| Payments on Account or "Loss and Damage" and "Injuries to Persons" During the Decade 1899 to 1909 and Proportion to Gross Earnings. | ||||
| Year | Loss and Damage | Injuries to Persons | ||
| Amount | Per Cent of Earnings | Amount | Per Cent of Earnings | |
| 1899 | $ 5,976,082 | .455 | $ 7,116,212 | .541 |
| 1900 | 7,055,622 | .474 | 8,405,980 | .565 |
| 1901 | 8,109,637 | .510 | 9,014,144 | .567 |
| 1902 | 11,034,686 | .639 | 11,682,756 | .676 |
| 1903 | 13,726,508 | .722 | 14,052,123 | .739 |
| 1904 | 17,002,602 | .861 | 15,838,179 | .802 |
| 1905 | 19,782,692 | .946 | 16,034,727 | .770 |
| 1906 | 21,086,219 | .907 | 17,466,864 | .751 |
| 1907 | 25,796,083 | .996 | 21,462,504 | .829 |
| 1908 | — | — | — | — |
| 1909 | 32,922,986 | 1.386 | 23,456,038 | .988 |
| Increase in 10 years, per cent | 450.5 | 204.6 | 229.6 | 82.6 |
Startling as are these increases absolutely, those relatively to earnings present a condition truly alarming, for which there is no apparent relief except through a revulsion in the popular tolerance of blackmail at the expense of the railways.
In no other country in the world are the railways held up on bogus claims for damages to the extent they are in the United States. Under the strict laws of the United Kingdom, as to compensation for damages and injuries, the British railways paid less than 7/10ths of 1 per cent of their earnings for all damages, losses and injuries, or less than one-third the proportion paid by American railways on the same account.
[XI]
LOCOMOTIVE FUEL
Despite the continuous improvements in the steam-producing capacity of railway locomotives per ton of coal, the steady advance in the cost of coal during the past ten years has more than offset the economies of locomotive construction. This is shown in the next statement, which gives the cost of locomotive fuel and its relative proportion to gross earnings and operating expenses, and also the average price per short ton of coal in the United States since 1899:
| Summary of Cost of Locomotive Fuel and Proportion to Earnings and Expenses of American Railways, 1909 to 1899, with Price of Bituminous Coal per Ton During the Same Period. | |||||
| Year | Miles of Line | Cost of Locomotive Fuel | Proportion to Operating Expenses | Proportion to Gross Earnings | Price of Coal at Mines per Ton(a) |
| 1909 | 221,132 | $184,359,112 | 11.757 | 7.77 | — |
| 1908 | 230,494 | 197,385,513 | 12.098 | 8.25 | 1.12 |
| 1907 | 227,454 | 200,261,975 | 11.471 | 7.74 | 1.14 |
| 1906 | 222,340 | 170,499,133 | 11.119 | 7.34 | 1.11 |
| 1905 | 216,973 | 156,429,245 | 11.278 | 7.51 | 1.06 |
| 1904 | 212,243 | 158,948,886 | 11.893 | 8.05 | 1.10 |
| 1903 | 205,313 | 116,509,031 | 11.675 | 7.70 | 1.24 |
| 1902 | 200,154 | 120,074,192 | 10.776 | 6.96 | 1.12 |
| 1901 | 195,561 | 104,926,568 | 10.602 | 6.61 | 1.05 |
| 1900 | 192,556 | 90,593,965 | 9.809 | 6.09 | 1.04 |
| 1899 | 187,534 | 77,187,344 | 9.478 | 5.88 | .87 |
| (a) These figures are from the latest report of the United States Geological Survey. | |||||
The significance of this table is that it cost the railways almost one-third more for fuel per dollar earned in 1909 than it did in 1899, the increase in the proportion of fuel cost to gross earnings having been 32%, due to the advance of 31% in the price of coal at the mines during that period.
The effect of the anthracite coal strike and the Commission's award of date March 18, 1903, upon the cost of bituminous coal is seen in the sharp advances in 1902 and 1903.