Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1914-12-19


in this vast item the reader can grasp
what railroad prosperity means o
the great steel mills, the lumber and
coal industry, the big car and loco
motive building concerns, and other
sources of railroad supplies. In taxes
they paid out the enormous sum of
Sl29, O52, 922, which helped to main
tain the public schools, public high
ways ano 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 expenses had been met, they had
s153, 426, $40 left out of which to de-
clare dividends and to use as a 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 S153. 0OO,O was all the
surplus they had left for themselves
out of an income of more than three
billion dollars this, too, upon
x
twenty billion dollars, or less than
one per cent on the total investment.
Thus it can be seen that on the basis
of the present rates the railroads pay
back to the public in one way and an
other practically every dollar they
receive for service.
Burning Candle at Both Ends
road in the country had charged off
a proper percentage for depreciation,
instead of having had a surplus of
1888, 600. 600 left in 1913 they would
have had an actual deficit running
into the millions. Some of the larg-
er systems have fixed yearly deprec-
iation charge-but scores of the weak
er liners, in their frantic endeavor to
pay the interest on their debts and
maintain the standing of their Sc
curities, use every dollar of their in
come to this end, and hence one of
the most alarming phases of the
present railroad situation is that this
process of burning the candle at
both ends means deterioration of
rolling stock and road beds which
will render the continuance of ade-
quate and safe service for the public
impossible. In a recent article,
James ]. Hill, the great Empire
Builder of the north,'' points out
that American railroads should spend
at least $500, 900. 900 annually in i'm
provements and betterments-and it
is therefore no exaggeration to say
that rapidly deteIiorating equipment
is one of the ghosts which haunts
hundreds of railroad managers
throughout the country at the pres
ent hour.
As was stated in last weeks ar
ticle, the operating income. of the
railroads for the fiscal year ending
June 80, 1914, was sl2O,O 900 less
than for 1913, while expenses and
taxes were SIC, 900, 900 greater. 1t
can therefore be seen at glance that
unless the railroads are given some
increase in rate in the very near fut-
ure the. time when many of them
will GO upon the rocks of financial
ruin is not far off-and yet the slight
increase necessary to save them is so
small that the average citizen would
not be consciouse of it after it had
gone into effect. In future article
this question will be more fully dis
cussed.
Barometer of prosperity
1t is an old saying that when the
railroads are prosperous everybody is
prosperous, and the manner in which
their income is disbursed, as above
explained, tells the reason why. In
short, for years they have been re-
garded as the greatest business bar
ometer of the nation. No other in
duslry in the country employs so
many men as do the railroads, anG.
furthermore, it is a high grade of Ia
Dor employed upon as lucrative bas-
is as obtains in any other large in
dustry. When times are good nearly
two million people, first and last, are
employed by the railroads, and when
this vast army is working full time
and is contented the millions they
pay out for merchandise and for the
living necessities produced on the
farm cannot help but have tremen-
dous effect upon the commerce and
agriculture of the country
But this is only half the story.
Aside from the nearly two million
operatives directly employed by the
railroads in normal times, the hun