Two other points arising in connection with franchise values were:

"Where, on a street, franchises covering part of the street have expired, and others remain in force, the contention of the city is that the expired franchise is valueless because traffic under it can be stopped; that of the company is that it still has value, as traffic can be routed over other streets where franchises have not expired."

This was set aside on the ground that the value of any particular portion of a street, or of a franchise, remains the same as long as the system is considered as an entirety.

The second point was as to the value of traffic agreements; but this complicated problem was also dismissed on the theory that when two systems are considered as co-operating, the value of individual parts of either system remains the same regardless of their ownership.

The values of their properties, fixed by the companies, included paving. The total figures reached in this valuation were:

Companies' valuation,including paving,$73,555,675
Commission's   "    "        "   50,994,782
Commission's   "excluding    "46,652,747

This work affords many interesting problems, and is perhaps the largest valuation for determining a price for the purchase of property that had been made to date.

The Commercial Valuation of Railway Operating Property of the
Department of Commerce and Labor.

In 1902 the permanent Census Office was established, and the Director was authorized to collect statistics relative to public indebtedness, valuation, taxation, and expenditures. The Bureau of the Census co-operated with the Department of Commerce and Labor in the preparation of the appraisal of the commercial valuation of railway properties of the country.

The report of this work, issued as Bulletin 21 of the Bureau of the Census, is the most interesting and valuable exposition of the subject of railway valuations yet published, as it includes not only the report of this particular work, together with the results, tabulated by States, but appendices describing and discussing the work in States and foreign countries, and the work of valuation by railway men.