Part 34

+----+--------+-------+ |Rank| State | Miles | +----+--------+-------+ | 41 | Dak. | 65 |» | 40 | R.I. | 136 |» | 39 | Colo. | 157 |»» | 38 | Oreg. | 159 |»» | 37 | Del. | 197 |»» | 36 | Ark. | 256 |»»» | 35 | Utah | 257 |»»» | 34 | W. Va. | 387 |»»»» 1,000 Miles | 33 | Fla. | 446 |»»»» | | 32 | La. | 450 |»»»» | | 31 | Wyo. | 459 |»»»» | | 30 | Nev. | 593 |»»»»» | | 29 | Vt. | 614 |»»»»» | | 28 | *Md. | 671 |»»»»»» | | 27 | Nebr. | 705 |»»»»»»» | | 26 | Tex. | 711 |»»»»»»» | 2,000 | 25 | N.H. | 736 |»»»»»»» | | | 24 | Conn. | 742 |»»»»»»» | | | 23 | Me. | 786 |»»»»»»» | | 3,000 | 22 | Cal. | 925 |»»»»»»»»| | | | 21 | Miss. | 990 |»»»»»»»»| | | | 20 | Ky. | 1,017 |»»»»»»»»| | | | 19 | Minn. | 1,092 |»»»»»»»»|» | | | 18 | N.J. | 1,125 |»»»»»»»»|» | | 4,000 | 17 | S.C. | 1,139 |»»»»»»»»|» | | | | 16 | Ala. | 1,157 |»»»»»»»»|»» | | | | 15 | N.C. | 1,178 |»»»»»»»»|»» | | | | 14 | Mass. | 1,480 |»»»»»»»»|»»» | | | 5,000 | 13 | Va. | 1,488 |»»»»»»»»|»»»» | | | | | 12 | Tenn. | 1,492 |»»»»»»»»|»»»» | | | | | 11 | Kans. | 1,501 |»»»»»»»»|»»»» | | | | | 10 | Wis. | 1,525 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»» | | | | | 9 | Mich. | 1,638 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»» | | | | | 8 | Ga. | 1,845 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»» | | | | | 7 | Mo. | 2,000 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»» | | | | | 6 | Iowa | 2,683 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»» | | | | 5 | Ind. | 3,177 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»» | | | 4 | Ohio | 3,538 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»» | | | 3 | N.Y. | 3,924 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»» | | | 2 | Pa. | 4,658 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»» | | 1 | Ill. | 4,823 |»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»»»|»»»»»»» | +----+--------+-------+ | | | | |

* Includes District of Columbia.

In 1850 Chicago had one short road. In 1860 she had several main lines, reaching hundreds of miles.--east, west, north, and south. In 1850, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were open fields. In 1860 they were crossed and recrossed many times A similar change had taken place in the south east. The 1860 map marks the condition at the breaking out of the Civil War.--In 1870 there does not appear to have been much change except in the north-west, and the completion of the first Pacific line, and yet there were 22,296 more miles than in 1860, nearly 700 miles more than the 1850-1860 growth, but being spread over a wider area it does not appear as clearly. A little careful study shows that many States had added considerably to their mileage.--The names in the maps are given mainly to mark terminal points.--While the map locates the mileage, the chart at the left accurately measures and compares it State by State.

Before turning to the 1880 map, let the eye go carefully over the 1870 lines, that the comparison may be the more properly made.]

_Largest Receipts._--A comparison on the basis of gross receipts gives the best means of judging of the financial importance of the several roads, for it measures the volume of business done. On page 435 is given such a comparison of the fifteen roads (of the twenty-two referred to above) reporting the largest gross receipts.

_Largest Net Results._--While the gross receipts measure the volume of business they may not give any indication of net results. A chart, immediately under that comparing gross receipts, compares the net receipts of the fifteen roads (of the same twenty-two) which report the highest per centages.

Of the ten reporting largest net results, seven are west of Chicago. This fact, coupled with the desire of the great western systems to possess new territory in advance of others, suggests a reason for the large railway growth in that part of the country.

FREIGHT TRAFFIC.

The gross traffic receipts of the railways of the United States are divided between freight and passenger business in very nearly the proportion of three to one in favor of the freight traffic. For this reason, and because the data are still more largely available on the same side, the freight service receives herein the fuller treatment.

_Reduction of Freight Rates._--On the opposite page is a chart delineating the fluctuations in freight rates since 1870. To one not familiar with the subject the picture presented is a most remarkable one. It looks as though the roads are all in a mad scramble to see which can reach the bottom of the hill first. To railway managers the picture is a painful reminder of a serious struggle, the end of which no one can yet predict.

The lines selected are representative lines of the east and west divisions of the country, north of the Ohio River, where the great number of competing roads has induced sharp competition.

The history of the _averages_ is very clear, and it is easy to see that they are steadily approaching common ground, for while in 1870 the eastern average marked almost exactly one cent six mills, the western marked two cents four mills, a separation of eight mills; in 1888 they recorded seven mills and a trifle over nine mills, a separation of about one-quarter of the 1870 record.

_Wheat Rates._--The chart below repeats the lesson of the larger chart as to reduction of rates. The persistency with which water rates have kept below rail rates, emphasizes the fact that wherever water-ways exist, they are stubborn competitors for such freight traffic as will not suffer by the longer time required for the journey.

_The Freight Haul._--It costs as much to load and unload a train that hauls its freight ten miles as it does one that carries it a thousand miles. In other words, the longer the haul the less the proportional cost to the carriers. The great extension of long lines westward in the last few years naturally raises the question whether the average freight haul has increased. The largely diminished rates suggest that probably producers have been led thereby to ship both agricultural and manufactured products greater distances to market. One or both of these conditions may have operated favorably for some roads, but, plausible as the theories seem, the facts prove that neither of them is supported in a study of the average haul of the country. The available figures permit us to go back only to 1882. Within that period the little chart given herewith delineates the fluctuations, but indicates no permanency in either direction. It is a matter of regret that in this, as in many other studies, the history is not available for earlier years, as the more extended the view the better the judgment of such questions becomes.

_Empty Freight Trains._--One of the considerable items of expense in the freight traffic is that of returning empty cars to their point of starting. Just how large an item this is depends chiefly upon the demands of the population at either end of the operating line for the product of the population at the opposite end. Thus the carriage of the great agricultural product of the West to feed the denser population of the East, and for export to foreign countries, may or may not be met by the demand of the western people for the manufactures of the East and the imports from foreign countries arriving at the eastern seaboard. It is scarcely probable that any line, short or long, running east and west or north and south, finds its traffic in opposite directions balanced.

An interesting study of this problem is presented in the accompanying chart, the road selected for the illustration being one of the large carriers between Chicago and Buffalo. The upper chart-line marks the proportion of freight carried from west to east, while the lower line (at the top of the shaded part of the diagram) marks the portion carried from east to west. It is readily seen that in 1877 the west-bound freight was less than half as much as the east-bound, for they stand 30.8 per cent, and 69.2 per cent., respectively; and in 1878 the difference is still greater. From that year, however, there has been great improvement, so that now it would appear that there is on that road a much diminished need for hauling empty cars. The history of the Pennsylvania Road is similar to that shown in the chart, but the ratios have not come so nearly together. That of the New York Central & Hudson River Road shows very little change in the ratios since 1870, and all the time both these roads report a very large excess of east-bound freight.

_Freight Profits._--The change in rates are of great moment to the producer; that of profits is the important one to the carrier. No matter how great the reduction of rates, if the reduction of expense is as great, the profits are not disturbed. This question can be studied best by examining the figures which measure the actual profits. But few corporations furnish such figures, and the two whose history is delineated on the accompanying chart are among those giving the most readily available data. It will be seen that the reduction of profits is no less remarkable than the reduction of rates, which shows that the reduction of rates has far exceeded that of expense of carriage; for, had the reduction of expenses kept pace with that of rates, the profits would have remained level. As it is, the reduction of profits in the history of these roads, as shown, is from about six mills per ton per mile in 1870, to about two mills in 1888. These two roads are probably good representatives of the experience of the general freight service of all railways north of the Ohio River. If so, the prospect of the future of freight traffic is not cheerful.

PASSENGER TRAFFIC.

The study of passenger traffic is less satisfactory than that of freight traffic. Fewer lines furnish a history of their passenger rates, and ordinarily those histories cover shorter periods. The study is therefore confined to narrower limits and its lessons are necessarily less conclusive.

_Passenger Rates._--Below is given a chart interpreting the available data of six representative lines. The first lesson impressed is that no such reduction marks the history of passenger rates as is shown in freight rates, although the general trend of the chart-lines is plainly downward. The line indicating the average rate for all the roads in the country (marked U. S. in the chart) shows a reduction of over one-fourth of a cent per passenger per mile since 1882.

Certain features of this chart attract special attention. The reduction of rates by the Pennsylvania, and the New York Central & Hudson River roads in 1876, and that by the same roads in 1885, are suggestive. Equally noticeable are the reductions of the Illinois Central in 1871, 1872, 1880, and 1888.

This chart would seem to indicate that competition has not operated as sharply on passenger as on freight traffic.

_Passenger Travel._--The average distance that passengers ride is not as important an element of railway business as is the average freight haul, for the passengers load and unload themselves; so that, whether they ride few or many miles, the cost of loading and unloading is neither increased nor diminished. On the contrary, if a thousand tons of freight, once loaded, is to be hauled one hundred miles instead of fifty, the proportional cost of loading and unloading is reduced one-half.