The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-04-01
MILEAGE INCREASED.
Report of the Railway and War ehouse
Commission.
From Tuesdays Daily.

From Tuesdays DAILY.
But two unimportant Minnesota lines
show defcites from their operations dur
ing the fiscal year of 1908, according to
the figures of the new annual report OF
the state railroad and warehouse com
mission issued yesterday. These were
the Red Lake Transportation company, a
logging railway, and the Dubuque &
Sioux City, a subsidiary Illionis Central
line. Contrasted with these are e2;-
ceptionally heavy increases in gross an
net income of other lines in Minnesota,
and total of s6s,O6l ,499 in gross earn
ings within the state, an increase of &c.
47l,l04 The increase alone is as large
as the total gross earnings of several st.
Paul lines.
The tremendous financial splidity of
the lines operating in Minnesota is
shown. in the fact that their total sur
plus, at the close of the fiscal year
was Sis, 3l,4lS. The Burlington heads
the list, with s25 ,422,324 surplus; with
the Chicago, Milwaukee & st. Paul Sec
ond with $23,499,652. The Great North
ern and Northern Pacific have approx
mately $lO,000,000 each.
The lines earned, in total revenue,
1898, 235,0lS during the year and paid in
the various states a total taxation of
$1,000, 005. With reference to the Min
nesota system, under which the rail
ways pay for the. first three years of
operation l per cent on their gross
earnings, for seven years following 2
per cent and after ten years per cent
it is interesting to note that this tax
alton represents an average of .0324l
per cent on gross earnings, or very
little more than the established Min
nesota rate. At the next election a
constitutional amendment advancing the
Minnesota rate to per cent will be
voted on.
Railway mileage in Minnesota in
creased slightly during the year and
stands at 7,250.0l miles, an increase of
S4.0S miles The Canadian Northern
shows an increase of a miles and re-
ports to the Minnesota authorities for
the first time. The Chicago, Milwaukee
& st. Paul, with its Pennington
Sueur Center line, shows an additional
So miles
The railroad commission makes sew
eral important recommendations as to
legislation, suggesting that the state
legislatures favorably consider a meas
ure prohibiting railways from raising
rates for the transportation of any
class of freight or commodity between
points in the state without first having
obtained the consent of the commission
in writing.
1t is suggested that the commission
be given power to order in interlocking
plants where it is decided that public
safety demands them.
A law which will prohibit railways
from disseminating stations, or modify
ing the station service rendered with
out first obtaining consent, is requested.
The commission requests a law giving
it the power to order the construction
of sidetracks where needed when sta
lions are ten or more miles apart.
One of the most important recon-
is for drastic legislation pro-
hibiting the issuance of memorandum
slips or other form of warehouse re-
ceipts, except under forms authorized
by the commission.
The commission reports that the in
vestigation of back taxes unpaid by rail-
ways resulted in the collection of $ll6,-
79l.