The Goodland republic., 1906-01-26
wANTED: RAILROADs.

Perhaps you had not noticed 1t, not
being in the railroad business but
there is a shortage OF railroads in the
west The State Journal does not make
this announcement on its own authOri-
". but on the authority OF no less a
parsonage than Henry CIewss the Wall
street banker and financial authority.
Mr. CIews comes to this conclusion
from the figures showing the increase
Of railroad business west Of the Mis-
sfssippi river He says that while there
has been only q comparatively small
increase in railroad mileage in the
west, the traffic has more than dOub-
led since 1895. As a consequence Mr..
CIews looks for considerable railroad
building in the Transmississippi region
in the next few years which Will IN
turn, make the iron and steel markets
continue strong and have a good ef-
feet on other lines Of business
The growth Of mileage in the west
has not kept pace with traffic during
the past ten years" says Mr.. Clews-
For instance, the railroad mileage
during the decade increased only
about Is per cent, which is less than
the increase in population, while the
tonnage Of the roads increased over
100 per cent. In the west, between the
1LlESlSSGDD anu Tic 4 eA~-AANH -A---S -
strong need of additional mileage, and
if nothing intervenes we viii see at
least one or two years Of active new
construction Union Pacific and St
Paul have already entered the field OF
builders, and other systems must fol-
low. This means an important new
supply OF railroad stocks, for which
there would be a healthy and general
demand, since the best issues Of most
roads are either held at exOrbitant
prices or locked up in strong boxes
And when one stops. 10 think Of II,
ones personal knowledge indicates
that Mr. CIews is correct AlthOugh
the railroads claim TO be adding TO
their rolling stock as rapidly as pos
sIbIe, they have not been able to keep
ahead Of the demand, and consequent
" one hears Of car famine nearly all OF
the time Prior to five or six years
ago car famines were little known
About 1900 the grain shippers began
to complain that they could not Sc
cure cars enough during the two or
three months succeeding harvest, but
now there are complaints at all sea
sons OF the year, not from grain ship
pers alone, but from other lines OF
business
In the meantime a few new lines Of
railroad nave DeGn DulAL1 A4OSL4g IL
the southwest Within the past year
a new transcOntinentaI line, the salt
Lake Route, has been opened from
Salt Lake City to Los Angeles But
now a large amount OF new mileage
is projected in the west Several new
roads will undoubtedly be built in
Kansas within the next two or three
years The year 1910 will very likely
see from two to four new lines push
ed through to the Pacific The West
ern Pacific, the new Gould line from
salt Lake City TO san Francisco, is al
ready. contracted for The MOnat hnt
from Denver TO Salt Lake is partly II
operation, and the announcement ha!
recently been made that it will b
pushed through to the coast Th'
Santa Fe and Southern Pacific ar
both building new routes in New Mex
leo and Arizona to aid in handling thei
heavy. .transcontinental traffic, and tn
Rock Island is figuring on pushing tn
FL PasO and Southwestern through [
San Diego, while the St Paul ha
made public its intention OF reach1n
the Pacific in the northwest
Innumerable lesser lines are pro
iected or under way, and all Of thes
will necessarily increase the bushes
OF the big lines reaching the eaS
through this region So it is very ev
dent that the west needs new railroaC
and also that it viii soon have them
rTOnaL<a State Journal.