The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-03-09
4 LESSON FOR THE PREsENT

| Railroad paralleling In the United | States has been carried to a ruinpus
 extent, This every observer of affairs
 is aware of. There was a time years
 ago and not so very long ago, either, when the mania for paralleling railroad | lines ragged extensively. Some good
 people went in for paralleling solely
 as they viewed it, for the public good; | the others went in for making money
 regardless of anything or anybody The latter class were mainly speculators
 who saw big chance for lining their
 pockets by fleecing the public. The lat
 ter class generally succeeded The
 money lost in this country by unneces- sary paralleling of roads has been enor-
 nous. It is interesting, therefore, to | compare the British policy on this sub ject with that which has prevailed in
 America with such disastrous results
 in many cases, and especially so at
 this time with tens of thousands of
 miles of American railroads in the hands of receivers, the roads bank rupt, and with so many railroad lines that have become unable to pay divi- dends or have been obliged to pay smaller dividends. In Great Britain rights of property and of stockholders are strictly guarded and such is the respect shown for the rights of property that the unnecessary construction of competing lines is prevented. By this means paying rates of fare and freight are maintained and bankruptcy of roads is avoided. England, Germany and Holland have suffered immense losses in railroad stocks and bonds in the last few years, but the losses were chiefly on American railroad stocks and bonds. | As has been well remarked on this subject, "In this country, especially in the western and southwestern parts of it, the ingenuity of lawyers has ex- hausted itself in devices for destroying | the profits of railroad business, while l short sighted capitalists have thrown | away millions in paralleling old lines | of railroad with new ones which are not needed and which serve only to | involve themselves and rivals in com mon ruin. The result has been that | where, as a few years ago, many rail- road companies west of the Alleghanies paid regular dividends of to 10 per cent. per annum and more paid per cent, only one, the Chicago and Alton, now pays at the rate of as much as per cent, while the rest have come down to 6, 5, 4 and 2 per cent, and numbers not only pay no dividends whatever, but cannot even pay the interest on their debts. Here at the East the evil has been less extensive, but tho paral- leling of the Lake Shore Railroad by the Nickel Plate, and that of the New York Central by the West Shore to the great detriment of all four, show that 1t exists and has borne fruit"
 The evils of over much railroad build lg and the consequent difficulty theroads of making both ends meet, are now added to by the lessened busi- ness of the roads i'm consequence of the ong continued business depression. of the railroads are hav- ng hard sledding; but this country s still rapidly growing in population md in wealth and it is not too much 0 expect that it is growing in wis Iom, the wisdom gained from experience md from startling object lessons.
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