The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-11-02
RAILROADS.

railroad manual recently issued gives detailed
information concerning the railroads of the United
States for the year 1906. which information is of
especial interest just now when there is so much
popular clamor for restrictions to be placed upon
the roads and for government ownership. 1t is
easy matter to demand government ownership but
in the solution of such demand there is a mighty
problem. There are 222635 miles Of steam rail
road in the nation capital of about $15O0O,0OO
600, how much water not stated and 100000 per
sons employed. The gross earnings of the roads
reached s2346OOO,OOO the net earnings $79O,OOO
900, both gross and net earnings showing healthy
increase over the previous year, and indicating
larger business than ever before transacted.
In the matter of 2-cent fare laws, the figures
as to the average receipts per passenger per mile
are noteworthy the price in 1906 being 2O11 cents
as against 2O28 cents in 1905 and about 225 cents
in 1904. While these figures do not show that pas
sengers can be carried on any railroad for any dis
lance for 2 cents mile, they present strong
gument for average" fares not to exceed the figure
established by some states. a branch line running
through a sparsely settled country might not pay
expenses if the rate were cents while in thickly
populated district 1 cent a mile might prove pro-
ftable.
The figures show that 1858 per cent is the aver
age dividend received by stockholders, certainly
very modest percentage when compared with the
profits of other large corporations. But if the
water were eliminated the percentage would be ma
terialy increased, and it is evident the profits
some roads must be much greater than 1858 per cent
to make up for the losses sustained by other roads
in the manipulations of the high fnanciers
Tbo TT,;+oJ C+o+oe hos ron, tipons tba rai1Juav
mileage of England Besides this, more locomotives
and steel rails are made here than in any other
three countries in the world, and these together
with cars and other railroad equipment, sent all
over the world and sold cheaper in any other
try than in our own. We have third more rail
way main track than all of Europe, and two-ffths
the mileage of the world. And there are more peo-
pie killed and injured by the railroads of the United
States every year than any other country in the
world would tolerate, 1OS,324 being the total
ualties, 1O,61S of whom were killed. in 1906.
As a contribution to current economic prob
lem this manual is invaluable. The figures are adj
mittedly correct, and they might we'll serve to cool
the ardor of reformers and government ownership
advocates. They emphasize in strong way the
necessity of square DEAL not only for the public,
but for the railroads themselves The stockholders
need protection from the pirates who wreck whole
systems, and the public needs to watch its in
terests to prevent the railroads from taking more
than they deserve. The publication of railroad
finance and placing the management of the roads
in the hands of railroad men distinguished from
fnanciers to serve rather than boss the public,
not result otherwise than in continued prosperity
and increase in legitimate profits and prospects.