WHO OWNS THE RAILROADS 33i 



exert a powerful influence in the legislatures of their respec- 

 tive states. 



These and other considerations point to the conclusion 

 that the economic and social effects, resulting either from a 

 wide diffusion or a high degree of concentration in the owner- 

 ship of stockholdings, are both numerous and important. 

 Yet, significant as a study of the distribution of stockholders 

 in American railways may be in this respect, we find ourselves 

 confronted with all the difficulties which beset the question 

 of the distribution of wealth in general. As Professor Mayo- 

 Smith has remarked: "Almost all statistical analyses of the 

 actual distribution of wealth break down on account of the 

 imperfections of the statistics." And it is especially in the 

 study of the distribution of railway stock, probably more so 

 than in the case of wealth in general, that we find the materials 

 at our disposal not only very incomplete, but also extremely 

 limited. In fact, reliance had to be placed almost wholly 

 upon individual statements concerning certain particular 

 roads, and upon the statements of the amount of capital 

 stock issued and outstanding, and the total number of stock- 

 holders for the various roads at the date of the last election 

 of the directors, as collected under the authority of the rail- 

 way commissioners of the various states. This latter source, 

 however, is by no means complete. In many states, espe- 

 cially the southern, with the exception of Alabama, Louisiana, 

 and Virginia, the railway commission reports furnish no infor- 

 mation whatever on the subject ; and in no case do the reports 

 give the exact distribution of the capital stock among the 

 holders. This absence of conclusive material determines 

 largely the mode of treatment to be followed, and fixes in a 

 general way the limits of the conclusions. The attempt is 

 made, therefore, to present, briefly, the distribution of stock- 

 holdings in those few railways where the evidence is direct 

 and conclusive; and to present tables showing respectively 

 tho««> important railways whose stock is owned by a com- 

 paratively large number of stockholders, those where con- 

 centration is apparent; and, lastly, those important railways 

 whose stock is concentrated in the hands of a few holders. 

 Despite the many defects in the materials, it is believed that 



