is too vast in extent and presents too great variety in the conditions under which railway traffic is carried to admit of a defensible standard for the entire country. It is likely that it will be found necessary to group the railways according to some plan that will give general con formity and fixed items of cost and expense for each group. There is thus suggested another question, which, in extending the duties of this office, must be taken up. TABLE V.-PAYMENTS ON RAILWAY CAPITAL DURING THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1888. From this table may be learned the dividends paid on stock and the interest paid on bonds. In column 8, devoted to total payments, there is included miscellaneous interest payments. The idea of the table is such a familiar one that it does not call for any explanation of the form in which it is presented. The facts disclosed or the summary of the table may be learned from the following classification of stocks and bonds on the basis of the rate of dividend or of interest paid: CLASSIFICATION OF STOCKS AND BONDS ACCORDING TO RATE OF DIVIDEND OR INTEREST. There are quite a number of questions suggested by this table. What is the meaning of the large block of stock paying no dividends? What interpretation is to be put on the actual rates of interest paid on bonds? Is there any tendency towards lightening the burden of fixed charges by refunding bonds at lower rates of interest? Do railway managers show any inclination to provide for the ultimate payment of bonds? These questions, as well as others, are suggested when the figures above given are regarded from the point of view of public interest. Perhaps in no other department of railway finances does the public interest come so prominently into view as in connection with capital stock and fixed charges. TABLE VI.-CASH STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1888. This table may be regarded as the culmination of the plan to which all the foregoing tables conform. Its aim is to show the total of resources placed at the disposal of boards of railway directors and the manner in which those resources have been applied. Independently of the preceding analysis of railway capital, earnings, expenditures, and the like, an exhibit of this sort would be of little significance; but coming, as it does, after such an analysis, so that the items here mentioned may be traced back to the service which occasions expenditure and gives rise to income, the facts here disclosed are of great importance. They are of interest alike to the holders of bonds and stocks who own the property and to the patrons of the road who use it. Unfortunately, however, it is not possible in the present report to present more than the theory upon which this table is based. The returns from the carriers in reply to the questions asked on page 19 of the blank form issued, from which it was expected to make up this table, were not in shape to be used. This is partly due to the indefiniteness of some of the questions asked, and partly to the apparent want of care in making reply. The truth is, satisfactory statistics upon the financial operations of railways are impossible, except on the basis of a simple method of book-keeping made uniform for the entire country. It cannot be admitted that the difficulties arising from heterogeneous accounts are overcome by reporting separately a balance-sheet from each road in whatever shape the accountant of each road sees fit to give it. For not only would such a report require thousands of pages for its publication, but when published it would be quite useless for purposes of comparative study. Since then the figures as given could not be used in a uniform table, because of the various ideas that controlled in the offices where they were made out, and since a separate report for each road would not meet the requirements of the problem the conclusion was reluctantly reached that a presentation of the data called for by Table VI must be deferred until the Second Annual Report, and doubtless better results will in the long run be in this manner attained. The development of railway statistics is largely a matter of education and demands before all else that an imperfect model should not receive the sanction of even a single publication. But the failure to present in this year's report a statement of the financial operations for each road is no confession that the plan of the table cannot be worked out; it leads rather to the conclusion that greater care should be exercised in the preparation of the reports sent to the Interstate Commerce Commission. Railway accounting officers do not seem to appreciate the fact that uniformity of statement is essential to the usefulness of statistics. On the other hand, the lesson learned from experience in this office with the class of facts now under consideration is, that all questions asked should be simple and definite, and if possible that they should be capable of one interpretation only. In the forms to be shortly issued to the carriers for the next year's reports, it is hoped to provide for uniform replies with regard to financial operations. CONCLUSION. It will be noticed that in this, the first annual report on railway sta tistics in the United States, no extended discussion of questions of railway economy is attempted. This is not because questions of impor tance failed to suggest themselves while the data presented were being compiled, but because the difficulties attending organization and the work of compiling the returns received were much greater than anticipated. It should be remembered that this is the first attempt at uniform railway statistics for the entire country, and that less than six months have elapsed since the work of compilation was begun. This seems ample explanation for failure to undertake an interpretation of the facts presented. It is expected in subsequent reports to indulge more freely in discussion of the data presented, and to point out more fully the bearing of the facts submitted to questions of general public economy. Acknowledgment is due to Mr. James A. Case, Assistant Statistician, for the efficience and intelligence with which he has directed the work of the office. HENRY C. ADAMS, Statistician to the Interstate Commerce Commission. |