Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/140

118 reproduction (1914 prices) less depreciation, based on carriers’ estimate, will be approximately 25.5 billion dollars which I think is conservative.”

The opinions and conclusions of Mr. Loree are not only those of an expert, but also they carry conviction by virtue of his sound reasoning- Summarizing his data we get 24.5 billion dollars as the value of the railways of the United States at the end of 1916, and 25.5 billion dollars at the end of 1920.

At the end of 1916 there were in the United States 44,080 miles of electrical railways, and the stocks and bonds of the companies operating them were valued at $5,361,734,365. At the end of 1918 the mileage was 44,949 and the value of the stocks and bonds was $4,667,998,492. The situation of the street railways since then has steadily been becoming worse.

In the report of Senator Calder’s Committee on “Reconstruction and Production” (Senate Report No. 829) there is the following statement:

“According to the American Electric Railway Association, out of 44,000 miles of electric railways in the United States, on Dec. 31, 1920, 5,530 miles were in the hands of receivers, 1,600 miles had been abandoned, and 900 miles had been torn up and junked. On Feb. 4, 1921, 5,997 miles of electric railways were reported as being in the hands of receivers, representing $823 ,429,294 of securities, or 17 per cent of the total valuation of the electric railways in the United States.”

A total of four billion dollars for the value of the electric railways in the United States at the end of 1920 will be no under-estimate. This is to be compared with