Evening journal., 1919-10-22

The wreckage OF railway earnings
under Government operation, cannot be
better described than by simple COM
parison in plain arithmetic.
There always have been railroads
which in seasons Of general adversity
I have been able TO make both ends meet.
There always have been roads which,
desperately poor in bad times, could
| not become prosperous in good times.
The property deeply mired through the
years need not be used TO show the des-
perate plight Of the American railway
system as a whole. The property eX-
ceptionally favored can be ignored. Ex-
! iremes Of high and low condition dis
missed from consideration, the story is
fairly told by the financial decline Of
| the general and vast trackage which
! threads the wide country and every day
does a transportation business which is
the prodigy Of the world.
Before The present financial destitu-
/ tion no railroad man ever would nave
regarded the year OF 1916 as OF golden
performance or promise. The inter-
state Commerce Commission still was
infatuated with its mad policy o
starving the railroads. Traffic rates
were held rigidly down. Coal ana
other supplies were steadily working
up Equipment was soaring. Labor was
driving harder and harder bargains.
Construction was not yet prohib,tiVe,
but it was burdensome. Operative eX-
penses were grinding at the gross rev
enues.
Yet in f9iG-with only one year inter-
vening between it and Government OPP
eration--the great bulk Of American
railroads, weaving the country from
end 20 end, serving its vast population
Industry and business. were in para
disc as compared with this second
year of government operation in 1919,
with IT'S multiplied passenger rates and
It's heavily increased freight charges
costing the American people not mere
" tens Of millions Of dollars, but
hundreds, many hundreds Of millions
Of dollars more a year.
Take examples here, there and every
where with the rarely rich and the
tragically poor omitted:
In the whole year Of 1916 the Ball /
more and Ohio transportation bill /
against the public. expressed by its /
operating revenues at Sili,OOOOOO was !
not greatly in excess Of its gross reve- |
nues for only the first eight months |
or this year Of i9i9-Si090O0,0O0. But /
for the twelve months Of 1916 The net f.
revenues-with which TO meet interest, |
provide sinking fund requirements for /
the discharge of debt, pay dividends !
and put surplus into bctterments
and improvements-Were more than
S32, 100000. This was an average OF
81, 10000 month. In the first
eight months Of 1919 the net
revenues were Si,355OOO- a monthly
average Of about sl690OO
In 1916, with SiS,000G00 Of gross, the
net revenues Of the Chesapeake and
Ohio averaged Si.370,0OO a month. This
year they have averaged about a million.
But the Chicago and Eastern Illinois
averaged S33j,OOO in 1916; this year 50
far it is $4,000. Chicago and North
western with 9i,OOOOOO gross showed
hen an average Of S2,5O00O0: now with
ssS,00O,OO0 in eight months it is
81 100000
Denver and Rio Grandes comparison
Of average monthly net is SSi5 900 in
1916; in 1919, S270000: Great NOrthern's
contrast is 100000 against s9JOOOO:
lehigh Valleys is Si,2OO,OOO against
100000. Louisville and NashVille's
2, 100000 against Ssj0,OOO Norfolk and
Westerns S2,0O0O00 against $4,000. !