Meade County news., 1914-12-31
WHAT THE RAILROADS
DOWITHT THEIR INCOME
Continued from;Page /


few wecks-men who are above max
ing selfish plea for any private Of
corporate interest and whose sole
desire is that American business
shall emerge from the present pre-
carious situation without disaster.
Under these circumstances it is the
merest folly for any citizen TO trea'
the present crisis lightly or fiippant
ly, for we are passing through a per
iod in which the financial resources
of every nation in the world will be
tested as never before.
Where Railroad Receipts Go
In order that the readers may re.
alize what tremendous factor the
railroads are in the every day busi-
ness life of the nation and what they
mean to its prosperity, we wish to
analyze briefly what becomes of an
average years railroad income.
Just as the idea has prevailed in the
minds of many that the railroads
are owned by a few rich men, so the
thought has also found deep root
that they collect millions of dollars
from the public which go into the
Golfers of handful of millionaires,
and which are permanently with
drawn from the thrift and industry
of the people.
AT the close of the fiscal year end
ing Jule 80, 1913, the records at
Washington show that the railroads
of the United States had collected a
gross income from all branches Of
their service amounting to S3,IIS,-
o29,3IS. OF this sum, SI,373S3o,-
$50 was paid out for labor, or, to
put 1t in another way, almost fifty
cents out of every dollar they took
in was Immediately paid out to the
hundreds of thousands of men and
women whom they employ in the
conduct of their business. For
maintenance of way, equipment, de-
pots, etc., they disbursed $oIo, 1917,
49I-or almost another thousand
million dollars and in this vast
item the reader can grasp what rail-
road prosperity means to the great
steel mills, the lumber and coal in
dustry, the big car and locomotive
building concerns, and other sources
ofrailroad supplies. In taxes they
paid out the enormous sum of $780,.
o52,o22, which helped to maintain
the public schools, public highways
and other revenue expenses Of every
state, county, and incorporated
town and city,in the country. After
the interest had been paid on their
funded debt and all other Characters
OF expense had been met, they had
Si53, 426,67o left out of whichto de-
clare dividends and to use as sur
plus fund for emergencies OF one
kind and another.
In other words, after the railroads
got through paying for their labor,
steel, lumber, coal, interest and
other necessary expenses, the above
little more than SI53, 600, 900 was all
the surplus they had left for them
selves out of an income of more than
three billion dollars-and this, too,
upon properties worth the gigantic
sum Of twenty billion dollars, OF
less than l per cent on the total in
yestment. Thus it can be seen that
on the basis OF the present rates the
railroads pay back to the public in
one way and another PRACTICAL,
every dollar they receive for service
Burning CandleA Both Ends
AS matter Of fact, if every rail
road in the country had charged of
aproper percentage fordepreciation,
instead Of having had surplus o
sI53,ooo, 900 left in 1918 they woulC
have had an actual deficit running
into millions. Some of the large
systems have Fixed yearly depreci
alton charge--but scores of th,
weaker liners, in their frantic en-
deavorto pay the interest on thei
49, -. 4 ....s.e.s. ~ !. e..-<1; -