Evening journal., 1900-10-23
RICHES and THE RAJ
The American Railroad as
Barometer of Business Cor
ditf0ns-The Story II Tol
Before and After 1890, an
the Sequel in Each Case.
NOTHING Is more easily and cor
" stantly demonstrable than the
the American railway is a baron

- VI llN1 - more easily ana cof#
IN stantly demonstrable than thsk
the American railway is a baronE
eter Of general business conditions
America. il mas been otherwise but nfF
less accurately described as the pulse II
national commerce. 1t first reflectk
prosperous or depressed conditions Tlf
diagnosis based upon its traffic and tha
Incidents Of traffic is lnexorable.
trade conditions as shown by the rail
way. are perslstently favorable unde5
one economic policy In government ank
as perslstently unfavorable under al
other, is there any good reason why I'll
former policy should be abandoned for
restoration Of the latter by the act b.
millions OF voters every one Of who'd
must look ultimately. whether he be capl
talst or laborer, to business conditiorI
for good or III fortune? The stubborn
argument OF facts and figures should all
peal to every man. whether he has fl
Investment thousands Of dollars or onN
the labor OF his hands.
AS railway construction parallels an'
Indicates national development. II is IN
terestlng to know that since our firi
rails were laid, hut little more than sed
enty years ago. we have come to poassil
more than $4,000 miles out Of a toti
In the world Of 445. 900: while our tot|
capitalization In stocks and bonds ls aII
proxlmately $40. 6s5 .O00 000 against e3s|
So .k.I. - "
ing but 6 per cent OF the surface OF til
earth we have Al per cent. OF It's railwa
mileage six times as much mileage
any other country. and 20 900 miles moi
than combined Europe The America
railroad Is not less a factor in our indu'
trial life than is the farm and the factcr|
These constitute a trinity. each membe
Of which is equally dependent upon N
others.
Columns might be written Of our raj
road history. and the story then be hare
ly begun. For the present the voters
the country like its business interest
are concerned with two periods-thl
covered by the present federal goveri
/
comparison is the nearest approach thl
can be made, statlstcally, to a view
the changes that would be developed
the installation OF economic prlncipl'
even more radically opposed to the pre-
ent than we're those which prevailed fro
1892 to iS96-years which included Il
great panic Of 1898. Facts are the thinl
to present 10 thinkers here; they can g
enough Of political stump speeches els
where.
One Of the first points noticed in CLAN
ing at official figures is the connectil
between high and low tariff years ar
the carriage OF freight. On March
1898. and for some time later. high prl
lection IVES in force. The tonnage
that year was 757 100000 In 1894 a 10
tariff law was passed as a comDromi
with free trade That year the tonnag
which had been increasing steadily Il
five years. fell TO 674,000.00O. Not le
striking was the sudden effect Of a repe
OF the low tariff law In 1897. and retuI
10 high protection. In 1897, with ne
policy dominant and repeal assured eve
in the early months. there were carrie
7SS ,O0O.O0O tons: but in 1898. folIowir
the repeal the tonnage leaped 20 81,
100000. Such comparisons are not odiou
They are convinclng-to trade. II not a
ways to political essayists
But tonnage does not tell the who
story II might be accompanied by col
ditions rendering the Significance Of Il
figures apparent. rather than real NJ
are gross earnings a sure Indication
railroad conditions. The measure Of pro
perity in business rests upon net ear
ings-available profits. Here we m
that net earnings per mile in 1898. und
high tariff, we're s2.O6s, In 1894, und
a low tariff, they dropped 10 81 .80s. al
varied little from this figure until q
repeal of this tariff. when they prompt
rose again to and above the $1,000 mar
Another point worth noting: The 1
creased prosperity Of the railroads h
been one Of general distribution II Il
road has benefited. so have those doii
business with It. There has been redu
ton in cost Of transportation to the pr
ducer and manufacturer. This has be-
followed, In turn. by a reduction in co
to the consumer For example:
The average receipts per passeng
per mile in the low tariff year Of 1s
was 20S cents In 1895 1t was 2.07 al
in 1896 and 1S97-one-half OF the las
named year being low tariff-it was "a
In 1898, with high tariff resumption,
fell to 199. So, in freight charges, u
average In 1884 was Ss OF a cent. ar
In 1888 .7e OF a cent per ton Is not Il
comparative lesson OF the two periol
plain TO ordinary business Intelligent
without any aid Of partisan oratory?
A natural feature Of increase in health
business is an increase in the amount
labor employed. On our railroads the
we're employed. in 1895, 7s5.034 men
1899 this number had advanced to 92t
s24. or practically a million men-abol