L. F. Loree, M. Am. Soc. C. E., President of The Delaware and Hudson Company, as Reporter (For United States) to the International Railway Congress, held in Paris in 1900, communicated with all roads in the United States then operating 500 miles of line, or more, relative to the capacity of cars actually in service. The result is shown in Table 12.

As a result of these improvements in roadway and equipment, the average number of tons of freight handled per freight train in 1908 was 351.80 tons, as compared with 296.47 tons in 1902, an increase of 55.33 tons, or 18.6 per cent. The average tons per freight train in 1908 was 351.80, as compared with 175.12 in 1890, an increase of 176.68 tons, or 100.8 per cent.

These improvements have not been solely or mainly for the benefit of the carriers, though there is no question that they have been prompted by railway self-interest. The new car of 40 tons capacity is but 20% longer than the old car of 13 tons, which means a great augmentation of the efficiency of the private sidings and tracks of the manufacturers, as well as the side tracks and terminals of the railway. Who would retrace the steps of progress of the last decade or of the last two decades? Yet the project to tie railway earnings to replacement cost, which makes no allowance for the costly steps in such progress, is in reality a project to tie them to their present state of development and to prohibit future progress. Nor can it be forgotten that it is an inviolable law of Nature that that which does not go forward must go backward—nothing can remain stationary.

The story of the crude millionaire who wanted to know the value of the "plant" of Oxford University, in order that he might duplicate it, is not inappropriate, and ought to have some significance to those who imagine that replacement cost would tell the story of railway values. Do they imagine, because they are ignorant of them, that a great railway organization carries no traditions of loyalty, of persistence in the face of overwhelming difficulty, of generous recognition of public needs and rights, of courageous adherence to the real interests of its shareholders that inspire its personnel and provide a genuine esprit du corps? Do they find no superiority in one organization over another, no systematic economies of method, no especial adaptation to economic needs that has value more genuine than any replaceable element, and is at least equally worthy of compensatory return?

TABLE 12.—Classification of Freight Equipment

According to the Capacity.

Year.No. of Roads Reporting (see note).Five tons and under.Ten tons.Fifteen tons.Twenty tons.Twenty-five tons.Thirty tons.Thirty-five tons.Forty tons.Forty-five tons.Fifty tons and over.Total number of cars.Total capacity, in tons.Average capacity, in tons.
1880A-738,399131,988447,27089,420 53,733707,07713.2
  738,399131,988447,27089,420 53,733707,07713.2
1890A-716,45071,982182,175651,740441,475548,670 4,000 5091,2811,916,49221.0
B-1316,45072,082240,900933,040624,125638,100 4,000 50119,5132,528,74721.2
1893A-71,14534,088144,795629,780734,350842,640 4,000 103,3152,390,79823.4
C-131,14534,238255,795993,840947,5001,112,070 4,000 145,4403,848,58823.0
1895A-735513,978120,435589,140743,9751,011,03070,0004,000 50104,4962,652,96324.4
D-1535520,863245,7091,186,3201,103,1001,493,70070,0004,000 50171,3074,074,21723.8
1897A-7206,46292,585555,980761,1501,224,03074,8654,400450150108,1182,720,04225.2
E-16209,407163,1891,029,7561,089,3001,822,530183,1904,400450150174,3154,322,43224.8
1898A-7 1,54094,275523,080721,4251,314,84075,3204,48027050,950108,5592,786,18025.7
F-2763,5659,491418,5512,190,3601,654,8504,831,17088,5158,840270104,700385,7659,409,91824.4

Note:—A—Figures cover only these roads: Reporting for 1880 and all other years, viz.: Allegheny Valley B. & M. R. C. of G. G. R. & I. Penn. Lines W. Phila. & Reading Wis. Cent. B—Includes roads under "A," also: Ches. & Ohio C. G. W. M. K. & T. N. D. & C. Phg. & Western Vandalia C—Includes roads under "A," also: Ches. & Ohio C. G. W. Mich. Cent. M. K. & T. N. D. & C. Phg. & Western D—Includes roads under "A" and "B," also: Mich. Cent. Southern Ry. E—Includes roads under "A" and "C," also: C. R. I. & P. Seaboard Air Line Southern Ry. F—Includes roads under "A" and "B," also: Ann Arbor B. & M. C. R. I. & P. C. St. P. M.& O. Grand Trunk Lehigh Valley Mich. Cent. O. R. R. & Nav. Penn. R. R. P. B. & L. E. Seaboard Air Line So. Pacific Southern Ry.

TABLE 13.—Statement of Return on Investment in Road, Equipment, etc., for Roads in the Official Classification Territory, for Eleven Years Ended June 30th, 1909, also for the Year 1890.

Year.Cost of road.Cost of equipment.General expenditures.Material and supplies.Total.Operating Revenues.Operating Expenses.
1909$4,357,455,101$686,116,206$50,586,812$75,550,135$5,169,708,254$1,032,285,890$700,694,007
19084,306,902,038669,751,32051,324,15786,201,7485,114,179,2631,049,545,984746,575,094
19074,438,582,438587,637,733 91,923,3385,118,143,5091,141,324,116794,998,803
19064,269,066,800513,028,004 80,479,3334,862,574,1371,044,552,909714,461,452
19054,110,883,904492,498,488 65,875,0714,669,257,463944,805,659658,337,498
19043,906,766,459461,941,677 72,240,5214,440,948,657899,868,519636,217,217
19033,830,580,776426,822,318 64,458,2574,321,861,351871,697,611601,864,284
19023,744,205,552389,909,755 50,565,2904,184,680,597782,975,559528,681,892
19013,682,894,343378,545,580 47,746,1784,109,186,101730,590,144491,657,899
19003,620,630,187377,156,700 49,940,8384,047,727,725698,368,829467,462,093
19893,566,223,557351,902,957 31,162,9073,949,289,421610,724,301413,390,359
Total 11 years$43,834,194,155$5,335,310,738$101,910,969$716,143,616$49,987,556,478$9,806,639,521$6,754,340,598
Average 11 years3,984,926,469485,028,2499,264,63465,103,9654,544,323,317891,512,684614,030,963
1890$2,927,221,233$283,407,139 $35,262,205$3,245,890,577$524,767,906$348,388,268
Total 12 years$46,761,412,388$5,618,717,877$101,910,969$751,405,821$53,233,447,055$10,331,407,427$7,102,728,866
Average 12 years3,896,784,365468,226,4898,492,58162,617,1521,436,120,588860,950,619591,894,072