The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1905-07-06
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
JUGGLING RAILWAY STATISTICS

erary bureaus established to conduct a campaie
The railways were pointed out editorially in la
weeks issue of The Independent. w. G. Joern
writing In The Arena, shows how untrustwortl
are the statistics used by the railway apologists
Mr.. Hill loves to dwell on the compare
lively low per ton mile in the United States"
which, in his reported interview, he gives at
76 cents. The per ton mile on his own road,
it will be remembered was 857 cents. The
erphonious claim has been reiterated by in
Vulnerable satellites and is wholly misleading,
proves nothing and is open to the serious
charge of being knowingly disingenuous. A
comparison is made between the American
per ton mile and that of Russia as the sug-
gested lowest European rate. The Ameri-
can rate is given at AZ per cent OF that Of
Russia, where, as Mr.. Hill says, the con-
ditions of long haus are more like our own"
On this basis the Russian rate would there
fore be 1.61 cents. The comparison invites
attention for if the conditions were really
Identical, the Russian figure might be indica-
tive OF grievOus oppression. AS matter Of
fact the conditions are anything but identical
and the burden of proof as to where the
oppression, il any really lies, may by investi-
ton, be emphatically shifted from the Rus
sian 1.61 to the boosted American 76. We
are indebted to Mr.. Chase S. Osborn, for many
years commissioner of railroads for Michi-
gan for some interesting data on Russian
railroads as the result of quite recent per-
sonal Investigation. The average car-capacity
of the Trans-Siberian railroad, it would APP
pear, is about eight tons and the train-load
in proportion. Many American freight-cars
now have capacity of fifty tons and the
American train-l0ad is likewise in proportion.
The Russian rail weighs so pounds to the
yard We are laying 100-pound rails. The
Russian locomotives burn oil or wood and
as also the rolling stock generally, are practi-
cally obsolete The distance from Moscow
to Vladivostok is about $500 miles and is
covered by their fast trains eff they have
good luck" in eighteen days. We cover,
like distance regularly in less than week.
In 1903 the Trans-Siberian railroad trans
ported 100000 tons of freight and it's ca
pacity was fully taxed and much of product
awaiting shipment was left unhauled Dur
ing the same period the Pennsylvania road
with about the same mileage, handled up
WdluS VI tV,UVV,VUU lOuS. IL uuueI SUCH us
advantageous circumstances an average of
1.61 cents per ton mile can be reached, it
would seem that, with the like benefit of
Tong haul" the most modern equipment and
intelligent operation, density of population
and enormous traffic. the American rate ought
by comparison to be materially reduced below
the much Wanted .76 cents per ton mile. The
rate per ton mile in Germany in 1900 was LAO
cents, according to Prof. Frank Parsons, than
whom there is no more reliable authority.
The average haul per ton is 60 miles against
100 miles in the United States and, as is
well understood and was emphasized by Mr..
Hill in his reference to the long haul in Rus
STA, the terminal charges absorb an increas-
ing proportion of the rate as the haul is
shortened On this basis, in comparison with
&c many, our rate per ton mile ought not to
be over IS cents. When, among other adj
vantages, we take into consideration again
our enormous traffic, the relatively greater
amount of low-grade freight and our modern
equipment, even granting that our wagescale