Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/133

Rh shrinkage in stock market value supports in a way my representation of the diminished value of the mines of the country as a consequence of the war.

The mileage of the steam railways operated in the United States is given in the following table, the figures having been supplied by the Interstate Commerce Commission:

Year Miles operated 1916 264,232 1917 266,015 1918 264,233 1919 263,707 1920 235,580

The figure for 1920 is incomplete, only the operative mileage of railways of Class I being represented, information for all roads not being available at the time when these figures were furnished. It is a fair inference that the total for 1920 will not be far from 263,000 miles. This table is instructive in its showing that from 1916 to 1920 there was no increase in the railway mileage of the United States.

Estimates of the value of the railways of the United States, together with their equipment and accessories, are variable. The whole subject is indeed controversial. The Interstate Commerce Commission has been engaged during a long period of years in making valuations in detail, railway by railway. Figures for individual roads are only now being published. No total for all of the roads of the United States has yet been announced.

The above paragraph almost exposes the futility of any such attempt at the valuation of so big a property