WHO OWNS THE RAILROADS 337 



If, for the purpose of comparison, we look now at Table 

 III., we note a still greater contrast than exists between the 

 railways of Tables I. and II. The nineteen important roads 

 represented here have their aggregate stock of $829,041,555 

 distributed among but 357 stockholders, having thus an aver- 

 age holding of $2,322,245 per holder. Three of the roads, 

 however — the Erie railway, the Northern Pacific, and the 

 Southern railway — with an aggregate capital stock of $511,- 

 000,000, or five eighths of the total capital stock represented 

 by this table, have an average stockholding of $10,872,340 

 per holder. 



It will doubtless be urged with reference to these averages 

 that, owing to the rapid changes in stock ownership, they 

 have value only for the particular year for which they are 

 compiled. In fact there is scarcely any ownership of prop- 

 erty more transitory than the ownership of railway stock. 

 In this connection the statistics of the New York stock ex- 

 change for 1901 may be studied to advantage. In that year 

 the total number of shares sold at the exchange numbered 

 249,193,674, representing a par value of $24,254,887,825; 

 and by far the great majority of these stocks constituted 

 railway stocks. Indeed, within the year 1901 the total num- 

 ber of listed shares for some of the leading railways was sold 

 from ten to twenty times over. Thus the Milwaukee-St. 

 Paul stock was sold twenty times over; the Union Pacific 

 stock twenty one and one quarter times; Rock Island stock 

 thirteen and one half times; Wabash preferred stock twelve 

 and one half times; Atchison stock eleven and seven eighths 

 times, and Erie stock ten times. 



Such a volume of stock transactions would seem to in- 

 dicate that the above statistics can have but a temporary 

 value. As a matter of fact, however, when we compile 

 statistics for a considerable number of railways for different 

 periods, we find that the proportion between the amount of 

 stock and the number of holders shows an increase in the 

 average stockholding sufficiently large to indicate that the 

 above tables rather underrate than overestimate the average 

 stockholding in railways at the present time. A few statistics 

 will corroborate this statement. Thus as regards eleven rail- 



Vol. 3-22 



