Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-07-06

IL the price we are paying for private
ownership These statistics simply
demonstrate that the credit of the rail
roads has improved, not that the credi
of the governments has declined. the
government has been established. The
railroad Is getting onto a better plane
a more solid foundation. There Is
slight variation from year to year thai
simply demonstrates, again. the ne
! cessity of making the review over ar
extended period of time. rather than
over a few years"
Another inquiry was directed as tc
the price paid for money by industrial
corporations, and an analysis of the
! bond issues of thirty-six representa-
tive companies, showed that they hao
to pay almost per cent for thei'
money.
The compilation OF all these statistics
was not as has usually been made
from published reports of stock quo
tations, but from actual figures on
what the companies realized on theil
sales of securities, as obtained from
them. This was getting down closer
to facts than ever before attempted.
But the entirely new and significant
thing of it ALL aside from the bearing
the inquiry had on the relative value
of railroad bonds, or the credit OF the
railroads, as compared with the value
of money itself, is the working out of
showing as to the pure money rate
for Is years. The exhibits prepared in
the case were in great demand on this
account and copies cannot now be Sc
cured.
Rail Earnings Increase.
Anent the remarkable activity on
the part of the railroad companies the
past year in making demand for great
er revenues in order to have larger net
profits there is interest at all times III
the figures compiled to show what Is
actual condition of the railroad bus1-
ness. In the eastern advance rates case
the railroad presidents based their de-
mand for higher rates almost solely on
the ground that the European war
then opening would certainly depress
their business and cause great losses
In the western case this plea was en-
tirely repudiated and withdrawn.
Something Of results actually real
lied in the doing of business under wa'
conditions can be gathered from the
statements of those who have access to
tHc SldllSllCS S1NSIl OuC ~ s1'S $500 oN-s
people. Here is something illuminat-
ing on the subject from the Iowa Ma
tional Bank, whose president is di-
rector of one Of the big railway sys-
tens:
While gross earnings for steam
railroads amounted to only s23S ,000,OO0
in April compared with s241.OOO,OOO
year ago, opera ting expenses decreased
nearly s12,00O,0O0, leaving net earnings
of nearly $6S,OO0,000 for the month
compared with s59,OO0,0O0 for the same
month last year, which was gain of
over ss,O00,O0O, or IA per cent. Net
earnings for April, 1914, however, were
low as compared with the previous
April, so that the gain in net this year
is not quite as it would appear on the
face Of the figures. The effort of the
railroads to cut down operating ex-
penses is surely meeting with great
success but in some cases this saving is
being effected at the expense of the
service and in some cases at the ex-
pense of the equipment, which on a
few roads has been allowed to decline
materially in condition. The coming
mo, ement Of crops will augment the
gross earnings and If operating ex-
penses can be held down the gain in
net will serve to put the railroads in a
more favorable position and make