sion has been reluctant to make immediate use of all the reports rendered by express companies.

Since 1887 there has been a close working understanding between the Interstate Commerce Commission and a large number of the state railroad commissions relative to the form of reports rendered by carriers. The accounting orders of the Commission, whether for steam railways, electric railways, express companies, or other transportation agencies engaged in both state and interstate business, have, without exception, been accepted by the state railroad commissioners. The forms of annual report also, so far as the fundamental principles and important classifications are concerned, are the same for the state commissions and the Interstate Commerce Commission. During the past two years there has been a manifest desire on the part of state railroad commissioners to secure information from carriers relative to local conditions of transportation in which the States are peculiarly interested. This desire is easily understood and should meet with unreserved approval. At the same time it is important that the general uniformity, so far as statistics and reports are concerned, should not be impaired. This seems to be recognized by all interested parties. At the last meeting of the National Association of Railway Commissioners a resolution was adopted which, when worked to its legitimate conclusion, will make the reports of carriers to the States the complement of, rather than the duplicate of, the reports rendered by the same carriers to the Federal Government. The resolution referred to provided that the state reports should make a special feature of state tonnage and recognized the importance of a uniform rule for assigning the revenue and expenses of interstate carriers to the several States through which such carriers operate. It seems essential that the accounting and statistical work of all agencies of government which exercise supervision over common carriers should be conducted in the spirit of cooperation, and on this point the situation is wholly satisfactory.

DIVISION OF ACCOUNTS.

The Division of Accounts comprises that part of the Bureau of Statistics and Accounts which is in charge of the development of a uniform system of accounting for all carriers subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission and the supervision of the board of examiners organized under the authority granted by section 20 of the act to regulate commerce.

The general system of accounting prescribed for carriers was completed when, under date of June 21, 1909, the Commission issued orders promulgating the classification of expenditures for additions and betterments and the form of general balance sheet statement. These orders are the most important accounting orders which the

Commission has thus far promulgated, for the reason that they undertake to define explicitly and in detail the items which make up a statement of corporate assets and liabilities. It is through the rules covered by these orders, also, that the Commission has given expression to its views relative to the correct accounting treatment of abandoned property and of additions and betterments paid for out of current revenue. As a matter of information, it may be added that the rules referred to have no bearing upon the question of the issue of securities, no authority having been conferred upon the Commission for dealing with that question.

Substantial progress has been made during the past year in the development of the work undertaken by the board of examiners. Both special and general examinations have been made. The last report rendered by the board bears the number 112.

It is the purpose of special examinations to gather specific information relative to particular questions; the general examinations, on the other hand, are in the nature of a comprehensive examination of the accounts of carriers. The purpose of general examination is to determine whether or not the accounting orders and general transportation rules and principles laid down by the Commission are in fact observed by the carriers, and to note any irregularities in the practice of the carriers so far as such irregularities are reflected in the accounts. The significance of the work of the board of examiners, however, should not be measured by the number of irregularities reported which may be made the occasion of prosecution. This, undoubtedly, is an important feature of the work undertaken, but it should not be regarded as its chief aim, nor as providing a final test of its success. The ultimate purpose of the task assigned to the board of examiners is to create a condition in which improper practices will not take place because of the certainty of their discovery and exposure, and to provide a means by which the Commission can satisfy itself that such administrative rulings and transportation principles as it lays down are in fact observed by all carriers. The embarrassment which has attended the administration of the Division of Accounts up to the present time arises from the difficulty of securing competent men for the work undertaken and of retaining such men, when secured, against the competitive offers of private corporations.

SPECIAL DOCKET CLAIMS.

The purpose for which this special procedure was organized and the scope of the work have been referred to in previous annual reports of the Commission.

Soon after the passage of the Hepburn Act the Commission announced that in order to assist in the settlement of certain claims of

shippers against carriers, and as a practical means of disposing with promptness of all informal complaints that might otherwise develop into formal complaints, and in connection with which the unreasonableness of the rate or regulation is admitted by the interested carrier or carriers it would on full information authorize adjustment by special order if all the facts and conditions warranted such action. A special docket was, therefore, provided for this branch of the Commission's work, and all claims involving reparation on informal complaint were placed upon this docket, given a number, and investigated. This docket has grown from No. 1, on January 1, 1907 (the date on which the Commission's first reparation order was issued), to No. 8755, on December 1, 1909.

It might be well to state that while cases coming forward on this docket are adjusted in an informal manner, this special docket is not an informal docket except in respect to the form of pleadings and the character of the hearing. The Commission can not on the special docket exceed the authority exercised by it on the formal docket, nor may it omit any requirement with respect to cases on the special docket that the law imposes on it in the disposition of cases on the formal docket. In all cases, whether on the formal or the informal docket, the law requires a complaint and answer and a full hearing, and provides that where damages are awarded the report of the Commission shall include the findings of fact on which the award is made. The Commission has endeavored to simplify the procedure on the special docket by accepting the application of the carrier as the equivalent of a complaint and answer, and by accepting as a sufficient compliance with the requirements of section 15 for a full hearing its admission that the rate charged under the circumstances then existing was unreasonable.

It will therefore be observed that the Commission's action in special reparation cases springs from the same authority which it exercises in formal cases.

The following comparative statement will show the work performed by the claims office since its organization December 11, 1907, by annual periods:

Number of claims denied by the Commission or carrier:

December 11, 1907, to December 1, 1908____.

December 1, 1908, to December 1, 1909–

Total__.

Amount of reparation awarded:

January 1, 1907, to December 11, 1907.

December 11, 1907, to December 1, 1908_.
December 1, 1908, to December 1, 1909‒‒‒‒‒

Total

1,486 1, 199

2,685

$104,700.00 154, 703. 71

311, 978. 71

571, 382.42

STATISTICAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1908.

The Twenty-first Annual Report on the Statistics of Railways in the United States is published as a separate volume. An abstract of this report covering the more important data is here given.

The report is similar in many respects to preceding reports in the series. It should be said, however, that new classifications of accounts, prescribed by the Commission, were in effect during the year under consideration. Important changes also were made in the forms for annual reports of carriers for the year 1908. The results of the changes made in the interests of a standard system of accounts for railways are reflected for the first time in the statistical report for the year, consequently some of the items given are not fully comparable with similar returns in previous reports.

MILEAGE.

In comparing the mileage figures for the year ending June 30, 1908, with corresponding figures for previous years, it should be noted that the summaries for the year covered by this report do not include the mileage of switching and terminal companies. The total mileage owned, all tracks, as returned for such companies for the year 1908, was 3,711.56 miles; assigned as main track, 1,626.29 miles; yard track and sidings, 2,085.27 miles.

The report shows that, disregarding figures for switching and terminal companies, there was on June 30, 1908, a total single-track railway mileage in the United States of 233,677.71 miles, indicating an actual increase over corresponding figures at the end of the previous year of 5,930.18 miles. An increase in mileage exceeding 100 miles appears for Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia.

Substantially complete returns were rendered to the Commission for 230,494.02 miles of line operated, including 8,661.34 miles used under trackage rights.

The comparable figure for total mileage operated, single track, for the previous year (from which have been excluded the returns for switching and terminal companies) is 226,230.19 miles, from which it

appears that the actual increase in single-track mileage reported as operated in 1908 over that for 1907 is 4,263.83 miles.

The aggregate of railway mileage, other than that pertaining to switching and terminal companies, including tracks of all kinds, was 333,645.86 miles. This mileage was thus classified: Single track, 230,494.02; second track, 20,209.05; third track, 2,081.16; fourth track, 1,408.99; yard track and sidings, 79,452.64 miles. The figures indicate that there was an actual increase of 8,705.29 miles over corresponding returns for 1907 in the aggregate length of all tracks, of which 3,191.43 miles, or 36.66 per cent, represented the extension of yard track and sidings.

The number of railways, other than those classed as switching and terminal, for which mileage is included in the report is 2,161. During the year railway companies other than switching and terminal, owning 10,142.95 miles of line, were reorganized, merged, or consolidated.

EQUIPMENT.

From returns made by railways (including those classed as switching and terminal companies), there were 57,698 locomotives in the service of the carriers on June 30, 1908, indicating an increase of 2,310 over corresponding returns for previous year. These locomotives, excepting 1,124, were classified as passenger, 13,205; freight, 33,840; switching, 9,529.

The total number of cars of all classes was 2,244,357, or 117,763 more than on June 30, 1907. This rolling stock was thus assigned: Passenger service, 45,292 cars; freight service, 2,100,784; and company's service, 98,281. Figures given do not include private cars of commercial firms or corporations.

Disregarding in the assignment the equipment reported as in the service of switching and terminal companies, it appears that the average number of locomotives per 1,000 miles of line was 246, and the average number of cars per 1,000 miles of line was 9,680. The number of passenger-miles per passenger locomotive was 2,205,752, and the number of ton-miles per freight locomotive was 6,488,829.

The returns indicate that the number of locomotives and cars in the service of all the railways aggregated 2,302,055, of which 2,214,462 were fitted with train brakes, or an increase of 155,036 in equipment thus fitted over the previous year, and 2,283,784 were fitted with automatic coupler, or an increase of 124,250. Nearly all the locomotives and cars in the passenger service had train brakes, and all but 45 locomotives in the same service had automatic couplers. Less than 1 per cent of cars in passenger service were without automatic couplers. Substantially all of the freight locomotives had train brakes and automatic couplers. Of the 2,100,784 cars in freight service on June 30, 1908, the number fitted with train brakes was 2,044,367 and with automatic couplers 2,085,381.