OCR Text |
Show I DECREASE IN RAILROADS' EARNINGS. A report recently published by the Interstate Commerce commission com-mission shows that the earnings of the railroads west of tho Missouri river decreased $528 a mile in 191 from wliat they were in 1910, making a gross decrease in earnings of 5.7 per cent. Of this decrease de-crease in earnings, $490 a mile was on the freight business. A condition similar to this existed in the east and middle west, while the only part of the country that showed an increase in the earnings of the railroads was that portion of the south cast of the Mississippi river. This decrease in earnings cannot bc attributed to any particular cause, but is due to a general slacking up in business throughout tho country in 1911, and though perhaps not perceptible in any specific instance, the aggregate result is shown in the, decrease in earnings per mile of the western railroads. Railroad men are all optimistic regarding the outlook for 1912, and from the large amount of capital the railroads contemplate investing in-vesting this year, there can bc no doubt in their opinion of the business busi-ness outlook. ( |