838 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



out to be much greater than the services were 

 actually worth. On the Continent of Europe the 

 courts appear to exercise a wider discretion, and 

 to treat such contracts as of no effect if made 

 when the vessel is in danger, but this was not 

 accepted as expressing the true rule on the sub- 



The case of the Olinde Rodrigues was the first 

 prize case by the Spanish-American War that was 

 considered by the Supreme Court. It grew out of 

 the capture by the cruiser New Orleans of the 

 French vessel Olinde Rodrigues for an attempted 

 violation of the blockade of the port of San Juan, 

 Porto Rico. The principal question determined 

 by the court was that the blockade of San Juan 

 was effective, although maintained by one mod- 

 ern cruiser alone. 



The court decided in the naval prize-money 

 case growing out of the capture of the Spanish 

 steamer Buena Ventura that the condemnation 

 of the vessel was illegal, and ordered the proceeds 

 of the sale of the vessel be turned over to the 

 owners. This decision turned upon the construc- 

 tion of the clause of the President's message of 

 April 26, 1898, exempting Spanish vessels in 

 American ports from the operation of the procla- 

 mation of war until May 21. It was shown that 

 the Ventura had left an American port seven 

 days before the presidential proclamation was is- 

 sued, and that it was captured on the same day 

 on which the proclamation appeared. It was held 

 that the President's proclamation applied to ves- 

 sels under this condition, and that on this account 

 the Ventura, though owned by a Spanish house, 

 was exempt. Justices Gray and McKenna dis- 

 sented. 



The Chief Justice delivered the opinion of the 

 court in the cases of the Pedro and the Guido, 

 and the condemnation of these vessels was af- 

 firmed. Four of the nine members of the court 

 united in a dissenting opinion in the Pedro ease. 

 The Pedro left Antwerp in March, 1898, with a 

 cargo for Cuban ports, with the intention of 

 afterward proceeding to the United States for a 

 cargo of lumber for her return voyage. She 

 reached Havana on April 17, and on the 22d 

 took her departure for Santiago, Cuba, and was 

 captured the same day by the cruiser New York 

 and duly condemned. The Chief Justice held 

 that war had been practically declared on the 

 21st, and that the officers of the vessel must have 

 known this fact. He dwelt upon the fact that 

 the vessel was proceeding from a port of the 

 enemy when overtaken, and contended that the 

 case did not come under any of the exemptions 

 of the President's message. 



The court affirmed the opinion of the Court 

 of Claims in the case of the claim of La Abra 

 Silver Mining Company against the republic of 

 Mexico, holding that claim to be fraudulent 

 and unfounded. The claim was for about $4,- 

 000,000. 



Railways. The latest report issued by the 

 statistician to the Interstate Commerce Commis- 

 sion shows that on June 30, 1898, the total 

 length of the railway systems of the United States 

 was 186,396.32 miles. Unofficial records, very 

 carefully and intelligently kept by the editors of 

 the Railway Age, show that 6,337.10 miles were 

 constructed during the eighteen months that be- 

 gan July 1, 1898; making a total mileage of 192,- 

 733.42 on Dec. 31, 1899. On June 30, 1898, there 

 were also 11,293.25 miles of second track, 1.009.65 

 miles of third track, 793.57 miles of fourth 

 track, and 48,039.73 miles of yard track and 

 sidings; making a total trackage, at that 

 time, of 247,532.52 miles. Of the 186,396 miles 



of railway, 51,577.37 miles, or 27.07 per cent., 

 were in the region north of the Potomac and 

 Ohio rivers and east of Lake Michigan and the In- 

 diana-Illinois State line; 33,472.57 miles, or 17.90 

 per cent., were south of the Potomac and Ohio 

 rivers and east of the Mississippi, 41,310.97, or 

 22.10 per cent., were west of Lake Michigan and 

 the Indiana-Illinois State line and north and east 

 of the Missouri river; 44,971.17, or 24.13 per cent., 

 were west of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers 

 and east of the Rocky mountains; and 15,058.24 

 miles, or 8.08 per cent., were on the Pacific slope. 

 The increase in railway mileage during each year 

 (ending June 30), beginning with 1890, was as 

 follow: In 1890, 5,838.22 miles; in 1891, 4,805.09 

 miles; in 1892, 3,100.78 miles; in 1893, 4.897..Vi 

 miles; in 1894, 2,247.48 miles; in 1895, !,.; 

 miles; in 1890, 2,119.10 miles; in 1897, 1,051.84 

 miles; in 1898, 1,907.85 miles; in 1899, 3,197 

 miles; total, 31,834.49 miles. 



The location of recent construction indicates in 

 a measure the state of economic development at- 

 tained in certain sections. During the calendar 

 year 1899 there were constructed 4.500.10 mile- <>t 

 new railway line, of which 5S2.00 miles \\-ere in 

 Iowa. 308.84 miles in Minnesota, and 209.48 miles 

 in Arkansas. No other State had more than 200 

 miles of new line. Between 150 and 199 m He- 

 were built in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Cali- 

 fornia, Idaho, Louisiana, and Oklahoma; fim 

 100 to 149 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, 

 Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Utah; 

 from 50 to 09 miles in Indiana, Missouri, Ne- 

 braska, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia. 

 Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Indian 

 Territory. No new railway was constructed in 

 South Dakota, Nevada, Delaware, New Hamp- 

 shire, or Rhode Island. The 6 New England 

 States, which may now be regarded as fully sup- 

 plied with railways, had but 75.50 miles of new 

 line. 



The preliminary report of the statistician to 

 the Interstate Commerce Commission for the \ ear 

 ended June 30, 1899, shows that the gross rail- 

 way receipts from operations in that 

 $1,307,253,484, of which $300.227.:*! 9 wen- from 

 passenger and $913,358,488 from fni-ht -ei \ ice. 

 The oj>erating expenses for the same period \\ere 

 $852,428,105, and the taxes were $44. 105.714: con- 

 sequently there was a balance of $410,059,005, to 

 which must be added $4!U70.H>s. receipts from 

 other sources than operation. Tin- in., my de- 

 ductions from income, including interest on 

 bonds, amounted to $320,852,804: $82,214,820 

 were distributed as dividends (not including pay- 

 ments by subsidiary companies) ; and $50,708,209 

 accumulated as surplus. 



The traffic of 1899 was probably heavier than 

 any that was ever before carried, but it was taken 

 at the lowest rates ever known. The avei a pi- 

 rate per passenger per mile in 1898 was l.'.73 

 cent, and the charge per ton per mile was 0.7.~>:J 

 cent. Similar averages for 1899 are not yet avail- 

 able, but that thev were considerably" lower ts 

 unquestionable. The average ton-mile rate ob- 

 tained by the Pennsylvania Railway during tin- 

 year ended June 30, 1899, was but 0.409 cent, and 

 that of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was 

 0.458 cent. 



Recent improvements in railway facilities have 

 had the effect of notably increasing the efficiency 

 of the railway train as a machine for moving pas- 

 sengers and property. This has been accom- 

 plished by increasing the size of cars and locomo- 

 tives, decreasing the proportion of dead weight 

 to paying weight in the train, reducing grades. 

 increasing the radii of curves, using heavier rails, 



