Evening star., 1915-11-07
Increase in Railway Earnings.
General Business Reported
Booming.

southern agricultural section, which a
year ago was almost PROSTATE, has,
by wisely varying it's class of produc-
tion. regained it's former hold upon its
claim to prosperity. This years cot
ton crop will be as valuable as last,
while at the same time more acreage
has been available for the raising of
crops that are comparatively new to
the southern farmer. These include
wheat and corn, which heretofore have
been purchased for cash from the pro-
ceeds OF a not too abundant cotton in
come. The result of the new policy
has been two-fold: 1t has raised the
southern planter to secure the neces-
stiles Of life other than by purchase
from distant localities. In the west
the business improvement Is reflected
in the larger export orders, the in
creased consumption of merchandise,
and broader demand for money. Some
industries even report an actual dearth
of skilled labor, and, in order to fill
their increasing orders both for home
and foreign consumption, some fac
tories have been compelled to adopt
twenty hour schedule.
Railroads Have Record Shipments.
The railroads are now reaping a large
benefit from the record shipments from
the interior points to the sea eaboards.
new feature in this traffic trade is
the immense shipment of automobiles.
| which are rapidly changing from the
classification of luxury to that of ne
cessity. The figures for idle cars have
taken sudden drop and complaints of
car shortage, congestion of traffic and
of labor shortage are becoming fire.
quent. This note of prosperity in favor
of the railroads is being reflected. in
the investment centers. in increased de-
(; nland for railroad securities. dividend
! stocks having very apprecia bly, ad
vanced in price in consequence Of the
| new buying era. Stock exchange houses
are advising their clients to take what
ever profits they may now have in the
| war brides" and to transfer their in
terests to the standard railroad stocks
| for regular dividends rather than for
| sensational fluctuations in quotations.
| Railroad earnings for September are
showing large increases in both gross
and net, and the statements issued by
| the Pennsylvania, New York Central
and all the northwestern railroads are
very favorable. Eastern roads are now
handling a heavy volume of freight
traffic and the western roads are NOV
| ing the largest crops ever harvested, so
the traffic returns for the last quarter
of the year promise to break all previous
records. In this connection, the state
ment issued Tuesday of this week by
| the interstate commerce commission
summarizing the income and expenses
of ninety-one roads during September
| is particularly favorable. The report
shows that the net revenue of these
roads was S4S4 per mile Of line operat-
ed during September. During this same
month last year the net revenue was
S40S. This increase was not. like some
| of the previous months, partly due to
a reduction in operating expenses.
Operating Expenses.
AS matter of fact, the operating ex-
penses of these ninety-one roads during
September amounted to ss5,466. 700, an
increase of s699,0o0 over the same
month last year. The roads reported
total operating revenue of s152, 900,
an increase of s10.0OO,OO0, which is pos
sibly the largest increase in this item
for considerable time. Upon further
analysis the commission reported that
the net revenue of those of the ninety
one roads operating in the so-called
eastern district amounted to s795 per
mile of line operated during September
During September last year it was only
$64S. The net revenue of the southern
roads was 1894, an increase of $72, and
| the net revenue of the western roads
was $413, an increase of $3S per mile
During the three months ending with
September the net revenue of the
ninety-one roads amounted to s1.3OS
per mile, which is an increase of S143
per mile. The total operating revenues
during this period amounted to $437,-
$4,000, an increase of s14.4ss.oOo The
total operating expenses amounted to
$2S3. $4,000, decrease of %3,343,OOO.
| A study of the business cycle" shows
| that every general revival of trade and
Industry for over century has been
marked by steady rise in price of
railroad securities, and vice versa. This
| is based on sound logic, because rail-
road earnings must depend on traffic.
and traffic is only another name for
business. The present indications are
therefore propitious, and railroad Of
| ficials, with abundant faith in the fu-
ture outlook, have given heavy orders
for new equipment. This policy will
| help spread prosperity to the steel
mills. and in fact to every branch of
| trade that caters to the varied neces-
stiles Of the railroads.
Financial Features.
i A we'll known business corporation
with headquarters in Dayton, Ohio in
an advertisement in the daily press,
makes the following comment on cur
] rent conditions: Merchants every
where tell our 500 statesmen that busi-
ness is booming. Farmers have had two
record crops. at big prices, with big de-
mand at home and abroad. Stocks of
manufactured material are short and
la Dor in great demand. Exports largely
exceed imports. Factories are busy,
many working overtime. More freight
cars are needed, and steamers are
taxed to capacity. People are living
better. and spending their money more
freely. This country has the best
money in the world. and more of it
than ever before. Such a combination
of favorable circumstances never has
occurred before. and probably will
never occur again. Billions of dollars
are passing over the merchants coun-
ters."
These sentiments could probably be
duplicated by many other similar con-
Germs. proving that the present activ
ity in business is not ephemeral, and
that it is based on domestic rather than
on foreign commercial needs. The
country is forging ahead at a rapid
pace and business is being conducted
on a high plane of efficiency and integ-
rity Capital is finding new avenues of
employment, and the savings of the
people are becoming more and more
utilized to finance the large CONNER
cial and industrial organizations. Our
record crop will add an immense
amount of new wealth to the country,
and will aid in alleviating the hard
ships of the unemployed-a problem
which has assumed proportions in re-
cent years.
digh-Grade Bonds in Demand.
Investment bankers still ind q
healthy demand for high-grade bonds,