Albuquerque citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1907-1909, 1908-03-24
RAILROAD <}{vENUES
INDICATE GlS'SRAL
IMPROVEMENT
Reports to Commission : wv
Less StdgndtiOn Than /,
Generally Believed
TO Exist.
BUSINESS DEPRESSION
CONFINED TO EAST
Roads West of Chicago Not Affect
cd 10 the Extent that Eastern
Roads We're Prospects OF
Early Resumption OF
Normal Conditions.

Washington. March 24.-Every in
dication points to an improvement
generally in the railroad and indus
trial situation of the country accord
ing to reports made by the great rail-
way systems of America TO the Inter
state Commerce commission. These
reports are to the effect that. while
the railroads suffered to some extent
by what has come to be referred 10
as the October panic" the loss was
by no means so serious as generally
has been supposed
1t appears from the reports that
the effect was felt particularly by
the eastern lines and by the lines in
the southeastern part of the country,
a few of which were embarrassed
not only oy a falling off of revenues
but by their inability to obtain ready
cash with which to carry on improve
ments which they had begun while
the western lines and the transcon-
tinental roads have not suffered ma
terially from the financial depression.
The figures available to the Interstate
Comm merce commission indicate also
that the general condition in the
a prospect that it soon will be normal
or better.
Railroad Revenues Increase.
Fran'kHn X. Lane. Pacific coast
member of the Interstate Commerce
commission, has made a careful anal
ysis of the figures submitted by the
railroads themselves to the commits
sion. MIR. Lane was asked what loss
the railroad of America had sustained
from the October panic" He re-
piled that the railroad situation the
country over is not imminenty seri-
Gus one at the present time.
There are no figures accessible by
which a definite answer to your ques-
tion can be given" continued Com
missioner Lane. From the figures
available to the commission, however,
it does not appear that, taking the
country as a whole, the revenues OF
the railroads have fallen off to the
extent that generally is believed. The
Interstate Commerce commission now
calls upon the carriers subject 10 the
act to regulate commerce for month
ly reports of their revenues and OPP
Grating expenses Such reports be-
gan with the month of July last and
| have the figures compiled Oy Prof
Henry c. Adams. our statistician, as
To a number of systems which may
he taken as representatives of the
railroad systems of the entire coun'
try. These systems are: New York
New Haven & Hartford; New York
Central. Baltimore * Ohio: Pennsyl'
Vauid, east and west of PittsOurg
Southern Railway; Louisville & Nash,
Vile, Rock Island; AtchisOu, Topeka
& Santa Fe; Chicago, Milwaukee &
st. Paul; Northwestern; southern Pa
cific; Great Northern; Northern Pa
cific.
During the three months of July
August and September the total op
Grating revenues of these road
amounted to $399,0OO, goo. for tn,
panic months Of October. November
and December the total revenue wa
$4,000, 1000. The freight revenue
of the systems named were, for tht
first quarter, $2G4.000.OO0, and 70
the second quarter, S259,OOO.OOO. TIT
freight revenues for November Wer,
larger than those for July or Septem
ber
These systems during the last 81,
months of 1907 received from passen
ger and freight revenues a grand to
TAI OF +775,OOO,00O, which Is $4,000,
900 more than they received for tn,
same period in the preceding year O
1906, and their net income from op
GRAFTON in 1907 was $4,000. 600 NOR
than i'm 1906. These figures certain
ly do not indicate that either OWNS
10 legislation or the panic the rail
roads of the country as a whole hsv
been put IN financial jeopardy. 1t l.
true that during 1907 there was
great increase i'm operating expense
owing to general Increases in wages
but, allowing for such increase, tn
larger volume of traffic and create
revenue derived therefrom yielded
larger net return to the railroads,
Confined TO the East.
"A study of these figures show
that the panic so far as it affecte'
the railroads. extended but slight
beyond Chicago towards the West. ]
We take the trans-contineutal road
reaching TO the Pacific coast We fin
that every one Of them Increased IT
gross operating revenues during tn
last half of the year 1907.
Beginning with the Great Northern
which Is near the Canadian border
and coming down the Pacific coast {