RAILROADS OF NEBRASKA
ARE LOSING THOUSANDS
Pay Millions to People in Wages and
Taxes, and for Supplies
Every Year
It Is a strange fact, but neverthe
less true, that In times past the peo
ple of the average state have not re
garded their railroads as an "indus
try" and yet, next to agriculture,
there is not a single Central or West
ern state in which the railroads do
not pay out more money for labor
and supplies than does any other sin
gle enterprise, however large. We
brag about our fertile farm lands
and rejoice that our cities are filled
with big factories with big pay rolls
which create a market for farm pro
ducts but we forget that more
workingmen's families depend upon
the railroads for a living than upon
any other one industry In either the
average state or the nation and that
their welfare is therefore closely
linked to that of the farmer and the
merchant not merely because they
furnish him freight and passenger
service, but because the millions they
disburse In one way and another
contribute tremendously to the pros
perity of the state in which we live.
Thus, for instance, the railroads
are the largest taxpayers in the state
ef Nebraska, their taxes for the cal
endar year of 1913 having amounted
to over $2,553,000 and this tidy
sum contributed its full share to
ward the support of every public
school, public highway and other
revenue expense of the state.
In round figures, the railroads of
Nebraska are valued at approximate
ly $275,000,000 money which, In
years gone by, was invested in these
great arteries of commerce by thous
ands of men and women who live all
ver the U. S. and in Europe and
without whose financial aid the won
derful progress of our great com
monwealth would have been impos
sible. During the last year the railroads
f Nebraska employed 30,634 men
and women in this state, and paid to
them over $20,000,000 in salaries
and these millions dM their lull
share to create a profitable market
for Nebraska farm products and to
uphold the volume of business of
Nebraska grocers, clothiers, dry
goodsmen and others who depend
upon public patronage.
In other words, when the people
ef Nebraska look at their railroads
in the light of an Industry when
they look at the figures on the other
Bide of the ledger they will find
that not only do the railroads return
to them in one way and another
practically every dollar they collect
within the state for freight and pas
senger service, but that a number
of lines are actually doing this busi
ness at a loss, while with others the
margin of profit is so small that it
doesn't bepin to pay a fair return up
on the capital invested.
In this connection, we wish to di
gress for a moment to quote some
statistics which should have had a
place in a former article. It costs
an average of 7 mills per mile to
haul a ton of freight in the United
States, whereas in England it "costs
2.33 cents, in Germany 1.42 cents,
and in France 1.41 cents. In the
United States the average wages
paid to railroad employees are $2.23
per day, in England $1.15, and in
Germany and France not over $1 per
day. The English railroads are cap
italized at $265,000 per mile, in
France at $137,000 per mile, in Ger
many at $114,185 while in the
United States the stock and bond
capitalization averages only $63,000
per mile. In view of this remarka
ble comparison, do American rail
roads deserve the wholesale denun
ciation which has been heaped upon
them?
LOSSES UNDER PRESENT RATES
As evidence of the justice of the
plea of the Nebraska lines that
three-cent passenger rates should be
restored, during the fiscal year end
ing June 30, 1913, the Missouri Pa
cific lost $153,560 on the total vol
ume of its Nebraska business both
state and interstate Included. The
Missouri Pacific has 371 miles of
railroad in the Btate and the above
deficit means that it sustained an ac
tual operating loss of $166 per mile
pon properties valued by the engin
eer of the State Railway Commission
at $32,633.60 per mile. During this
time it paid $1,207,260.64 in salar
ies to its Nebraska employees and
ver $105,000 in taxes.
During the calendar year ending
December 31, 1913, the St. Joseph
Grand Island Railway sustained
an actual operating loss of $86,494
or a deficit of $768 per mile on prop
erties valued by the engineer of the
State Railway Commission at $22,
596.46 per mile.
During the same period, the Rock
Island, which has 246 miles of road
within the state, showed net earn
ings of only $194 per mile upon
properties valued by the State Rail
way Commission at $43,643.92 per
mile. During the year 1914, the
Rock Island earned only a little more
than $16,000 on all Its Nebraska
business, while in the meantime it
paid out more than $1,500,000 in
salaries, taxes, for ties, fuel and oth
er supplies and materials.
The Northwestern, which is one of
the stronger lines of the state, has
1,065 miles of road in Nebraska up
jon which during the calendar year
ending December 31, 1913, it earn
ed $1,130 per mile. The physical
valuation placed upon the North
western is $35,436.39 per mile,
which means that on this basis it
earned only a little better than 3
per cent on its investment. In a
greater or less degree the same con
ditions prevail with reference to sev
eral other lines. Since the above
figures were compiled and they are
taken from the report of the Nebras
ka Railway Commission and there
fore should be entitled to the high
est public confidence as to their con
servatism a reduction of 20 per
cent In intrastate freight, known as
Order No. 19, has gone into effect
and this means, therefore, that from
this time forward the showing of
jthe various roads will be much low
jer than the figures cited above which
j were based upon railroad incomes
before the 20 per cent freight reduc
tion went into effect. While both
freight and passenger rates have
been inadequate for a number of
years in Nebraska and adjoining
states yet in the passenger depart
ment they are nothing short of con
fiscatory and hence the plea of the
railroads that the three-cent passen
ger rates be restored. In view of
the facts and figures quoted above,
is there a single fair-minded citizen
in the state of Nebraska who will
contend that the railroads are not
entitled to help? Is not the present
situation an impossible one and does
it not mean inevitable wreck and
ruin to several thousand miles of
railroad which are intensely es?en
tial to the well-being of hundreds of
towns and farming communities
throughout the state?
liOSSKS GROWING CONTINUALLY
From these figures, which are op
en to absolute proof, it can be seen
that the Nebraska lines are not only
sustaining a loss amounting to
thousands of dollars annually on
their traffic, but that with an ever
Increasing cost of operation these
losses are constantly growing heav
ier and if the service to the pub
lic is to remain efficient and ade
quate, and if the railroad invest
ments of the state are not o be driv
en' to the point of confiscation, the
people of Nebraska must, through
their rate-making authorities, con
sent to a return to the three-cent
passenger fare which was abolished
without a due regard for increasing
labor and supply cost or an adequate
Interests return upon the millions in
vested in Nebraska railroad proper
ties. What industry is there in the
nation which could have tolerated a
reduction of one-third in its inton e
on a large volume of its business
during the last few years without
coming to grief?
Four years ago, as governor of
New York, Justice Hughes, of the
United States Supreme Court, vetoed
a two-cent passenger law enacted by
the legislature on the ground that it
was an arbitrary procedure which
did not take Into consideration a fair
return upon the railroad properties
of that state and few men stand
higher in the esteem of the American
people than this great jurist who did
perhaps as much as any other man
in the country to break up illegal
and unfair practices on the part of
large corporations.
So, too, the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania held that a two-cent
passenger fare was unconstitutional
in that state because it was essential
ly confiscatory. This high court took
jthe position that capital invested in
railroads, as well as in other lines of
private property, is entitled to earn
j 6 per cent on a fair capitalization
and that the arbitrary enactment of
a two-cent fare rendered such a re
turn upon the lines In Pennsylvania
Impossible. It also took the posi
tion that railroads not only have the
right to Insist upon a fair return up
on both freight and passenger busi
ness, but that It is their duty to do
so In order that one class of patrons
may not be compelled to pay an In
equitable rate to make up the losses
sustained In another depratment.
If the arbitrary enactment of a
two-cent passenger rate is uafair to
the railroads of New York and Penn
sylvania, where there are large cen
ters of population and where the na
tion's greatest density of freight ton
nage naturally exists, how much
more unfair is such a rate in a pure
ly agricultural state like Nebraska,
which has a total population of only
a million and a quarter with no large
manufacturing centers?
The reader is familiar with the
recent 5 per cent Increase In freight
rates granted by the Interstate Com
merce Commission to Eastern lines
and again, as the commission
wisely says, if the precarious finan
cial conditions created by the Eur
opean war renders this increase nec
essary, how much more are the
weaker Western lines, which are
compelled to 'exist almost altogether
upon an agricultural patronage, en
titled to some substantial relief? The
population per square mile In Mas
sachusetts is 441, in New York 204,
in Pennsylvania 181, In Ohio 122.
while in Nebraska it is only 16. If
under these circumstances the East
ern lines need relief, can there be
any doubt about the Justice of the
plea made by Western roads?
FACING GRAVE PROBLEMS
Unquestionably we are facing
some of the gravest problems that
ever confronted us as a Nation
and these problems grow largely out
of a war which is without precedent
In history. True, with a rapidly in
creasing cost of operation on the one
hand and reduced rates on the other,
it was merely a matter of time until
the railroad question was bound to
become pressing but the great trag
edy across the seas has suddenly re
solved into an acute crisis a problem
which might otherwise have been
solved gradually and without any
far-reaching industrial disturbance.
The United States Is a heavy debt
or Nation. During the average year
our balance of trade against the rest
of the world amounts to approxi
mately $500,000,000, but on top of
this we always owe approximately
another $500,000,000 which hereto
fore we have been able to stand off
by Belling Europe Industrial securi
ties to that amount. Now, however,
the great warring countries have
served notice that ttiej notonly exj
pect us to pay our debts above our'
trade balances In gold, but that In
addition they look to us to buy back
from them hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of American securities
which are now held abroad. It was
to deliver this grim message that Sir
George Paish, of the English Ex
chequer, paid his reecnt visit to the
United States, and when he got
through making his statement to a
group of big New York bankers, an
old veteran financier who has sur
vived many a financial storm re
marked to his profoundly silent aud
itors, "The sheriff, with a writ, is on
the doorstep."
That a great nation-wide crop next
year will give us the largest trade
balance we have ever known is un
doubtedly true and yet, with hav
ing to finance all our monetary needs
at home from this time on and buy
ing back millions of foreign owned
securities, the future at best is pre
carious. However, the heaviest
strain of all will come when the war
ceases and when Europe begins to
rebuild the hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of property which has
been destroyed for thlB period is
certain to force the highest interest
rates the world has ever known, and
if at that time American railroad se
curities are not earning a fair return
upon the Investment, nothing can
prevent them from going Into the fin
ancial scrap heap and it Is to pre
pare for this emergency to keep
railroad securities from becoming a
point of national weakness, which
will bring the whole temple of Am
erican investments tumbling down
over our heads to protect the hun
dreds of banks, life and fire Insur
ance companies, etc., whose assets
are largely Invested In railroad
bonds, as well as the railroads them
selves this is the fear which is grip
ping hundreds of financiers, and stu
dents of economic conditions in the
present hour men, many of whom
heretofore have never seriously con
cerned themselves over the troubles
of American railroads. In the pres
ent Instance, therefore, the railroad
crisis is of tremendous importance
because in It Is involved the still
greater problem of the integrity and
safety of the whole superstructure of
American business. That we cannot
shove it aside by a broadside of
demagogic platitudes or minimize it
by employing the strategy of an os
trich is apparent to all thinking cit
izens who are seriously concerned In
their own and their country's future
welfare.
IT TO PEOPLE OK NEBRASKA
In few other states have the rail
roads had a larger share In progress
and development than In Nebraska,
whose broad prairies they helped to
convert from the habitat of roving
herds of buffalo and savage Indians
and from that hour to this they
have contributed their full share to
a story of thrift and enterprise which
swells with pride the breast of every
true .Vbraskan.
The last federal census report
shows that from 1900 to 1910 the
general value of Nebraska " farm
lands Increased 166 per cent and
In view of these facts, had the men
and women who put hundreds of
millions of dollars Into Nebraska
railroad securities years ago Invest
ed their money In Nebraska farm
lands, would not the investment have
proven infinitely more profitable for
them? And have not the railroads
played a tremendous part in these
advancing land values In the past,
and will they not also have much to
do with the value which will be add
ed from this time forward? Have
not the Interests of the farmer and
the railroads always gone hand In
hand In this great Western country?
Did they not conquer the wilderness
together and would the progress of
one have been possible without the
other? Should not the railroads of
this state, therefore, have the good
will and friendship of the farmer
when all they ask is that they be
permitted to earn a reasonable in
come upon their Investment?
Splendid as has been our progress
in the past, Nebraska today stands
merely on the threshold of her true
destiny. We have ample room for
thousands of additional tillers of the
soil. So, too, our splendid inland
towns and cities plead for factories
in order that we may ourselves pro
duce much of the finished merchan
dise for which our people spend
many millions of dollars annually.
Again, we still need hundreds of
miles of new railroad mileage before
we shall be able to make the most of
our agricultural and commercial pos
sibilities and the milliona neces
sary for the construction of these
factories and these added transpor
tation facilities will not be forthcom
ing unless we treat fairly the mil
lions already invested within our
midst.
No state can rise higher than Its
people. The state is what its peo
ple make It. We are all dependent
upon each other. The welfare of
the town and the surrounding farms
depends upon a spirit of kindly co
operation between thosewho live in
town and those who live upon the
farm. Without splendid little In
land towns we would have a rural
etmosphere which would drive every
bright country boy and gl.i tt, the
cities- while without the farms the
townB would wither and die. Even
so it is with our great common
wealth which for Its own sake and
for the sake of the great nation of
which it is a part should contribute
its full share to the "New Day' to
which the President referred so
beautifully in a recent address a
day fraught with a broader under
standing and justice for every man
or Interest, whether great r small.
At this moment there are a half mil
lion men out of work in New York
City, nearly 200,000 In Chicago, al
most 100,000 in St. Louis, while the
Kansas City Commercial Club for
the first time in the history of that
splendid city is grappling with the
problem of thousands of idle men.
Truly it is a time to think!
THE COURSE OF EMPIRE
Slowly but surely the course of
empire is moving westward. Her
lands Impoverished in fertility, New
England, as well as the great na
tions of the Old World, today look
to the Corn Belt for foodstuffs and
sooner or later the center of this
mighty nation's wealth will be found
here amid the rich valleys of the
Missouri and the Mississippi, which,
in point of productiveness, are with
out an equal In any similar area up
on the habitable globe. Here our
people are assured that Nature will
always sooner or later amply reward
honest thrift and industry. Here our
families are farthest removed from
those Influences which corrode and
corrupt civilization. Here American
manhood and womanhood find their
broadest opportunity, and with a
commonwealth so rich in promise
and so much in need of additional
capital with which to develop its re
sources, can her people do a wiser
thing than to say to the world that
every dollar Invested In "Nebraska
enterprise and Industry shall be per
mitted to earn a fair return for its
owner from this time forward?
Would not such a declaration be
fair? Would it not be infinitely wise
as a matter of pure business policy
on behalf of our great state?
It is because Nebraska railroads
believe that Nebraska people will be
generously fair once they know the
truth about this great question
that has persuaded them to make
this appeal through the public press.
In doing so they have tried to state
their side of the story fairly. They
have made no attack upon anyone or
sought to appeal to prejudice and
that the reader may accord to them
the same credit for sincerity which
he claims for himself that he may
be willing to raise his voice In de
fense of their rights as he would ex
ppct others to do In his behalf under
similar circumstances this Is all the
railroads of Nebraska ask. (Paid
adv.)
WANEK IS CHAIRMAN
County CoinmlNMionern Hold lu.
nes- Hewslonn Till U'n'k
County Physician Name!
In the annual re-organlzatlon of
the board of county commissioners,
Joe Wanek, commissioner from the
northwest district, was elected chair
man of the board. This is the fourth
time that Mr. Wsnek has held this
office during his long term of serv
ice. The board has decided that each
commissioner will look after the
road Improvements In his respective
district.
Dr. C. E. Single was re-appointed
county physician for the year 1915.
Bids are being asked for lease on
the county farm for a term of one or
two years.
Other business before the board Is
the assigning of the county printing
for the year 1915. Bids were sub
mitted by The Herald and Times of
Alliance and the Journal of Ileming
ford. The Alliance Herald asked
that the legal notices and commis
sioners' proceedings be published In
all three of the papers and that It be
allowed one-third of the regular le
gal rate if all three papers were des
ignated or one-half the regular legal
rate If only two were designated, be
lieving that the purpose of publish
ing such notices was to reach the
most people. A similar proposition
was made by the Hemlngford Jour
nal. The Alliance Times was desig
nated for the publication of all no
tices except the commissioners' pro
ceedings, which are ordered publish
ed in all three papers.
Six Call In 1014
The national banks of the United
States received six calls for state
ments from the national bank exam
iner during the year 1914, the Inst
call being for the close of business
on December 31. The law requires
Jewelry I Watches
WE CARRY A SPLENDID STOCK OP JEW
ELRY, GOLD AND SILVER WARE, AJVD
WATCHES GOODS THAT ARE
Reliable Reasonable
EVERY READER OP THIS PAPER IS IN
V1TED TO CALL AND INSPECT OUR LINE
OF GOODS
Brennan's 1SS
FILL THE COAL BIN
Wltb Standard Grades of Coal, direct from our bind to your home or
olltce. We have a big supply of
Canon City Nut ami Lump Sheridan Nut aud Lump
PeniiK)ivaida Hard Coal Kindling ...
ou hand, ready for quick delivery. Phone 12U.
Dierks Lumber and Coal
COMPANY
F. W. HAARGARTEN, Manager
Relief in Sight
when you buy. a jar of Dry Zensal for the crusty, scaly skin of Dry
Eczema, Salt Rheum or Tetter and Moist Zensal for Weeping Skin
or watery eruption. These clean, odorless ointments for the two
distinct types of Eczema will give you the relief you have been seek
ing. Come in and let me tell you about It. HARRY F. THIELE.
I A. ) i i . .
rami -.una tarii
.t!3vj..m. MA.A'teyi-xii solicited.
Dray Phone M
r CALIFORNIA (T
r
'uto
n IN
Urn
KxD&rg Company CAuromA
that five rails be made. This Is prob
ably the first time in the collec
tion of moat bankers that six calls
have been made In any one year.
Former Citizen VlrtU Alliance
Engineer I. 11. Huston of Raven
na, who formerly resided In Alliance
and has property Interests here yet,
pulled a special stock train In from
the east last Friday night, remaining
in this city until Sunday. The time
here was pleasantly spent In visiting
old friends. Hereafter The Herald
will keep Mr. Huston and his family
posted on affairs In this part of the
state.
A Nervous Woman Finds
Relief From Suffering.
Women who sr.f.rr f:om extreme
ncn fiiisii' s. ofun cn-lure nnit-li
sulTiring I cfore fin Ing any relief.
Mr-.. Joepli :'nyd -, f Ti.'n, CV,
li.nl such an r xpcrti-nre, regarding
wliit.ii khe ays:
Tit months I
wa I fast with
nm-vous prostra
luoi. I had dln'
ln fulfils, n i old,
.'Imri.-ny fpcllnj, -i-ould
not ntand
t i n illxhtrnt
rnil. At limns
r ,.viV,, I tvouiu mmmi
fly to t.-cos;
t ' I -...iiiacn very
?-j- ;'fo'VW k- My hus-
'.V-v. J ...much.
my tiiUinar lr.
Miles' Kervlne. rind T I oj-.in to Improve
bi-fore 1 hud flnlxhr.l tl'9 first bottle
until I wan ntl-ly tj.i!."
M!!?. JO ""I FNTDElt.
tluilno . : t.. TIT.n. Ohio,
Many remedies a- recommended
for disease of the nervous system
that fail to produce ic -.i!: becau.se
they do not rrach sc.;t of the
trouble. Dr. Mile.' Nervine ha
proven its value in 'ncli case so
many times t!iat it i unnecessary
to make claims fo: it. You can
prove its merits tut yourself by
getting a bottle of your druggist,
who will return tit? price if you
receive no Lenefit.
MILES MEDICAL, CX. Elkhart, ylnd.
DYE & OWENS
Will T r a
Jljrjrf Transfer Line
if Household goods
'; moved Dromntlv
and transfer work
Residents phone S3S end Blue
in
r
I
- jfourJrV
flVIlDIJtCr
10? ANGELES
1
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