Mr. Kuichling has suggested that some further data as to the Michigan Appraisal might be of value. Unfortunately, the writer has not in available form information as to different classes of railroads. Table 15, based on the average of all the roads in Michigan, was prepared by James Walker, Chief Engineer of the Michigan Board of State Tax Commissioners, after the completion of the Michigan Appraisal. Column 2 gives the percentage of each item to the entire cost of reproduction. Column 3 gives the average percentage of conditions. The remaining four columns give the average cost of reproduction per mile on various mileage bases.
It must be borne in mind that Michigan is geographically unlike any other State in the Union, that the mileage of high-class main-line railroad is relatively small, and that there is a large mileage of cheap branch lines and logging roads. As a result, these general averages are of little value for comparison with similar figures in other States, where trunk-line mileage forms a greater percentage of the entire mileage.
In closing, the writer believes that it is but justice to himself to correct a few misleading statements in Mr. Williams' discussion which might cause serious misunderstanding of the writer's views.
Mr. Williams refers to his discussion of Professor Adams' paper before the American Economic Association in December, 1909, he also again refers to the same paper, and conveys the impression that the writer discussed this particular article in the paper before this Society.
Reference to page [105] will show that the writer did not refer to this paper (which, in fact, he did not see until his own paper was in print), but to one written by Mr. Williams in January, 1909, and given the widest publicity, not only by its distribution in pamphlet form, but by publication in the columns of Railway Age Gazette.
TABLE 15.
| Item. | Percentage of each item to entire cost of reproduction. | Present value. Cost percentage. | Cost per Mile, on Basis of: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main track. 7,082 miles. | Main track and branches. 7,813 miles. | Main track, branches, spurs, and sidings. 10,718 miles. | Main track, branches, spurs, 2 sidings, and second track. 10,883 miles. | ||||
| 1. | Engineering | 2.7 | 100 | 761 | 689 | 503 | 495 |
| 2. | Right of way | 13.7 | 100 | 3,918 | 3,551 | 2,589 | 2,542 |
| 3. | Real estate | 0.4 | 100 | 122 | 110 | 81 | 79 |
| 4. | Grading | 10.7 | 99.9 | 3,064 | 2,777 | 2,025 | 1,994 |
| 5. | Tunnels | 0.6 | 95.2 | 162 | 147 | 107 | 100 |
| 6. | Bridges | 4.0 | 78.9 | 1,133 | 1,027 | 749 | 738 |
| 7. | Ties | 5.5 | 55.2 | 1,578 | 1,426 | 1,040 | 1,024 |
| 8. | Rails | 14.1 | 76.2 | 4,052 | 3,673 | 2,678 | 2,637 |
| 9. | Track fastenings | 1.9 | 77.7 | 543 | 492 | 359 | 353 |
| 10. | Frogs, switches | 0.7 | 70.7 | 207 | 188 | 137 | 135 |
| 11. | Ballast | 1.8 | 100 | 525 | 477 | 347 | 342 |
| 12. | Track laying | 3.2 | 97.6 | 926 | 839 | 612 | 602 |
| 13. | Fencing | 1.4 | 58.9 | 390 | 354 | 258 | 254 |
| 14. | Crossings | 0.3 | 70.5 | 86 | 78 | 57 | 56 |
| 15. | Interlockers | 0.2 | 89.4 | 71 | 64 | 47 | 46 |
| 16. | Telegraph | 0.1 | 52 | 36 | 33 | 24 | 24 |
| 17. | Stations | 0.2 | 75.7 | 580 | 526 | 384 | 378 |
| 18. | Shops | 0.1 | 68 | 305 | 276 | 202 | 198 |
| 19. | Shop machinery | 0.5 | 79.6 | 156 | 142 | 104 | 102 |
| 20. | Water stations | 0.4 | 71.9 | 103 | 93 | 68 | 67 |
| 21. | Fuel stations | 0.1 | 66.4 | 43 | 38 | 29 | 28 |
| 22. | Elevators | 0.6 | 75.5 | 189 | 171 | 125 | 123 |
| 23. | Warehouses | 0.1 | 71.1 | 37 | 35 | 24 | 24 |
| 24. | Docks and wharves | 2.7 | 69.3 | 781 | 708 | 516 | 507 |
| 25. | Miscellaneous structures | 0.6 | 69.4 | 174 | 158 | 115 | 113 |
| 26. | Locomotives | 4.4 | 56.4 | 1,274 | 1,154 | 342 | 829 |
| 27. | Passenger equipment | 1.6 | 71.2 | 452 | 409 | 299 | 294 |
| 28. | Freight equipment | 9.7 | 69.4 | 2,787 | 2,525 | 1,841 | 1,813 |
| 29. | Miscellaneous equipment | 0.3 | 60.3 | 99 | 90 | 66 | 65 |
| 30. | Ferries and steamers | 0.8 | 63.5 | 244 | 221 | 161 | 159 |
| 31. | Electric plants | 0.004 | 96.6 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 9 |
| 32. | Terminals | ||||||
| 33. | Legal expenses | 0.3 | 100 | 95 | 86 | 63 | 62 |
| 34. | Interest | 2.6 | 100 | 747 | 677 | 494 | 486 |
| 35. | Organization | 1.3 | 100 | 373 | 339 | 247 | 243 |
| 36. | Contingencies | 9.1 | 82 | 2,602 | 2,358 | 1,712 | 1,695 |
| 37. | Total cost | 100 | 82.1 | 28,623 | 25,945 | 18,914 | 18,627 |
The writer does not care to permit to go unnoticed the imputation that he has attacked railroad officials as a class. If such inference is to be drawn from this paper, he desires to correct it.
The writer was in railway service for some years, for six years in an official position. For the past fifteen years he has been, at frequent intervals, on special service for railroads. He is at present under employment by two of the principal railways of the country. He has many warm friends in the service, many in official capacities, and he is fully cognizant of the high ability, integrity, and loyalty of railway employees, and by employees he means to be understood as including all classes, from the highest officials down.
Inasmuch as our railroads form our greatest industry, and inasmuch as the active heads of the large roads have under their control such properties as but few in other fields are called to administer, it follows that there are hundreds—yes, thousands—of men in railway service, competent to fill any office in the land. The writer repeats: it is a pity that the demands of their work are such that they cannot give more of the benefit of their highly specialized training to the public service, and that they have so often apparently misunderstood or misconstrued the perfectly honest attempts of public officials to find a remedy for real evils.