THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 223 



is no cause for anxiety about the estimates, and after such 

 augmentation no occasion for an unfavorable judgment. 

 " 16. Turning to the sect d question, whether the 

 Northern Pacific Railway, after its completion, offers 

 the necessary guarantee that the surplus accruing out 

 of the traffic revenue will suffice to pay the half-yearly 

 rates of interest on the bonds, i. 3 to be observed in the 

 first place that the interest at the rate of 7.30 per cent, 

 on a capital of $100,000,000 amounts to $7,300,000. 

 To obtain a net profit of a similar amount requires a 

 gross income of $20,000,000 a year. It is proved by 

 official data that the net profits of the American railways 

 are equal to 35 per cent, of the gross income, 65 per cent, 

 of the total being consumed by the working expenses. 



PROBABLE TRAFFIC. 



" 17. Whether the completed Northern Pacific Rail- 

 way will be able to count on a traffic that will yield an 

 income of $20,000,000 a year can only be ascertained 

 by an inquiry into the state of the population and its 

 industrial and commercial relations, and it will be im- 

 portant to keep the actual state of these relations very 

 carefully in view. The tract of country traversed by 

 the Northern Pacific Railway upon which at the outset 

 the line depends for acquiring and securing a local traffic, 

 is situated in the States of Minnesota, Dakota, Mon- 

 tana, Idaho and Oregon, and in Washington Territory. 

 These have, according to the census of 1870 : 



Area in square mllcw. Inhabitants. 



Minnesota 83,531 435,511 



Dakota 147,490 14,181 



Montana 143,776 20,594 



Idaho 90,932 14,998 



Oregon 95,244 90,922 



Washington Territory 69,994 23,901 



