132 



graph Company; and $10,000,000 nominal cap- 

 ital of the Cable Construction Company to lay 

 two new Atlantic cables. 



The largest amounts of new stock and securi- 

 ties issued for improvements and to effect con- 

 solidations, not including the huge amounts 

 issued on reorganization in lieu of the existing 

 obligations of the merged lines, were as fol- 

 lows: $14,492,000 of mortgage bonds, $16,- 

 500,000 of income bonds, and $39,000,000 of 

 stock representing the addition by purchase 

 and construction of 850 miles to the 1,123 

 miles of road owned or being built by the East 

 Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia company; 

 $10,000,000 of bonds and $2,000,000 of stock 

 for new lines acquired by the Wabash, St. 

 Louis and Pacific company; $30,000,000 of 

 stock of the Oregon Transcontinental com- 

 pany, which has expended $16,000,000 in pur- 

 chasing an interest in the Northern Pacific 

 road ; $5,000,000 of income bonds and $22,- 

 500,000 of stock of the Alabama, New Orleans, 

 Texas, and Pacific Junction, offered in London ; 

 $7,000,000 of mortgage bonds for improve- 

 ments and acquisitions of the Louisville and 

 Nashville Eailroad; $7,600,000 increase of 

 stock of the Ohio Central company ; $10,237,- 

 700 of new stock issued to stockholders of the 

 Union Pacific Railroad for extensions and bet- 

 terments; $6,000,000 of stock for additions to 

 the property of the Oregon Railway and Navi- 

 gation Company ; $10,000,000 of bonds issued 

 by the Pennsylvania company for the pur- 

 chase of leased roads ; $10,000,000 of 4 per cent 

 bonds issued by the Pennsylvania Railroad 

 Company for the purchase of the Philadelphia, 

 "Wilmington and Baltimore line ; $4,000,000 of 

 bonds and $5,000,000 of stock of the Chicago, 

 Milwaukee and St. Paul company. 



The largest issues of dividends in stock, cer- 

 tificates, and bonds, and increased allotments 

 of stock to shareholders on reorganization, 

 were an increase of $13,000,000 in the stock of 

 the roads consolidated into the Columbus, 

 Hocking Valley and Toledo; $4,225,008 of 

 loan certificates issued to old stockholders by 

 the Georgia Central company; and $15,526,- 

 500 of stock issued to former holders of West- 

 ern Union Telegraph stock upon the absorption 

 of the American Union lines. 



The extent of new railroad definitely under- 

 taken and destined to be completed before the 

 end of 1882, was 15,886 miles. For the con- 

 struction of that amount of new track within 

 fifteen months, engagements were known to 

 have been entered into before October 1, 1881. 

 This does not include the roads projected but 

 not yet subscribed for, nor those for which the 

 means were provided and the plans matured, 

 which had not been advertised to the public. 

 Of the prospective extensions, 4,791 miles were 

 to be built east of the Mississippi River and 

 north of the Potomac and Ohio Rivers ; 2,352 

 miles east of the Mississippi and south of those 

 two rivers; 4,063 miles west of the Mississippi 

 and north 'of the latitude of St. Louis; 4,140 



miles west of the Mississippi and south of that 

 line ; and 540 miles on the west side of the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



Railroads require for construction an expen- 

 diture of about $20,000 per mile. Counting 

 equipment and other expenses, they actually 

 absorb about $25,000 per mile of new line. 

 The railroads undertaken, as estimated above, 

 reduce therefore about $397,000,000 of floating 

 capital to this form of fixed capital. As nt. \v 

 enterprises of the same sort were being ma- 

 tured with the same frequency during the re- 

 maining months of the year, that sum repre- 

 sents only a part of the aggregate capital 

 provided for railroad extension in 1881 and 

 1882. A considerable part of the railroad- 

 building of the earlier part of 1881 was done 

 with money engaged for the purpose in 1880. 

 The advance subscriptions for railroads to be 

 constructed in the ensuing year were vastly 

 heavier in 1881. Six new through or connect- 

 ing lines have been projected between the 

 Atlantic coast and the West, two of which are 

 to be completed before the end of 1882, and 

 all of them before 1884. The capital for these 

 routes has nearly all of it been raised by pri- 

 vate subscriptions of capitalists. The New 

 York, Chicago and St. Louis road is being 

 put down rapidly between Chicago and Buf- 

 falo. The Chicago and Atlantic is to connect 

 with the Erie and Pennsylvania Railroads at 

 Marion, Ohio. The New York, West Shore 

 and Buffalo road is to run from Buffalo to 

 Schenectady, and thence along the right bank 

 of the North River, terminating opposite New 

 York at Weehawken. The Boston, Hoosac 

 Tunnel and Western follows a straight route 

 from Boston to Buffalo. The New York, 

 Lackawanna and Western runs parallel to the 

 Erie road, and connects New York with Buf- 

 falo via the Delaware, Lackawanna and West- 

 ern. The New York, Pittsburg and Chicago is 

 to use the Central of New Jersey and its con- 

 necting lines in Pennsylvania, and to reach Chi- 

 cago by the new Chicago and Atlantic Railroad. 



The result of the railroad war, which strong- 

 ly affected the stock market, was that the gross 

 earnings of the five trunk lines were $126,500,- 

 000, against $121,000,000 in 1880; the net earn- 

 ings $48,250,000, against $51,500,000. 



In the autumn of 1878, just previous to the 

 resumption of specie payments, the first signs 

 of a revival in business appeared. Prices then 

 stood at a lower figure than had been known 

 for forty years. Since that date there has been 

 a continuous general rise in values. In a table 

 printed below are given the New York whole- 

 sale prices for the staple articles of American 

 commerce on or about the 1st of November for 

 1878, and each succeeding year. A computa- 

 tion based on those prices, and the quantities 

 of the different commodities entering into con- 

 sumption or into commerce, gives the follow- 

 ing comparative estimate of the general rise in 

 values, and its proportional distribution among 

 the main classes of commodities : 



