The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-12-17
RAILROAD NEWS.
Paul Morton Gives the West
Great Send of.
His Interview Published in
Boston Transcript.
SANTA FE'S TONNAGE.
HauIs More California Oranges
Than Kansas Germ.
SANTA FE'S TONNAGE.
Southwest Could Sustain Five
Times Present Population.


Paul Morton, second vice president of
the Atohison, Topeka & Santa Fe rail-
way system, was interviewed in Wash
iHgton by Boston Transcript reporter.
He said:
"In 1896 when my connection with
the Atchison road began, I was ex-
tremely doubtful of it's future. But
through constant touch with its af-
fairs, traffic and resources, I have been
growing more optimistic in regard to
the property. I never believed as much
In it as I do today. The increase in our
mileage, our tonnage and our earnings
speaks for itself. In the year ending
June go 1897, our earnings approxima-
ted $50, 000 900; in the year ending June
30, 1908, we earned over $62. 000, 900, and
the average earnings per mile of road
increased from $4,752 in 1887 to $7,S27 in
1903. Although we run. through New
Mexico. Arizona and the Mojave Desert,
the Atchison earnings per mile are
greater than the earnings of the Chi
cago. Burlington & Quincy railway I
do not think the people Of New England
understand this.
THE territory traversed by the COM
pany has been very prosperous and has
rapidly increased in population. 1t is
this increase in population that is go
ing to make the Atchison's future. IT.
rigation will do wonders for the arid
west, and the Atchison is sure to pros
per on account of the great internal
Improvement that irrigation will bring
about. The government itself will also
profit largely by the money spent for
irrigation. Most of the arid land now
unstable and undesirable will if in
troduced to a proper water supply sell
rapidly and the government will be re-
imbursed its expenditure, for by irri
cation many more than two blades of
grass will be made to grow where one
cannot now be found"
What are the general conditions of
the West?'
THE people of the Mississippi River
valley, and by that I include the Val
ley of the Missouri. were never In a
better condition than they are today.
They have had good crops and good
prices and the people are satisfied.
Oklahoma. Indian Territory and Texas
have had a tremendous addition to
their population, and of the most de-
Sirable kind. To a large degree it
comes from the middle western states.
Oklahoma, Indian Territory and Texas
are all capable of sustaining a popula-
ton of five times as large as they now
have, and the fertility of the soil, the
the future of this southwestern section
cannot be exaggerated About a year
ago I was at Guthrie, Okla, with a
party Of prominent merchants and
manufacturers from Chicago, and we
were addressed by one of the local
captains of industry, who, in charac-
teristically glowing language, told us
of the fine points of that country. He
wound up his speech by saying: Some
down here and live among US. What
we need is men of intelligence and ex-
perience and with capital If you can
not come yourselves, give each q your
sons $4,000 and send them down here.
They will double the money in two
years, or we will get it There was
some truth in this.
ANY county with a climate that
does not take all Of the surplus earn
ings of the farm to keep warm in win
ter. and that can raise cotton, rice,
wheat and corn and stock, is bound in
time to be appreciated. Our tonnage
arising in this region is becoming more
diversified all the time. The California
orange tonnage is now greater than
our Kansas corn tonnage. New min
ezal development of the country, espe-
cialIy Arizona and southern California,
is very promising. The fruit business,
the rice business, the oil business, the
lumber business, in fact, almost every
conceivable industry that can be i'm
agined, may be found somewhere on
the line of the Santa Fe.
Our passenger earnings last year were
&30o0,000, or over two and one-half times
as much as in 1897 The tourist business
to California is growing all the time. New
peIatial hotels are built for the accommo-
dation of these people every year. Our
average passenger earnings per mile OF
road are greater than those of the St.
Paul. There has been a wonderful irr-
provement in Kansas Oklahoma, Colora-
DO and acknowledgements in fact-in
the art of farming. A better farming sys-
TEN is in vogue, and more intelligent ideas
as to what is experimental and what is
not have made a wonderful increase IN
crops and decrease in farming losses, both
agricultural and horticultural
Prom 1897 until 1903 the tonnage of the
Atehison has increased 12S per cent, its
passenger traffic 1852 per cent, its gross
earnings 10e per cent and it's net earning 5
over 200 per cent, while the capitalization
of the company was increased less than
ID per cent. This brief statement empha-
sizes the story more than / can.
Nowhere in the world today is there
offered more to homeseekers than in
the country the Atchison serves. Italy it
self can not surpass California, and the
magnificent valley of the San Joaquin,
which is 800 miles long and over one hun
dred miles wide, is capable of producing
successfully everything that Italy does
That valley is destined to be the great
vineyard of the world. With its cheap
fuel oil now found in great quantities, all
Industries are bound to thrive there and