Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-02-27
COMPARING RAILWAYS.

In 1904 delegation from Prussia
was sent to the United States to OBJ
serve American railways, compare
them with those of Prussia and report
to the Prussian government. The re-
port of the commissioners has been
fled but the very meager details which
are given in the cabled summary of
their findings show the difficulty of
making really fair comparison of sys-
tens operated under conditions so rad
ically different. Ninety per cent of the
Prussian railways are owned and op-
Grated by the government; their rev.
enue is one of the great sources of
income Of that government paying the
interest on the entire national debt,
most of which, it is true, is railway
debt-and the competition Of German
canals and the methods of fixing rates
create conditions which have to be
considered in making any comparisons
worthy of serious attention
1t is true, for instance, that passen-
ger revenues are considerably higher
per mile than in Germany, the latest
estimate for the United States being
1861 cents per mile instead of the 2.02
rate quoted in the Prussian report or
the zoos given in the report of the in
terstate commerce commission for
1904. This is to be expected from the
fact that Europe, in comparison with
America, has not one-fifth the railway
per capita, the figures being
45 miles per 10000 of population, as
against 259 miles in the United States.
The mileage in Prussia per 10000 of
the population is about eighteen, which
would bring the conditions in that
country much nearer those in the
United States than If the whole of
Europe were considered.
In connection with the revenue from
passenger traffic it is fair to ask what
sort of service is rendered for the
money paid. There are, or were until
very recently, four classes of passenger
fares in Prussia, as against practically
one in this country, and there is no
service here comparable to the discom-
fort and Inconvenience of the lowest
class on the Prussian railways. The
American people would not tolerate at
any price the cattle cars in which
Prussian passengers are required to
ride in the third and fourth class.
In the matter OF freight rate, the
Prussian commission attempts to Offset
the showing of the low American rate
per ton per mile-which, by the way,
is .0757 cent, according to the latest
figures, instead of OTIS, in comparison
with the Prussian average of 1.36 cents
for Prussia and LA for the whole of
Germ any-by pointing out discrepan-
cies in the items included in the sta
tistics. The American disposed to dis
putes these conclusions, while admit
ting the high rates secured for mail
service in this country and other diff
ferences In favor of Prussian railways,
might point in turn to the many COM
plants of the efficiency of service and
to the character of the equipment of
the Prussian state roads. 1t is q mat
ter we'll known to railway men that
such IS the Importance to the Prussian
government of the revenues from the
that needed OUTLAWS to bring
The roads up to modern standards OF
efficiency have been delayed or neg
Iected to the danger point. The pres
ent average capacity per coal car on
The Prussian roads is little above
Twelve tons, a trifie more than one
third the average capacity of the coal
cars in use on the American roads.
This comparison might be expanded by
many examples, but it is sufficient to
say that the Prussian people have the
of paying higher railway
rates or heavier taxes, and they prob
ably prefer to let the burden rest on
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