Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-07-11
special to Times Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines. JUL 1.-THE problem OF
the assessment Of Iowa railroads IS De-
fore the state executive council. and
for a week Messrs Carroll. Morrow,
Hayward and Bleakley will listen to the
pleas of tho railroad attorneys and tax
commissioners for reduction In the as
sessments. The hearings opened TO-DAY
Railroads will first be heard, then the
car lines, express companies, phohe
lines and then the matter or personal
property equalization.
At the outset several interesting
facts confront the state officials. Ihe
first is that within ten years the as
sessment Of Iowa roads has already
been increased 10 per cent and taxes
have nearly doubled. The state tax
levy next year will be considerably
larger than the average the past dozen
years, hence the railroad owners feel
they are being squeezed too much.
While the gross receipts OF the Iowa
roads Increased last year nearly $4.6Oo-
900 they made a profit of nearly ~
100000 less. The difference is said to
be in the increased cost OF operation,
Some PeculIaritieS.
There are, however. some peculiari-
ties in the matter Of the net earnings
that call for explanations. The reports
tabulated and averaged show decrease
Of net earnings per mile, on all Iowa
mileage, from $3.50 to $1,532. But the
Rock Island increased It's per mile
earnings by $205, while tho Burlington
reduced the per mile earnings @63S, the
t1,~ ~te, >fvo
s199, the Great Western $127 and the
Milwaukee 500. SO, also, among the
second class roads. the Iowa Falls
the Great Northern increased its loss
per mile by s2,21O. The Atchison in
creased its profit per mile by s2,623. OF
the small roads the Crooked Creek
showed an Increase of profits of $3.50
per mile.
While the Rock Island. for instance,
shows an increase In net earnings per
mile, even the Rock Island like prac
tically all the other roads shows an In
crease in cost of operation per mile.
The Rock Island gained more business
than the others, in proportion. The
Iowa Falls road alone shows u reduc-
ton in operating expenses. but this
was due to a very much smaller busi-
ness.
The rule has been, however, to con-
slider gross earnings rather than net
earnings and il the percentage OF as
sessment to gross earnings Is main
tained there Will be an Increase Of $4,-
900 in the assessment this year.
Interesting Comparisons
An interesting comparison Is made
as between the different classes of rail-
roads. by dividing into three divisions
The six most important lines. those
which entirely cross the state. have
S,306 miles Of track. The second class
of six roads has 1,275 miles OF track
This includes the Iowa Central. Mime
apolis. Omaha, Great Northern. Iowa
Falls and Wabash lines. The other
nineteen lines to be assessed have but
213 miles. The first group has sub
stantially s5 per cent OF the mileage.
Comparative statistics for the first and
second groups show:
First group-Receipts 1908, s60,526,-
$50; for 1909. ss4.42s,27O: Increase re-
ceipts. s3.9O1,ss7 Expenses 1908. s44.-
3s6.917; for 1909. s4s.s7s.2H; Increase
expenses, s5,511,357.
Second group-Receipts 1908, $5,331,-
AIS: for 1909. $6,414,99s: Increase re-
ceipts, $4S3,523 Expenses for 1908.
s4,446.397; for 1909, s5.230,1s6; increase
expenses s7S3,7S9.
From this II will be seen that the
reduction OF profits for the year for the
first group was $1,609,470. and for the
second group $300,266. This leaves the
conclusion that the nineteen in the
miscellaneous group increased net
earnings by $115,117.
Receipts and Expenditures.
A table showing the receipts and ex-
penses of the various lines in the first
group shows this: