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RAILROADS AND PROSPERITY
Our prosperity came with the pros
perity of the railroads It declined
when adversity struck the railroads
We do not believe we can have the
full measure of prosperity again until
the railroads are prosperous The
prosperity of the people and that of
the railroads Is so Inseparably Inter
woven that neither can suffer advers
ity without harm coming to the other
nor can either hope for continued
prosperity unless the other shares
therein Each must hear Its share of
adversity which comes from natural
causes common to both Each must
be willing to accept some part of any
burden which comes to the other from
causes beyond Its control and from
which the other Is happily exempt
No better Illustration of what I
mean can be given perhaps than to
recall the years when the crops of the
states of Nebraska and Kansas were
almost totally destroyed by the
scourge of grasshoppers and later
when for several seasons the destruc
tion by drouth was -almost as univer
sal Thousands of carloads of corn
provisions clothing and other supplies
were contributed by sympathizing
friends throughout the middle states
and were hauled free by the railroads
and distributed -all over these two
states The railroads accepteu their
part of the adversity conimon to both
and gave their services freely to the
amelioration of the suffering of the
people of Nebraska and Kansas mak
ing it possible for them to remain on
their claims which otherwise they
would have been forced to abandon
And more recently when the great
earthquake befell the city of San
Francisco the railroads accepted their
part of the adversity and haiiW free
provisions from all parts of the coun
try and rushed it with all speed pos
sible to relieve the suffering of the
dear people also carried the ponle
free from San Francisco to places of
safety and comfort
In the great march of industrial
progress of the nation during the past
three score years the manufacturer
and the railroads have kept shoulder
to shoulder each contributing much
to the other and both making contri
bution to national prosperity and
growth without which the hands on
the dial of progress and development
of the country would be set back fully
fifty years Today the railroads of this
country with their equipment repre
sent approximately twelve per cent of
the -wealth of the nation Their mile
age exceeds 222000 miles over S15
000000 passengers are carried per an
num at lower rates of fare and with
better service than is furnished in any
other country on the glorbe Much has
been said about the over capitalization
of the railroads about watered stocks
And without attempting a defense of
isolated instances of stock jobbery I
want to say just a word upon this gen
eral subject
The interstate commerce commis
sion recently published its statistical
statement for the year ending June 30
1906 and this report shows that the
total capitalization of the railroads of
the United States on that date was
14570421470 or 67930 per mile of
line According to the table shown on
page 63 of the report however the
above amount includes a duplication
of 2S9S4S0S29 covering stocks and
bonds owned by other railroad com
panies Deducting this amount from
the gross capitalization of American
raiiroads shows that the net actual
capitalization of the railroads of this
country on June 30 last was 11681
940649
Prof Adams statistician for the
commission also shows in the report
page 105 that the cost of construc
tion of these railroads was 115S8
922421 with S31365517 additional
for equipment making a total cost of
124202S993S These figures indi
cate that the railroads of this coun
try are capitalized for an aggregate
of 73S3472S9 less than their actual
cost The capitalization of the rail
roads in the United Kingdom in 1905
which is the latest data available was
more than 273000 per mile that of
the railroads of France 132000 per
bile and the cost of construction of
the railways of Germany was some
thing more than 101000 per mile
The average capitalization of all the
railways of Europe is over 110000
per mile or about double the actual
capitalization per mile of the rail
roads of the United States
These statistics are from the high
est and most reliable authority and
are undoubtedly correct They refute
in the most conclusive manner the
charge of watered stock and indicate
thp vnliie of the railroads of the
f United States taken as a whole and
giving no consideration whatever to
the tremendous increase in value of
the vast terminals of the railroads
exceeds their total outstanding stock
and bonds by nearly three quarters of
a billion dollars and that these se
curities rest on a basis which should
be with fair treatment as safe and
as dependable as a government bond
No stronger confirmation of these
facts and figures is possible than that
given by President Roosevelt in his
speech at Indianapolis on May 30
1907 No person will claim that the
president has been Inclined to espe
cially favor the railroads but he Is
as fearless in defending them when
he believes them to be In the right as
In condemning them when he thinks
they are in the wrong And no one
will deny that he says exactly what
he means and means exactly what
he says I know that his conclusions
in thiB important matter were the re
sult of the most borough study and
Investigalon
The quotation Is as follows
There has been much wild talk as
to the extent of the over capitalization
of our railroads The census reports
on the commercial value of the rail
roads of the country together with the
reports made to the interstate com
merce commission by the railroads on
their cost of construction tend to
show that as a whole the railroad
property of the country is worth as
much as the securities representing
it and that in the consensus of opin
ion of investors the total value of
stock and bonds is greater than their
total face value notwithstanding the
water that has been Injected in
particular places The huge value of
terminals the immense expenditures
in recent years in double tracking and
improving grades roadbeds and struc
tures have brought the total invest
ments to a point where the opinion
that Ihe real value greater than the
face value is probably true
While there have beep many in
stances of gross and flagrant stock in
flation and while of course there re
main cases of over capitalization yet
when the statistics of the weaker
roads the over capitalized roads are
combined with those of the stronger
roads and considered in the aggregate
in my judgment they will not be found
to impair the wholesome financial
standing and position of the railroads
as a whole and while those railway
owners and managers who have en
riched themselves by loading their
properties with securities represent
ing little or no real value deserve our
strongest condemnation on the other
hand our hearty commendation is due
those owners and managers repre
senting I believe the large majority
who have year after year worked
faithfully patiently and honestly in
building up our great systems of rail
roads which have knitted together
in close commercial and social inter
course widely removed sections of the
country and stand second only to the
great business of agriculture itself in
contribution to national growth and
development
I beg your indulgence while I at
tempt to make clear some of the spe
cial burdens which have come to the
transportation interests of the coun
try aside from and in no way the
result of the general depression from
which all interests are suffering but
which in my opinion have been an im
portant factor in producing and in
continuing the depression I also
want to refer to some of ithe effects
of these special burdens not only
upon the prosperity of the railroads
but in my opinion upon that of every
business interest of the nation
Becoming effective during the early
months of 1907 increases in pay of
railroad employes approximating one
hundred million dollars per annum
were made This increase was not
voluntary on the part of the railroads
but was the result of conference be
tween representatives of the roads
and those of the employes the settle
ment was on a lower basis than the
men thought they should have but
the settlement undoubtedly averted a
strike which might have cost the coun
try a thousand times the amount in
volved Following this tremendous in
crease in wages legislation by con
gress and by a number of the states
restricting the hours of labor of train
men enginemen telegraph operators
block signalmen employes of inter
locking towers and others made a
further annual increase of approxi
mately 25000000 in the pay rolls of
the railroads of the country By leg
islation passed at the last two sessions
of congress and by subsequent rulings
of the postmaster general reducing
compensation for handling United
States mail approximately 10500
000 per annum has been taken from
the revenues of the railroads And
railroad rates in the United States for
the last thirty years have shown al
most a continuous and uniform reduc
tion The average rate per ton per
mile on all classes of commodities
6hows a reduction of between 38 and
40 per cent since 1SS2 and at the
same time the average cost of almost
every class of material that railroads
buy has increased from 50 to over
100 per cent Taxes have increased
from an average of 179 to an average
of 349 per mile of road or 95 per
cent while the cost of railroad right-of-way
and additional property neces
sary for increased facilities in many
instances is from 500 to 1000 per cent
more than it was at that time
The effect on the railroads of the
conditions I have attempted to de
scribe is exactly the effect similar
conditions would have on any other
manufacturing or mercantile business
The railroads bear no charmed finan
cial life They are subject to the
same conditions and must survive
losses in the same manner as any
other business Increased expenses
of production means Increased price
for the articles produced or in some
manner reducing the cost of produc
tion Bulletin No 69 of the bureau
of labor Issued in March 1907 -which
contains a record of wholesale prices
of all commodities from 1890 to 1905
shows that during the ten years end
ing in 1905 the following increases in
price occurred
per cent
Farm products 242
Food etc 87
Clothes and clothing 12
Fuel and lighting 288
Metal and Implements 225
Lumber and building material 277
Drugs and chemicals 91
House furnishing goods 91
Miscellaneous 1 28
All commodities 159
During substantially the same per
iod the average freight rate received
by the railroads for handling the above
commodities shows a reduction from
941 1000 of one cent per ton per mile
to 766 1000 of one cent per mile or
over 18 per cent Let me say that
these figures and the condition they
reflect are even more serious than
they appear Let us glance briefly at
the effect upon the prosperity of the
country at large During the year
1907 the New York Central lines paid
to manufacturing concerns located in
Detroit approximately 2500000 for
material and equipment this year not
a dollar has been thus expended
During the same year those lines paid
out to car and locomotive manufactur
ers in the United States more than
30000000 almost every dollar of
which was paid out for labor in some
form or other During the year 1908
with the exception of a comparatively
small number of locomotives not a
dollar will be expended for this pur
pose and this record is being repeat
ed by almost every railroad in the
country The plant of the American
Car and Foundry company in Detroit
is practically closed down over 7000
men are thrown out of employment
and the retail trade of that city is
losing more than 450000 per month
which this company distributes when
in full operation And this picture
bad as it is depicts only a portion of
the whole truth The closing of these
great car works stills the sound of
the axman in the woods calls the
miner of iron ore and coal from well
Daid employment to unprofitable un
welcome idleness closes the great
rolling mills and the steel foundries
and sidetracks the thousands of cars
and engines which were required to
handle the raw material and the fin
ished product Study the picture
multiply it by the number of similar
manufacturing enterprises all over
this broad land note the thousands of
idle locomotives the hundreds of thou
sands of sidetracked cars the
of idle workers and then ask
yourselves if it is not time for every
man for every interest to join in
some concerted movement looking to
the return of the glad day of the full
dinner pail
The effect of a moderate increase
in railroad rates accepted by the pub
lic and approved by the interstate
commerce commission in restoring
confidence in railway investment
would do more to put in motion the
wheels of industry and start the coun
try upon a new era of prosperity than
anything else that could possibly be
done I sometimes think that the
question of freight rates and their ef
fect upon the price of commodities
to the consumer is not very accurately
known We are prone to jump at
conclusions instead of carefully an
alyzing figures and thus arriving at
conclusions which are exact I hap
pened to be in a general store in a
prosperous county seat town in Ne
braska some time ago when a box
of ladies cloaks was received The
cloaks cost in Chicago from 10 to 13
each the average being about 1080
the box contained 30 garments and
the freight on the box and contents
was as I recall it 10S Instead of
carefully figuring out the exact
amount of freight chargeable to each
garment the wide awake and enter
prising merchant jumped at conclus
ions and added 10 per cent to the in
voiced price to cover freight The
freight paid the railroad was approxi
mately 10S the little item of freight
charged the purchasers of the gar
ments amounted to approximately
3240 I appreciate the fact that the
10 per cent covered drayage from the
station to the store and other inci
dental expenses but the fact remains
that the railroad received a very
small portion of that 10 per cent and
I realize that the term freight
like charity covers a multitude of
things
The question of freight rates in
order to get a fair perspective and to
reach an absolutely fair conclusion
must be followed to its last analysis
which is its application to and effect
upon the individual consumer The
consumer buys what his family con
sumes flour butter meat sugar tea
coffee and the like by the pound he
buys his kitchen stove or range and
his heating stove or his refrigerator
once in ten or fifteen years according
sd
a
to the quality of the utensil and the It be by making the extremely uncer
are given it in its use Let us con- tain -attempt to make a general reduc
sider for a moment what the freight tion In the pay of the railway em
ate means to the consumer and ployees which by comparison with the
what an Increase of 10 per cent would pay of men In places of less respou
signiry to him The freight on a steel sibility and much less danger is not
range weighing from 400 to 500 unreasonably high Is it not better
pounds from Detroit to Chicago by that the tens of thousands of people
the carload is 57 cents each in less
ban carloads to points trom 300 to
500 miles beyond Chicago the rate is
from 30 to 40 cents per hundred
would add from 20 to 25 cents to thy
cost of the stove which dividru J
the life of the stove taking the low
ids to Chicago is 160 An increase
of 10 per cent would add 16 cents to
this amount The rate on butter and
eggs from points in eastern Iowa to
New York a distance of approximate
ly 1200 miles is S4 cents per hun
dred pounds on dressed poultry from
the same points to New York the rate
is 96 cents The eggs are sold to
the consumer by the dozen and the
other commodities by the pound and
the consumer pays every farthing of
freight that has occurred from the
time the egg is laid which he buys
in the oroginal package or as dressed
poultry or from the time the cow is
milked from which the butter is made
An increase of 10 per cent would add
eight one hundredths of one cent per
pound to the price the consumer pays
for butter and eggs and it would add
nine and one half one hundredths of a
cent per pound to the cost of dressed
poultry for which he pays from 15 to
25 cents per pound The freight on an
ordinary suit of clothes including hat
and shoes for a distance of 300 miles
from any of our large jobbing or dis
tributing centers is approximately
3 cents or 10 per cent increase
would add a little more than three
one hundredths of one cent to the
cost of a suit whicli sells for from
10 to 35
The rate on flour from Minneapolis
to New York in carloads is 25 cents
per hundred pounds or 12 cents per
50 pound sack The flour is sold to
the retailer in New York at approxi
mately 14S per 50 pound sack An
increase of 10 per cent in freight rates
would add but 14 cents to the price
of a 50 pound sack or a little more
than two one hundredths of one cent
per pound The freight rate on a 50
pound sack of flour from Grand Rap
ids to Detroit Jackson Marshall or
Battle Creek is four cents per -sack
An increase of 10 per cent in rates
would add only four mills per sack
between these points or eight one
thousandths of one cent per pound
The rate on dressed beef from Chicago
to New York is 45 cents per hundred
pounds the average price of this beef
to the retailer in New York is approx
mately 11 cents per pound A 10
per cent increase in freight rates
would add less than five one-hundredths
of one cent per pound The
freight rate on a harvester for three
hundred miles boxed and crated by
the car load as they are shipped
would be 176 a 10 per cent in
crease in this freight rate would
amout to about 17 cents Would the
manufacturer who makes the har
vester would the farmer who buys
and uses it object to the very moder
ate addition to the cost if by reason
of it thousands of well paid steadily
employed consumers were added to
those who buy the grain and other
products of the nations farms This
list could be enlarged to embrace
every commodity which the railroads
handle and the same process of an
alysis would in every case reach the
same result
No man who will familiarize him
self with conditions which surround
the railroads of the country can avoid
the conclusion that by increased rev
enue the net earnings must be very
materially increased Shall it be by
moderately increasing freight rates
which have either remained practic
ally stationary or have been materi
ally reduced while every other com
modity has steadily advanced or shall
jj
who buy and use the automobiles
should pay a dollar or two more on
our machines than that the family of
the engineer the conductor the brake
pounds making the freight rate on a man the switchman or the humble
stove delivered in the Mississippi al- section hand shall be deprived of the
ley from 2 to 250 per stove on actual necessities and comforts of life
stoves which retail at fcom 5 n SCO which we know they must give up if
eacn aii increase ot u pur cent ttietr monthly nav chonk Is rorinfW
The issue in all its Important signifi
cance reaching as it does the home
and hearthstone of every emnlnvno
- - -
average or ten years would add one of the railways of the country will
and one half to two cents per year to finally be left for decision to the great
the cost On heating stoves the in- business interests of the nation The
crease would be about one third less question reaches far beyond the man-
The freight on a refrigerator such ufacturer or the jobber and will be
as is used by the ordinary family discussed in the thousands of citie
from Belding Mich to New York is and villages all over this broad land
approximately 75 cents An increase where railroad men live and trade and
of 10 per cent would add 7 cents where good wages and prosperity of
to the cost of the refrigerator the railroad employe means prosperity
ered in New York City and I ask you for the community It will be dis
if you as a manufacturer could not cussed in the homes of the hundreds
afford to pay this small addition in J of thousands of men like the 7000
freight rates Could not we all employes of the American Car and
ford to pay 7 cents more for the Foundry company of Detroit whose
icfrigerator if such an addition fair- j prosperity yea whose existence al
ly and equally destributed would re- most depends upon the ability of the
turn to steady well paid employment railroads to resume the purchase of
the hundreds of thousands of men now j equipment and prosecution of improve
out of employment enabling them ments No question of greater impor
again to become purchasers of the tance confronts the people of the
stoves the refrigerators and the many country today for upon its righteous
other products of the many solution hangs the momentous issue
turers 0f an early return of prosperity
The freight on a dining room suite j u js sa d that through the efforts of
consisting of a table sideboard six Judge Williams on the state railway
chairs china closet etc weighing commission the state of Nebraska has
proximately 750 pounds and selling been saved 6000000 by reducing
for from 30 to 75 from Grand Rap- f reiKht rates would it not ho wn fm-
the judge to explain who got this 6
000000 What per cent of the citi
zens of the state have been benefitted
by such a saving And how many
thousand men have been thrown en
tirely out of employment because of
that saving These are questions to
be considered by the voters in Novem
ber
A SunscRiHEit
To Tribune subscribers
We have commenced mailing to all
delinquent subscribers statements of
account and expect prompt response
It would save ua considerable unneces
sary expense and Inhcr if those delin
quent would call and prepay their sub
scription and not wait for notices No
puper will be continued to any subscrib
er who owes for more than one full
year Get tlio habit nf pijmg for your
home newspaper and paying for it in
advance The Publisher
Accounts Must Be Paid
Having disposed of our dairy business
to Flitcraft Clark all accounts duo
us must bn paid within 30 days either
in cash or b note
ElKENBEKRY JC CLAKK
Tribune Is All Printed in McCook
You will find local or county news of
interest on each of the eight pages of
this paper every week It is nil printed
at home No patent print Read all
LEGAL NOTICE
Fred J Wilson Mrs Fred J Wil on his wife
firt name to plaintiff unknown Mrs Samuel
G Thomas first namo to plaintiff unknown
wife of Samuel G Thomas Arthur M Stark
and Edwin V Mosher Stark it Mo hcr part
ners and J M Sharon whose full and true
name is John M Sharon defendants will take
notice that John R Urowu has filed his petition
in the district court of Red Willow county Ne
braska against the above named defendants
the object and prayer of which are that the
above named defendants and each of them be
required to set forth the claims they or any of
them may have in or to the Ea t Half of the
Southwest Quarter of Section Twenty Seven
27 the Northwest Quarter of the Northeast
Quarter the Northeast Ouarter of the North-
west Quarter and the Northeast Quarter of the
iNoriucast uuarter oi bection Unrti tour 31
Township Iwo CJ Range Twenty Seven 27 in
in Red Willow county Nebraska that a certain
trust deed appearing of record against said EVi
SWK Sec 27 KWj NE and NElj NV Sec
31 Twp 2 R 27 given on the third day of
February 1S93 by the plaintiff John R ISrown
to the defendant Fred J Wilson trustee for
David Brown recorded in book 17 page S3 of
the deed records of said county to be decreed
not to be enforceable to be canceled and set
aside and the cloud upon plaintiffs title by
reason thereof removed that a certain mort
gage appearing of record against said NEr4
NEi Sec 34 lwp2 R27W given on April
20 1SS7 by Andrew J Reeves and wife to Arthur
M Stark and Edwin W Mosher defendants
recorded in book page 252 of the mortgage
records of said county to be decreed not to be
enforceable as a lien upon said aud
that the same be canceled and discharged of
record and the cloud upon plaintiffs title by
reason thereof be removed and that all claims
of the said defendants or any of them adverse
to plaintiffs title may be determined by decree
of said court and that each and all of said de
fendants be adjudged to have no estate or inter
est in said premises and that they be forever
barred from any right title or claim thereto
and that plaintiffs title to said land may be
quieted against said defendants and each of
them You are required to answer said petition
on or before the 23rd day of November 1008
Dated this 13th day of October A D liOS
John R Bkown Plaintiff
By his attorney J E Kellej
ORDER OF FINAL HEARING
In the County Court of Red Willow County
Nebraska In the Matter of the Estate of Ella
A Buck Deceased
To all persons interested in said Estate You
are hereby notified that on the 30th day of Sep
tember 1908 John F Helm administrator of
the estate of Ella A Buck deceased filed his
final account and petition for distribution of
said estate and petition for discharge of such
administrator and such account will be heard
on the 17th day of October lJOS at the hour of
Nine oclock A M at the county court room in I
the court house in the City of McCook in said j
County at wnicn time you may show cause it
any there be why said account and petition
should not be allow ed
It is further ordered that notice of such
hearing be given by publishing a copy of this
order in the IMcCook Tribune for three succes
sive weeks prior to the date of said hearing
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my
hand and affixed my official seal this 30th day
of September 1903
seal J C Mooke Cocntj Judge
Boyle Eidred Attorneys
BEGGS CHERRY COUGH
SYRUP cures coughs and colds
DR I J GUNN
DENTIST piok m
Office Rooms 3 and 5 Walsh Hllc ilcCook
GATEW00D VAIIUb
DENTISTS
Office over JlcAdams Store Phone 1 9B
Dr J A Co Her
DENTIST
Room Postokkicic Buildimi
McCOOK NEBRASKA
A G BUMP
Real Estate
and Insurance
Room Two over McConnelln drug
store McCook Nebraska
YOU WOULD DO WELL TO SEE
J M Rupp
FOR ALL KINDS OF Rrjn Qpfc
P O Box 131 McCook Nebraska
A Edgar Hawkins
Phone Ited lt3
H H Evans
Phone Ked 2SM
HAWKINS EVANS
Contractors and Builders
Plans drawn and PstimutiH furn
ished on application 1 24 2m
McCook Nebraskn
AUTOMOBILE LIVERY
DALLAS DIVINE Prop
PHONE 166 McCOOK NEBR
Night or day trips
made anywhere
Prices Reasonable Good Service
Guaranteed
E F 0SB0RN
Drayman
Prompt Service
Courteous Treatment
Reasonable Prices
GIVE ME
A TRIAL
Office First Door
South of DeGrofPs
Phone 13
BSyWMMJtSKMWMXSZl vfi
F D BURGESS
Plumber and
Steam Fitter
Iron Lead and Sewer Pipe Brass
Goods Pumps an Boiler Trimmings
Estimates Furnished Free Base
ment of the Postoffice Building
McC00Kr NEBRASKA
liKt JHi U c
f nrcirErS bulbs SUCCEL
tf 5PEC5AL OFFER
Vt MnJc to lmlld New limine A
3 tri 1 will mrLo you a rornxsntnt eus
7 t r i r tjoa gcciractti il or joui
I i i v r f undttl
Souvenir CoUectionglaSgtSc
u - It SnewflAe Iiiaimlh IilN llb
t i i ua uiwl Armwe i
iclu Iar i Tulip lrrot iu p v r
i and Ut T
rrts to day Mention thz Paper
l7l 2S CETS
Ant4lwtal tocher wUb m tic IiitttTii last - tl II
Vl j t C TKn llitt IVjV KTT ttfa I
Trlri d Iutt and lUati
I
4 In Commemoration ot t
fr lunvin utkllftHhll
gJiicftlwK TtUEolb
gmH W BUCE38
FlJ trtvf i fir
a cocinoccs tucriui t n
frcfcbrTe b th t r I 5
Ipli b Trepr Z Ji wv all
aca is wcrih a qu ricr
fcU BUCZ3ZE ST
20CKrC D ILL-
A
Pl VKvl1Bi V OJ I
Farmers
bring your wheat
to the MILL We
will pay you a
premium above the market for all good
milling wheat
All Goods at Lowest Possible
Market Prices
91 Patent--the Best
Whole Wheat Rye and Graham
Flour Special prices on lota of
ten sacks or more
SEMOLIA A fine breakfast food un-
excelled in 2 lb packages
All kinds of Mill Feed
Corn Barley Chop Bran Shorte etc
Orders Promptly Delivered
McCook Milling
Company
E H DOAN Proprietor
Phone 29 McCOOK
