Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1914-06-04

the earnings in the last 70 years and
have gone into improvements which
have probably more than absorbed the
watered stock that was supposed to be
in these systems. We should not for
get, moreover, that since 1876 there
have been 734 roads in the United
States pass through receivers hands,
with 135,567 miles of track and with
stocks and bonds of $751; 97, 900. In
reorganizations through which these
roads passed the stocks were scaled
down, often a%nnihilated, and some
times the bondholders' investments
were extinguished.
The situation today may be sue
cinctly stated thus: Owing to the in
creased cost of operation and the
stricter demands of shippers and trav-
elers for modern service, and the re-
Q%uirements of the government in re-
spect to safety appliances, ETC., the
railroads are operating under a vastly
larger expense, while their revenue
from freight and passenger traffic has
been growing steadily less. According
to Charles A. Conant, author of "Prin-
ciples of Money and Banking" the
purchasing power of the railroads dol
lar has declined 81 per cent between
1896 and 1912. We can now under
stand why our railroads are bent al
most to the point of breaking. They
are facing a crisis. Their responsible
officers are haunted with the fear of
deficit. A continued deficit means
ultimate foreclosure. That is why
upward of 100000 men have been
taken from the payrolls in the
last four months. This is why
no rails, no cars, no supplies are
being bought, except for hand-to-
mouth existence. When the railroad
lays off 100, 900 men, 100, 900 men go
on half rations. Merchants along the
line sell them just half as much to
eat and wear. When railroads stop
buying, perhaps a half million other
men stop working at the mills which
make their rails and engines and cars
and other equipment. These men are
also on half rations. They buy less
and their bills r not paid. Every
tradesman feels 1t and finally the
farmer feels it. He feels 1t last, but
he feels it most.
But talk about feeling, he feels that
the railroads rob him every time he
ships a load of stuff to market and
ships another load home. l wonder if
he often stops and figures just how
much he pays the railroad for its
service. Suppose we ask the Inter
State Commerce Commission, which
now fixes the rates md keeps them
on file. The commission will tell you
that a farmer can ship an axe from
New York to Chicago for 2H cents.
If it costs him rs cents he pays one
thirtieth of the selling price to the
railroad. He a ship live cattle and
hogs these thousand miles for $40
Of a cent a pound. If they sell for
8 cents a pound he pays o~ne-twenty-
seventh of the selling price to the
railroad. He can ship coffee a thou
sand miles for 1-3 cent a pound. II
he pays 80 cents a pound for 1t he pays
one-ninetieth Of the selling price to
the railroad. He can ship a set of
, harness a thousand miles for 43h
cents and IL it sells for S35 he pays
} the railroad one-eightieth Of the sell
) ing price for freight. He can ship a
} harrow a thousand miles for $1.05. He
| can ship a motorcycle for $3.50 a thou
: sand miles. He a ship a piano a
thousand miles for $6. He can ship
!, a moving machine a thousand miles
, for $685., a pillow for ASH cents, a rake
for 1B cents, a sewing machine for
/. S1.01, a pair of shoes for 22-5 cents
i and a shotgun for IN cents, a shovel
, for 8 cents, a suit Of clothes or over
!, coat for 6 cents, and he can ship raw
wool from Billings, Mont, to New
I York City, 2,262 miles, for 1.3 cents a
| pound.
7 The department of agriculture has
! called our attention to the fact that
! when a farmer receives 50 per cent
of the consumers price on a pound of
: butter the freight charge on that
J pound of butter is about one-half Of
/ per cent nf what the pays.
Another authority has estimated that
4 the railroads get only cne-twentieth
. Of the retail price on farm products
B for an average haul Of 1900 miles, or