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Show LUMPING FREIGHT FOR DIVI- I DENDS. jjl The subjects of freight congestion H and traffic delays have been cxtcn- H sively investigated of late. The rail- H roads arc only partly to blame. The H tenormous increase in tonnage the iH last two years would have made 'H trouble under the most enlightened ,'H management. But the dominant rail- jH road policy has multiplied the trou- H blc. The roads have been too eager , for profits. L As we pointed out some time ago L only fifty-six hundred miles of new ImW line were built in 1906 the year of Jt greatest prosperity and traffic the LM roads, have ever known, following k several years of rapidly increasing M business. The detailed statement M shows that a large part of this new k mileage was not such as would re- M lieve freight congestion, but augment M it, rather that is, it consisted of L feeder lines, tapping new territory and M thus bringing additional traffic to al- L ready overburdened trunk lines. Al- M so, the average train-load was still M further increased during the ykcar. M Usually, to make a heavy average Lw train-load, freight is heaped up until H enough of it accumulates to make the H required amount. This is profitable M for the road, one engine and crew H doing the work of two. But it isn't 'LM profitable for the shipper whose goods iH arc delayed. It is an important cause 'H of slow movement and congestion. 1 !H To finance extensions and better- , 'H ments, St. Paul and the Great North- l ern last year offered their stockhold- 'H crs an aggregate of one hundred and 'H eighty-five million dollars new stock IH at par. This stock carries seven per jH cent dividends, which, under approv- H ed American practice, means that it , Lm is confidently expected to earn over ,1 IH ten per cent. Pennsylvania stock- jH holders arc voting on a $100,000,000 H increase of stock, also carrying seven jH , per cent dividends, and expected to jH earn considerably more. Tien per 'H cent or better is 'earned on the in- H vestment by piling 'up the average H train-load. ( jH Saturday Evening Post. H I |