own. experience
] md that.of others. a6O. 600 mile Is 3
/ reasonable average estimate of value.
/ There are nearly l8o, 900 miles of rail
way il the United States.
nvaru ~ 1nyxsar, - rs