Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1915-01-01
WHAT THE RAILROADS DO WITH
THEIR INCOME
Why They are Considered the Great
Business Barometer of the Nation.

Sss~S
rates the railroads pay back to tn
public in one way and another almos
every dollar they receive for the serv
ices they render to the people.
BURNING CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS.
As matter of fact, if every railroa'
in the country had charged off prope
percentage for depreciation. instead O
having had a surplus of 1888, zoo, 0O
left in 1913 they would have had al
actual deficit running into the millions
Some of the larger systems have fixes
yearly depreciation charge-but score!
of the weaker lines, in their frantic
endeavor to pay the interest on theil
debts and maintain the standing OF
their securities, use every dollar Of
their income 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 roadbeds which will render
the continuance of adequate and safe
service for the public impossible. In a
recent article, James j. Hill, the great
Empire Builder of the North" points
out that American railroads should
spend at least $500, 600, 900 annually in
Improvements and betterments-and it
is therefor no exaggeration to say that
rapidly deteriorating equipment is one
of the ghosts which haunts hundreds of
railroad managers throughout the
country at the present hour.
AS was stated in last weeks article,
the operating income of the railroads
for the fiscal year ending June 80, 1914,
was $l18. 5A. 875 less than for 1913,
while expenses and taxes were SAG, $685.
653 greater. 1t can therefore be seen
at glance that unless the railroads
are given some increase in rates in the
the very near future the time when
many of them will 60 upon the rocks Of
financial ruin is not far oft-and yet
the slight increase necessary to save
them 10 30 small that the average citi.
zen would not be conscious Of it after
it had gone into effect. In future
article this question will be more fully
discussed.
A BAROMETER OF PROSPERITY
It 10 an old saying tina: when the rail.
roads are prosperous everybody 10 pros.
porous. and the manner in which their
income d disbursed. % above explained,
tells the reason Why. In short. for
years they have been regarded % the
great business barometer of the Nation
No other industry in the country
employs 90 many men ~ do the rail.
roads, and, furthermore. it is . high
grade of labor employed upon a. lucra-
tive basis % obtains in any other
large industry. When times are good
nearly two million people, first end 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 ard for the
living necessities produced on the farm
cannot help but have a tremendous
effect upon the commerce and agricul.
ture 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 hundreds of thous.
ands Of men who work in the great !
steel mills, the coal mines. the lumber
and in the big car and loco
motive shops are equally vitality affect
I'd, for when the railroads are making |
extensive improvements and buying |
heavily of these supplies it means that |
these great industries are running full
'hift. while when the railroads are sub.
listing only upon absolute necessities
t means that many of them are only
half shift and this is the state
# affairs which have prevailed for
'ome time and which 10 responsible for
he thousands of unemployed who
:rowd every city in the land Ut the
present moment.
FARMER VITALITY CONCERNED.
That the farmer has q very vital and
PERSONAL interest in this situation should
'e apparent at 4 glance. When the
Millions of laboring men in the United
states are profitably employed and
vhen all our great industrial enter.
rises are running full shift it means
hat he will have larger demand and
eceive higher price for the things he
'rodu:es on his farm-for his corn,
wheat, pork, beef, mutton, cotton,
vol and other farm products In other
words, SO interdependent have we
ecome, and so closely allied are the
interests of the farmer, the merchant,