270 



FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 1887. 



having competing water-routes or other com- 

 petitive lines, and before the expiration of the 

 ninety days the commissioners rendered a de- 

 cision, in substance declaring that the carrier 

 must for himself, and at his own risk, decide 

 the question of his liability under the section. 

 The only judicial decision on this point is the 

 one rendered by Judge Deady, of the United 

 States Circuit Court, sitting at Portland, Ore- 

 gon, in which the rule was laid down that 

 " freight carried to or from a competitive point 

 is always carried under substantially dissimilar 

 circumstances and conditions from that carried 

 to or from non-competitive points. In the 

 latter case the railway makes its own rates. 

 In the former case the circumstances are al- 

 together different. The power of a corpora- 

 tion to make its own rates is limited to the 

 necessities of the situation. Competition con- 

 trols the charge. It must take what it can get, 

 or abandon the field and let its trade go to 

 rust." This decision was regarded as practi- 

 cally nullifying the fourth section of the inter- 

 state law, and soon after its announcement the 



Trunk. At the close of the year amendments 

 to the interstate law were suggested, one of 

 which was the imposition of a duty upon goods 

 transported on Canadian roads from points in 

 the United States to other points in this coun- 

 try, the object being to prevent competition by 

 these lines. By the change in the management 

 of the Baltimore and Ohio, through the retire- 

 ment of its president, Mr. Garrett, the road 

 was brought into harmony with the other main 

 trunk-lines, thus insuring uniformity of rates. 

 The successful reorganization of the Reading 

 had an important influence upon the anthracite- 

 coal trade, and the reorganization of the Cen- 

 tral New Jersey, together with its alliance with 

 the Lehigh Valley, tended to harmonize trans- 

 portation interests between Philadelphia and 

 New York, which had long been in conflict. 



The following table shows gross and net 

 earnings of the principal trunk-roads, the re- 

 ports, except for the Pennsylvania, being made 

 for fiscal years, and the returns of the New 

 York Central including the operation of the 

 West Shore leased line : 



transcontinental lines of road proceeded to take 

 advantage of it, claiming that they were in com- 

 petition with the Pacific Mail as a water-route. 

 A few suits were brought during the year by 

 shippers in various sections of the country, who 

 claimed that this and other provisions of the 

 law had been evaded or disregarded, but no 

 judicial decision was reached, the cases not 

 having been brought to trial. The main trunk- 

 lines of the country were not unfavorably af- 

 fected by the operation of the law, and only a 

 comparatively few local roads suffered. Rates 

 for freight and passengers were advanced by 

 nearly all the lines on or after the passage of 

 the law ; the pooling- system was abandoned, 

 this being prohibited by the act; free passes 

 were generally abolished, and other reforms, 

 permitted or required by the act. were insti- 

 tuted, and the result was shown in substantial- 

 ly increased earnings of nearly all the railroads 

 of the country. After the winter-wheat crop 

 was moved, the Granger roads began to cut 

 rates, and this cutting was more or less vigor- 

 ous at intervals during the latter part of the 

 summer and in the fall. Early in the winter 

 the Grand Trunk, of Canada, commenced a cut 

 upon dressed-beef rates, which was met by the 

 American trunk-lines, and the war was carried 

 on so vigorously that it soon after ended by 

 the abandonment of the contest by the Grand 



The Crops. The yield of wheat for the season 

 of 1887 is reported by the Department of Agri- 

 culture as only about 1,000,000 bushels less than 

 that for the previous year, while that of corn 

 is nearly 210,000,000 bushels less. The esti- 

 mates of cotton vary, but good authorities 

 claim a crop of (5,650,000 bales against 6,513,- 

 620 for 1886. The spring-wheat area was en- 

 larged west of the Mississippi and in the ex- 

 treme Northwest and particularly in Dakota, 

 where there was a gain in acreage of 24 per 

 cent. The injury to winter wheat by thawing 

 and freezing and the absence of snow was se- 

 vere in Kansas, and moderate in Missouri, Illi- 

 nois, Indiana, and in other sections of this 

 belt. The harvest exhibited the results of in- 

 sect ravages and want of uniformity in the 

 weight of the grain. Drought and insects 

 threatened serious deterioration of spring wheat 

 early in the season, but more favorable condi- 

 tions followed, and, on the whole, the result of 

 the harvest was better than was expected, 

 owing to the increase of acreage. The Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture reports the yield about 

 456,000,000 bushels. After corn was planted 

 there was an extraordinary development which 

 gave promise of an abundant yield. A high 

 condition was maintained through July, but in 

 the following month and in September the 

 drought was so severe that wide-spread ruin 



