. Cost, capitalization and estimated value of American railways; . , irrespective of distance. If the railways of 1906 had received the same rate per toncharged by those of 1851 their freight receipts would have ex-ceeded $6,500,000,000 instead of the one-fourth of that sum theyactually earned. Between 1851 and 1906 the mileage of American railwayscovered in the above data increased from 8,876 to 222,340 miles,that is, 25 fold. But their tonnage in the meantime increased from 5,000,000to 1,631,374,219 tons, that is to say 326 fold, or over 13 timesfaster than their mileage. To handle this rema
. Cost, capitalization and estimated value of American railways; . , irrespective of distance. If the railways of 1906 had received the same rate per toncharged by those of 1851 their freight receipts would have ex-ceeded $6,500,000,000 instead of the one-fourth of that sum theyactually earned. Between 1851 and 1906 the mileage of American railwayscovered in the above data increased from 8,876 to 222,340 miles,that is, 25 fold. But their tonnage in the meantime increased from 5,000,000to 1,631,374,219 tons, that is to say 326 fold, or over 13 timesfaster than their mileage. To handle this remarkable increase in volume of traffic of13 times per mile, the cost of road and equipment has only risenfrom about $30,000 per mile in 1850 to about $60,000 in 1906,while the net capitalization has only increased to $54,421. 95 In other words, transportation capacity in fifty years has in-creased over 1,000 per cent., while the cost of the medium hasincreased lOO per cent, per mile and the capitalization of themedium has increased less than 75 per cent, per Fast Mail, 1904—Iaken Instantaneously While Running 80 Miles an , Photographer. Accompanying this wonderful achievement and inseparablyinvolved with it has been the still more amazing phenomenonof a decrease in the cost of railway service to the public, amount-ing in the case of freight rates to nearly 80 per cent, and inpassenger rates to at least 33 per cent, and to fully 66 per the pre-railway days. That these estimated reductions in the cost of railway ser-vice to the public are not wide of the mark is proved by thereports of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Since as late as 1864 itsaverage earnings per ton mile have declined from cents i 1906, or j^y per cent., and its passenger receipts cents to , or over 24 per cent. Had the Pennsylvaniareceived the same rates in 1906 that it did in 1864 its freightearnings last year would have been over $460,000,000 insteadof only $1
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