Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-02-19
NEW ADVERTISING NOTICES.
Railroads and Their Earnings.

NEW ADVERTISING NOTICES.
Railroads and Their Earnings.
From the "Northwester." Oshkosh, Wis, Jan.
%, 1897.
The manner in which the states
finances are dependent upon the sue
cess of the railroads is shown on a
comparison of the states revenues for
the past few years from that source.
Under the law which requires the
railroads to pay into the state treas
ury four per cent of their gross earn
ings. in lieu of all other taxes, the
state virtually becomes a partner in
the railroad business without assum-
ing any of the bother of the manage
ment or any of the liabilities for their
operation. AS the governor well says
in his message, this is very simple
arrangement, but it is an arrange
ment whereby it becomes the states
interest to make the gross earnings
of the railroads as large as possible.
Of course the four per cent tax must
come from the people through their
patronage of the railroads, but CON-
ing SO indirectly, the people do not
realize that this is tax upon them
selves. Moreover as it comes mostly
from those who can afford to travel
and pay railroad fare, and those who
pay railroad freights it touches prin-
cipally the more well-to-do and re-
lieves to that extent the poorer clas-
ses. The amount of taxes received
from the railroads for the fiscal year
ending Dec. 80, 1896, was $1,172, 792.
This was more than one half of the
states total expenditures for the year.
Generally speaking the taxes from
railroads, telegraph and telephone
companies and sleeping car compa-
MES have usually furnished enough
revenue to meet the ordinary expen-
SEES of the state government. The re-
ceipts from these sources have natur-
ally decreased considerably in the
past three years owing to the depres-
sion of the times and the falling off
the gross receipt of these corpora
tions. For the fiscal year of 1894 the
taxes from the railroads amounted to
81, S.758, or about 1896, 900 more than
for the past fiscal year. The state of
Illinois derives it's entire revenue from
this source, and it is very large one.
The interest which that state has in
Keeping up the gross receipts of rail-
roads is shown In recent report of
the railroad commissioner of that
state in reply to a resolution of the
state grange asking the commission
ers to reduce the passenger rates in
that state to two cent a mile. 1t
transpires from the reports of the
roads in that state. that although the
roads have legal right to charge as
high as three cents mile, the COM
mutation rates, excursion rates and
reduced rates for specified occasions
reduced the actual fares paid in that
state during the past year to 81 cents
q mile which was only quarter of
cent higher than the state grange de-
manded should be established by law.
In their reply to this demand of the
grangers the commissioners say that
this is bad time to ask them to en-
force lower passenger rates upon the
railroads, when most of the roads are
having hard 4ruggle to keep out of
of receivers hands. The reduction,
the commissioners cay, might be
borne by some of the stronger trunk
lines, but it would be great hard
ship on the smaller ones and branch
lines that have paid no dividends to
stockholders, and can with difficulty
pay interest on their bonds, because
of the decrease of travel and business
The commissioners say any reduction
in the rates of many of the roads
would bring disaster to them without
good to the public. 1t appears from
the railroad reports of Illinois that
only 16 of the As roads operating in
that state paid any dividends on their
stock and that as whole there was
deficit of nearly eight million dol
lars in the business in the state. Re-
ceipts of passenger department fell
off 4.66 per cent. In the whole Unit
ed States for the year ending June
80, 1895, there was total loss in the
operation of railroads amounting to
500, 845, 241. That is, receipts were
that much less than operating ex-
penses. Seventy five per cent of all
the roads in the United States failed
to pay any dividends at at all, and
there was default in the payment
of interest on II per cent of outstand-
ing bonds. So it does not look as
though the railroads were doing any
better, or even rs well, as other
branches of business. And it does not
seem as though this was proper
time to jump on the railroads, when
SO many of them are in receivers
hands and are having hard strug-
gle to keep up their accommodations
to the public.
A Ten Years Wanderer Through
the Wilderness,