The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1897-03-18


that are apparently holding
their own are far from hopeful
for the future. Economical
management is one thing, but
forced economies can only re-
suit in deterioration of the
property. For a few years
some of our older railways can
thus economic, but it is only
by continued and liberal ex-
penditure of money, thattrack,
roadbed, bridges, equipment
and rolling stock can be kept
up-to-date and in good running
order. The loss to labor has
been enormous, and it is i'm
portant that railway employees
of all grades should study this
side of the question. With
freight and passenger rates less
than those of European coun
tries, where labor is paid about
half the American rates, how
long will our railways be able
to tide along with reduced fore
es and three quarter time? I'm
less the decline in receipts is
stopped, wages must be reduc-
ed, and then the trouble will be-
gin. Taking an army of two
hundred thousand men out of
active employment in one oc-
cupation is a pretty serious
business. That means an an
nual loss in wages alone Of not
less than $15O,OOO,OOO. Here we
have the direct loss, The in
direct loss comes from. the ire
parable injury to the properties
by reason of not keeping them
up, ultimately entailing adj
ditional losses. The reduction
of rates between 1890 and 1895
represents a loss of revenue of
over $1OO,OOO,OOO- $15, 100000 in
passenger traffic and $751;, 100000
in freight traffic. Of course
this sum was RENTED to the
people of the United States,
but the question is, can the
people afford to force an indus
try in which nearly one-fifth
or twenty per cent. of the total
wealth of the country is invest
ed to a point where nearly half
the stock and bonds pay moth
ing in dividend and interest,
and the current expenses must
be reduced below the safety
point. This is the problem the
people will soon have to face
in relation to our railways.
Should we carry these facts
back to 1887, we have loss to
railways of about $15O,O0O,OOO.
That is, if the same rate for
passenger and freight existed
in 1895 as in 1887, the receipts
from these two sources would
have been much in excess of
what they actually were in 1895.
l am officially informed that
freight rates for 1896 will aver
age even lower than in 1895.
The loss of dividends and of
interest on bonds brings hard
ships to hundreds of thousands
of people Of limited means who
have invested in these securi-
ties. This is no less severe
than the loss of work and wag-
es to the 1aborer. The latest
report shows that seventy per
cent, or over two-thirds ian ag-
gregate of nearly $3,5OO,OOO,O 600
of all the outstanding stock of
these corporations paid moth
ing in 1895. The same is true
of seventeen per cent. of the
bonds. A careful study of
these railway budgets would
bring outthe appalling fact that
probably half of these invest
ments are non-productive-
certainly five thousand millions
of them. The gloomy list of
non-dividend paying stocks has
Of late years been gaining from
about sixty per cent. ten years
ago to upwards of seventy per
cent. now. While this decrease
of rates has been going on, the
cost of running trains has not
similarly decreased, and herein
lies the danger. In commenting
on this, III. 7. Newcomb, of the
United States Agricultural De-
partment, says, in an Admir-
able article in the Journal of
American Statistical Associ-
alton:
1.-The statistics of decreasing
returns to investors, financial
disaster, and widespread in
solvency, clearly indicate that
the present railway charges
are not too high, unless it is