Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-03
The HQskin Letter By ,11 Rssss
OF RAILROADS

make a fair estimate of what the final
value of the entire transportation sys-
TEN of the nation will be. This figure
is given as S1S,9o0,0 00, 900 as Of Sep
TENDER. 1920. Since that time some
$500. 900, 900 has been added to the
railroad equipment, bringing the value
to approximately 19,400,0 DOC, 00o.
The bureau of railway economics has
been making some figures on the cap
italizatlon of the railroads and has
obtained an approximate figure Of SIS
A0,0 00 200. Contrasting these figures
1t appears that the physical property
of the railroads is more than $1,000
W0,000 in excess Of the stock issued
against them.
The bureau OF railway economics has
some figures TO show the efficiency of
American railroad building compared
with that Of foreign countries. The
bureau has worked out the capitaliza-
ton OF the roads on q mileage basis;
that means how much stock is issued
against each mile of railroad. These
comparative figures show that Amer
lean railroads have a lower eapitaliza-
ton per mile than the railroads of
the great countries of the world. Some
other countries have lower capitaliza-
ton, but it Is pointed out many of these
hae inferior railroad facilities.
Roads Worth More Than Any Others
The American figure per mile is S6S.-
ISl. The lowest figure in the world
IS for western Australia-S24. $50. The
highest is in Germany-S279.42 It
Is claimed that excellence of service
and equipment and general condition
are more nearly similar between such
countries as Germany, Great Britain,
France and the United States than they
are between such countries as Austria
liza. China, India and the United States.
The per mile capitalization in Great
Britain is S274.605 and in France.
S1S6.394,
The American railways are worth
far more than those of any other ma
ton. Figures on the physical value
OF the various railroads of the world
are not available but the capitalization
forms q fair index, as it can be fairly
presumed that 1t amounts to about the
same thing. For instance as against
an American capitalized value of S16.-
so0,60o,00o the railroads of Great
Britain show only $4,000. 200. 900 and
those of Germany IS. 600, 100000.
All these figures are TO be taken into
consideration by congress during the
next year in its effort TO solve the
American railroad problem. Secretary
Of Commerce Hoover, in his annual re-
port TO congress. declares that the
railroads are financially starved and
that legislation must be enacted to en-
able them to attract new capital with
which to make betterments. During
the last year the railroads. in spite of
fairly heavy traffic, claim to have been
earning only about 3 per cent return
on the valuation which the interstate
commerce commission estimates will be
shown.
The wage angle. which recently has
been agitated so much by the railroad
labor board, comes into the equation.
Wages are the big expense of railroad
operation. Rates cannot be raised
higher with success. it is argued; to do
So would kill off the traffic so that
less, rather than more, money would
come to the railroad Golfers, To
lower wages invites strikes. This is Il
birds eye view of the quandary in
which congress finds itself in taking up
anew the railroad question.
ton and officials at Washington be-
tieve that government ownership looms
for the United States and that the gen
eraI public. through taxation, must
support the common carriers SO that
good wages may be paid and reasonable
rates charged. While the government
would have to nay the railroad COM
panies for the properties, ultimately
they would save the profits, slight IS
they have been.