RAILROAD RATES FROM AN ENGINEERING 

 STANDPOINT. 



By Prof. B. J. Dalton, Dallas. Tex. 



/ AWING to the agitation that has bfen going on for some time 

 ^-^ relative to the reduction of railroad rates, the speaker thought 

 it might be interesting to discuss the question from an engineering 

 standpoint. 



First, it is conceded that every man is entitled to a fair rate of 

 interest on money that he may invest in any enterprise, and when 

 that money is invested in railway property, and the railway is 

 economically and judiciously managed, he is entitled to adjust the 

 rates so as to pay a fair profit on the investment. 



In order to make an intelligent comparison of the railroads of 

 the country, the Interstate Commerce Commission has divided the 

 United States into ten groups, according to the territory through 

 which they run, since in this manner the density of the population, 

 the topography of the country, and the character of the industries 

 served by the railroads may be taken into account. Then all the 

 roads operating under about the same conditions are placed in one 

 group. 



Group VIII, in which we are located, comprises Missouri, Ar- 

 kansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, the south two-thirds of Colorado, the 

 northeast corner of New Mexico, and the extreme northwest point 

 of Texas. 



We will first show how the rates in this group compare with 

 those of the whole United States, and finally how the rates in Kan- 

 sas compare with those of all the roads in group VIII. 



Plate I shows graphically the revenue per passenger per mile in 

 the United States, and in group VIII, from 1890 to 1895, inclusive. 

 It will be observed that for the United States this rate has decreased 

 gradually from 2. 167 cents to 1.962 per mile. The curve for group 

 VIII practically runs parallel to the curve for the whole United 

 States and on an average of two-tenths of a cent higher. 



This plate also shows the average rates on three of the principal 

 roads in the state of Kansas — the Union Pacific, the Chicago, Rock 

 Island & Pacific, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe — compared 

 with all the roads in group VIII. It will be observed that for the 

 first few years after 1900 the rates on the individual roads were a 



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