The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-11-18
Current Business Conditions
for Each Occasion
By GEORGE ROBERTS


box car, = piece of track or anything else.
III, on a given railroad. we bad made oef
figures on the basis Of The valuation es.ab
computed the value OF what the Railroad
bad AZ that time. Al that bad been pui
in since that tire, added. has been computed
on its cost.
have put upon the railroads ia based more
largely on cost than On present value .
not"
three different values that We determined.
First, the cost Of Reproduction ~ Of ne
date OF valuation. then upon the cost a
reproduction less depreciation. which rspfe
erty as of that date, and then the actual con
Senator Pousrsne: ISIS 600 600 900 vas
the best judgment ef The Commission after
going through all the data that had beer
gathered during ell these yeaTsi
Comuissioner Clark. Yen, sir.
Senator pouerene: That should SCI AZ
rest the charge that there Is ts,ooo,eoo.Oos
Of water IN the railroads now"
That statement should be conclusive
as to the basis of the valuations, par
ticuiarly SO lar as the bfotherhoods
are concerned, for Mr.. Clark formerly
was head of the Order of Railway
Conductors. resigning to become a
member of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, TO which he was ap-
pointed by President Roosevelt. He
Imply demonstrated his qualifications
for the position by his service on the
Board, wheNe he rose TO the Chairman
ship, which he held at the time The
valuation was adopted. Probably no
member Of the body has been more
influential in recent years than Mr.
Clark II does not reflect, therefore,
in any way upon the original appoint
ment 70 surmisc that in making i
President Roosevelt was influenced in
some degree by desire to have a man
on the Board who would understand
the point of view Of the employees, and
in whom they would have confidence.
The opinion is often expressed that
employers should continue 70 operate
even though they are not finding sale
for their products. in order 70 give
employment for labor. The prac-
ticability of this policy may be judged
from the following figures given out
by the General Electric Company,
saowing the distribution of is income
over period of three years, and those
the most prosperous years Of its his
tory. The figures show the average
distribution of each dollar OF gross
receipts in the years i9l8-i9-20:
Wages and salaries gpaid 70 al aver.
age OF 1900 empioyees) $500. ~
Materials. supplies, depreci4tion, oper-
atsng charges and lossess.s....... 6o.6
AaSes ss.+sss.* ..s.*sss..s.+... 50
Surplus fused fer eniagainQ riants
Inventories ard working czpitzl1 AZ
Dividends 90 al stockholders average
number 1i.161g ............ -
Transporation, telephone aud tels-
graph ..#.**..*.....4...... Is
Interest on borrowed capital. $500. ~
Totai ..................... 10000
This statement will show the neces-
sity for a continuous inflow Of money
to keep the business in funds to oper-
ate. The costs Of operation took over
81 per cent of the gross receipts as
fast as they came, and the gross
receipts aggregated hundreds Of MIL
lions Of dollars Il is impossible for
such an organization TO operate ltnu
without selling its products. Tie
figures also show how small Is the
possibility Of increasing wages Al the
expense Of profits, even II ali % the
latter were devoted TO that pu-nsse
in the case Of one Of the mos. rros-
Porous companies in the country.