The gold leaf., 1898-02-10

she had at that time population Of
about $4,000. To-day, over a cen
,ury later, we find her population aver
aging only thirty three and one half
(35H) persons to each OF the 5o,6o5
square miles embraced within her
limits, and something over thirty per
cent. OF this is ColOred. Iowa, admit
ted to the Union in I84o, more than
half century later, exceeds her in
population by some hundreds of thous-
ands, and largely SO in railway mileage
June goth, 1896, according to the re-
port of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission, the total mileage of the rail-
roads in the United States was 132,-
1868; and of North Carolina it was
5,498.8; or I0I per cent; of Iowa the
railway mileage at this time was g.
52I,5; or 400 per cent, and even
Colorado admitted to the Union in
1896, only twenty two years ago, had
at that time a railway mileage OF
4.5Oo,I4 or 25I per cent the total
both Iowa and Colorado exceeding
North Carolina in railway mileage.
Railroads have aided largely in the
grand work of development, going on
throughout this land, and in every
State. We can hardly realize the
conditions which would prevail with
out them or the condition in which
the various States of the Union would
be placed, were we suddenly relegated
back to those prevailing even thirty
years ago.
Values of all kinds, especially real
estate values, have doubled and trebled
in North Carolina, as in every other
State, by their advent, and it is but
fair that proper returns should be
made to their owners for expenditures
which have produced such marked
results ? Yet how are they to secure
such proper returns if the laws OF
States, of the United States, or the
orders of the Railroad Commissioners
or of the Interstate Commerce Com
mission are to be such as to preclude
such property from more than meeting
its current obligations taxes ? The
interests of the people and railroads
are identical, and it is singular fact,
which every one must have noted
that when prosperity comes to one it
comes also to The other, and when ad
tho thar haropn
depressed, it being necessary that both
work in unison if We are to accomplish
the greatest possible good. There are
large areas of country yet to be set
tied, and transportation facilities will
be leading requirement. Capital
must be enlisted in its behalf, or we
stand still as a nation. For these en-
terprises and every other material de-
velopment capital and labor are
factors and must work in close CO.
operation under laws just to each and
encouraging to both.
The aggregate capltall-
zatlon and funded
debt of the railroads
of this country on
June goth, 1896,
amounted to S0,744,S0O,332.Oc
With bonds represent
ing 4,5I7,S72, ,o63.o
And stocks 5,226, 1905 .oC
and during the year ending on date
above mentioned, 1926 per cent. of
its funded debt paid no interest to its
owners and 10 per cent. Of the total
stock representation paid no dividends
The StaHsH6ian, a prominent jour
nal, gives the following interesting
figures, which have been compiled
from the last report Of the Interstate
Commerce Commission, dated une
80, 1907: "Last year the railroads OF
the United States carried over 5000,
900, 900 passengers ore mile. They
also carried $4,000, 900, 900 tons OF
freight one mile. The total amour,
paid in dividends on stock was SS7,-
6o3.S71-call it SIS, ,ooo,o 900. Ofthe
total earning OF the railways, about
10 per cent. came from freight service
and 50 per cent. from passenger
service Let US assume, then, that 0
the sSS,ooo, 900 paid in dividends, Il
per cent. or SCI, 600, 900 was profit on
freight service, and $40, 900 wa:
profit on passengers service. Let u
drop fractions and call it S62, 900, 200
from faeight and S26,ooo,ooo from
passengers. BY dividing the paSsen
gers profit into the number of passen
gers carried (I5,ooo, 900, ,ooo) we find
that the railways had to carry pas
senger 5000 mlles..in order to earn ont
dollar of profit-or five miles to carr
one cent. Their average profit, there
fore, was less than two tenths of ONT
cent for carrying a passenger (and hi
| baggage) one mile. By dividing th'
| freight profit into the freight mlleag'
| $4,000, 900, ,ooo) we find that TIL
| railroads had to carry one ton o
freight Is 50 miles in order to earn on
| dollar, or over fifteen miles TO earl
one cent. The average profit, there
fore, was one fifteenth of cent for car
rying a ton OF freight, (besides loadln:
and unloading IL one mile
The Railroad Commissioners O
Kansas in their Sth annual report 70
the year, ending December 1st, 1890
states as follows:
"Rate making does not belong Il
the exact sciences, nor can il be trust
ed safely to the forum of legislation
1t is governed by no fixed rule, de
] termined by no known principle. Ih
TT0TTNn @C