The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-25

r,. tnduences adverse 70 q generhl rise III Inv
,n.rk.t proved last week to be stronger
w ,ho.s which favored II. Money 10 still
t",.n, nj low ratios Of interest and promises
90 no more so. now that the Bank OF Eng
80 has begun to reduce It's rate OF discount
"rna'ovcr the loans running here on ster-
,..,,chapge can be carried on moro favorable
-. abroad. they will be paid OF by imports
u'm,I and thus the reserves OF our banks,
" ~, now are nearly 5000, 000. 600, viii be
VIZ ,,,,b.r augmented. In spite Of the facil-
,,is. for borrowing money thus offered 10 deal
A.. they eyince no disposition 10 ouy e'oess'
hu,. on the contrary. are rather disposeu 10 se,i'
AZ the great declines IN hock'he 'e'ley u u
Tong Island prove. For securities OF uhaues-
,ioned character. on tho other hand. there 10
ssmand which the supply OF them fal's 10 meet
The announcement that the syndicate which
,se,n,ly purchased from the executors OF 'he
,.,s Austin CorbIn a largo quantity OF the STOCK
NJ the Lonr Island Railroad Company mas em-
v,oyed MIR. stephen Little to examine the BOOKS
n,thc company in to determine what nave
really been It's net earnings for q series OF years
,a,t has drawn attention 10 the whoie sup1eet
y, railroad bookkeeping and to the proper dis
,inr,ion between operating expenses and con-
,~,ruc,ion accounts. As the result OF making q
,Ino,,ar examination Of the books OF the Balti-
more and ohio Railroad Company. not long ago.
AZ Little found that millions OF dollars had
hssn charged By that company TO construction
-hIcb should, In his opinion. have been charged
:, e,penses, and, therefore,, his report In tho
ca.. OF tho Long Island Railroad 10 awaited
with srca; interest.
In Justice 20 all concerned, IL should be said
,hN, in correcting the books OF tho baltimore q
ohio Railroad. MIR. Little proceeded upon an
ASSUMPTION which is not conceded to DO true by
ali railroad exrerts without exception. He laid
down for his guidance. In determining the
character VI the expenditures submitted to him.
that nothing was properly construction which
did NO, add to the earning power OF the property
affected by it. Hence. he disa'lowed as con-
struetiOn not only the replacing OF Old iocomo-
tiyes and cars by new ones, ana the renewals OF
rails and roadbed. but al the so-caiied improve
meats and betterments OF leased and cepehdsht
roads. How far lie was right In MS )uosmsh
and how far wrong. Is q question upon oo'h
sides VI which q great deal may % SAID.
II is now more than sixty years since the
building OF railroads began In TINS country. ana
how immense have heen the improvements both
In their construction and In their equipment
everybody knows. Grades have been reduced
heavy steel rails have replaced the Old iron bars
laid upon wooden beams. eighty ana one-huh.
dred ton locomotives have supplanted the old
light engines, air brakes have been substituted
for hand brakes. aud sixteen-wheei cars, pro-
vided with all the conveniences oil hotels Tor
the ancient four-wheeled coaches. In Keeping
up with this progress the original railroads
have been built and equipped many times over,
with 4 corresponding expansion OF their capitals
aud debts. That much OF the increase Is iegiti-
mately an increase ofvalue Is indisputabls, but
It is also true that some OF It II purely imAg-
mary and Elusive.
While the amounts expended upon tho re.
building and the improvement Of the roads and
their rolling stock have steadily increased, the
quantity OF service they are obliged to render for
the ZANE amount Of money has increased still
more. Passenger fares. which used to 10 over
@ cents per mile. have been reduced to 3 cents.
and. in the older states, to . cents. Freight.
which used to pay 3 cents per ton per mile. now
n.y. nowhsr. fullv I cant Ths consequence
has been q reduction In dividends from the III
per cert. per annum and over. which once wal
common. TO much smaller rates. few companies
new ?syiu2 3 per cent per ahnum. and most oil
them only 4 and 8 per cent. Some of the links
which compose the Lake Shore road. as. for ex'
ample. the old Cleyeland. gainesville and Ash
tAbulA, used to return fabulous sums to their