Page:The truth about the railroads (IA truthaboutrailro00elli).pdf/102

Rh more income than they did for the year ending June 30, 1907, on nearly 20,000 less miles of railroad. On a per-mile basis, the comparison is even more striking. The net operating income per mile of road after paying taxes was: — and in the mean time the owners have put millions upon millions into improvements on existing roads, in addition to creating nearly 20,000 miles of new road. It is well, therefore, to bear in mind that in the railway business large increases in amount of property and in gross earnings do not necessarily mean increases in net earnings.

But the public may say that seven hundred and sixty millions of dollars is a staggering sum for the owners of railway property to receive, and that they are well paid. In the report of the Railway Securities Commission appointed by Mr. Taft, which made a most exhaustive examination of the whole subject of railway Rh