Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-03-12

it has come to stay and We can regu-
late properly, it should be handled
with the greatest care.
why not do as we do with the ma
tional banks? | have known bankers
who have done wrong, but when they
did you ran them down, but you did
not attack the bank. In no case has
there been any agitation against the
bank itself.
" We can control and handle the
railways, SO why should we hurt limo
cen people? We are not hurting any
looters. | have seldom heard of any
looters that suffered. We are just
taking the money from innocent bond
holders, from innocent employees and
hurting general business. Let the
railways earn enough to pay their
honest debts. Watch them, if you
will, and see where every dollar goes,
but let them have enough &c pay their
debts. We ale coming to that in time
but it is pretty SLOW"
Judge Lusk told from actual expert
ence the difficulties he has had on the
railway for which he is Receiver, in
meeting even the interest on a por-
ton of the bonds outstanding. He
told how one after the other interest
payments on bonds came due and
there was not sufficient earnings to
take care of them and default was
made on the interest.
"A total of SLAB, 767 ,266 bonds and
notes. said he, ''haVe been allowed
to go by default for lack of earnings
to keep up the interest or to pay any
principal. Up to date we have been
able to pay out Of our earnings the
interest on only $92,5575OO Of under.
lying securities. The interest we have
paid amounted to $4,307, O45. The in
terest we have not paid amounts to
$3.50, 600.
The 2,557,5OO which we are pay
ing on, and all we can pay on with
our earnings after operating expenses
and taxes, is a little less than half
what the railroad is assessed at for
taxation purposes. The assessed val
ue of the Frisco proper for taxation
purposes is from $4,000 to $4,000
per mile. Taking the lowest figure,
$36, 900, it amounts to a total value of
$1S9, 900, 900, while we are only able
to pay operating expenses, taxes and
interest on $S2,557,00 70.
"Taking the lowest estimate OF val
lie | have heard, a little less than $780,
600 per. mile, the valuation would lie
$3.50, 00O, 600, including terminals,
yards, buildings, stations, equipment,
track, real estate and all. On This
basis, the interest we are able to LAY
is equal to only IL per cent. There
is no doubt that this condition has
been brought about by a rise of 100
per cen in taxes per mile in the last
10 years; of 80 per cent in wages in
the same time and about Sc per cent
in the cost of materials and supplies,
while in the same time passenger
rates have gone from 8 cents down
to 2 cents andthere has been a con.
siderable decrease in commodity
rates. Va. AZ
"NOt that there has not been some
bad management or that everything
has been done as we'll as it ought to
have been done, for it v is. 1t
Is always easy to tell : afterwards
where you have made a mistake, but
one thing is certain; when you cut
off one-third from the passenger rate
in this thinly settled country where
we run, you have taken off all the
earnings and about 6 per centmore,
applicable to the payment of any in
terest on bonds or dividends on stock.
''The present earnings are punish
ing innocent people; business men,
employees, innocent 5bondholders, note
holders and others. Employees are
being dropped off the payrolls, bust
ness men are not getting their orders
for supplies and bondholders are not
getting payment on either principal
or interest"
= EDUCATIONAL PROBE.