EMPLOYEES. The total number of persons reported as on the pay rolls of the railways of the United States on June 30, 1908 (including 21,969 employees in the service of carriers classed as switching and terminal companies), was 1,458,244. As compared with returns for June 30, 1907, there was a decrease in the total number of railway employees of 213,830. Of the 1,436,275 railway employees other than those in the service of switching and terminal companies, there was an average of 623 per 100 miles of line. There were 57,688 enginemen, 61,215 firemen, 43,322 conductors, and 114,580 other trainmen. There were 46,221 switch tenders, crossing tenders, and watchmen. The total number of railway employees (disregarding a small nuinber not assigned and those employed by switching and terminal companies) was apportioned among the five general divisions of railway employment, as follows: For maintenance of way and structures, 442,936; for maintenance of equipment, 290,608; for traffic expenses, 24,817; for transportation expenses, 620,584; and for general expenses, 53,439. The report includes summaries showing the average daily compensation of eighteen classes of employees for a series of years, and also the aggregate amount of compensation returned for the several classes. The total amount of wages and salaries reported as paid to railway employees (including those in the service of switching and terminal companies) during the year ending June 30, 1908, was $1,051,632,225. CAPITALIZATION OF RAILWAY PROPERTY. On June 30, 1908, the par value of the amount of railway capital outstanding, according to the returns of carriers filing reports with the Commission, exclusive of those classed as switching and terminal companies, was $16,767,544,827. Of this amount, $12,840,091,462 was outstanding in the hands of the public, which, if assigned on a mileage basis, shows a capitalization of $57,230 per mile of line. Of the total capital oustanding, there existed as stock $7,373,212,323, of which $5,910,351,430 was common and $1,462,860,893 was preferred; the remaining part, $9,394,332,504 represented funded debt, consisting of mortgage bonds, $6,610,189,953; collateral trust bonds, $1,076,670,441; plain bonds, debentures, and notes, $835,551,354; income bonds, $258,584,016; miscellaneous obligations $268,743,958; and equipment trust obligations, $344,592,782. Of the total capital stock outstanding, $2,529,841,583, or 34.31 per cent, paid no dividends. The amount of dividends declared during the year was $386,879,362, being equivalent to 7.99 per cent on dividend-paying stock. For the year ending June 30, 1908, the amount of dividends declared was $308,088,627. Of the total amount of stock outstanding, $7,373,212,323, 6.30 per cent paid from 1 to 4 per cent; 7.64 per cent, from 4 to 5 per cent; 11.32 per cent, from 5 to 6 per cent; 12.40 per cent, from 6 to 7 per cent; 13.51 per cent, from 7 to 8 per cent; and 14.52 per cent paid 8 per cent or more. The total amount of funded debt (omitting equipment trust obligations) that paid no interest was $655,598,627, or 7.24 per cent. Of mortgage bonds, $487,372,930, or 7.37 per cent; of collateral trust bonds, $14,119,518, or 1.31 per cent; of plain bonds, debentures, and notes, $29,314,941, or 3.51 per cent; of income bonds, $120,424,356, or 46.57 per cent; and of miscellaneous obligations, $4,366,882, or 1.62 per cent, paid no interest. PUBLIC SERVICE OF RAILWAYS. The number of passengers carried by railways during the year ending June 30, 1908, was 890,009,574. The corresponding number for the year ending June 30, 1907 (exclusive of the relatively small number of passengers reported as carried by switching and terminal companies) was 867,169,311. The actual increase in the number of passengers carried during the year ending June 30, 1908, over that for 1907 was, therefore, 22,840,263. The increase in the number of passengers carried for 1907 over that for 1906 was 75,959,017. The passenger-mileage, or number of passengers carried 1 mile, on the basis of compilation for 1908, was 29,082,836,944. The corresponding return for 1907, exclusive of the number of passengers carried 1 mile, as reported by switching and terminal companies for that year, was 27,682,738,932. The increase in the number of passengers carried 1 mile for 1908 over the corresponding figure for 1907 was 1,400,098,012. The increase in the number of passengers carried 1 mile in 1907 over that for 1906 was 2,551,313,199 passengermiles. The number of tons of freight shown as carried (including freight received from connections), as compiled for the year ending June 30, 1908, was 1,532,981,790, while the corresponding figure for the year ending June 30, 1907, exclusive of the tonnage reported, as carried by switching and terminal companies for that year, was 1,718,442,600, from which it appears that the decrease in the number of tons carried in 1908 under the corresponding figure for 1907 was 185,460,810. The increase in the number of tons carried in 1907 over the corresponding return for 1906 was 164,962,440 tons. The ton-mileage, or the number of tons carried 1 mile, as shown for the year ending June 30, 1908, was 218,381,554,802 ton-miles. Excluding the returns of switching and terminal companies, the total ton-mileage as reported for the year ending June 30, 1907, was 236,534,974,172, from which it will be seen that the decrease in the ton-mileage for the year ending June 30, 1908, under the return for 17250-105 1907 was 18,153,419,370 ton-miles. The increase in the number of tons carried 1 mile in 1907 over that for 1906 was 20,723,838,862 ton-miles. The average receipts per passenger per mile, as computed for the year ending June 30, 1908, were 1.937 cents; the average receipts per ton per mile, 0.754 cent. The passenger service train revenue per train-mile was $1.27.073; the freight revenue per train-mile was $2.65.307. The number of tons carried 1 mile per mile of road, as computed on the basis used for the year ending June 30, 1908, was 974,654 ton-miles. The average cost of running a train 1 mile was $1,47.340. The ratio of operating expenses to operating revenues was 69.75 per cent. The significant general averages shown above for a number of reasons are not strictly comparable with those published for previous years. REVENUES AND EXPENSES. The figures for the year under consideration, as applying to operating revenues and operating expenses, have been compiled from reports of railways kept in conformity with the requirements of the new classifications pertaining to said accounts prescribed by the Commission, effective on July 1, 1907. A number of important changes have been made in the annual report forms for 1908, particularly in the grouping of certain items in connection with the Income Account and the Profit and Loss Account. The figures which follow do not include returns applying to carriers classed as switching and terminal. The changes in the income account submitted in the report under consideration are so far reaching in their results, in a number of instances, as to impair direct or close comparison with figures for similar items contained in previous statistical reports. The operating revenues of the railways in the United States, on the basis of an average mileage operated of 227,257.02 miles, were, for the year ending June 30, 1908, $2,393,805,989; their operating expenses were $1,669,547,876. The following figures present a statement of the operating revenues in detail: Freight revenue Passenger revenue Mail revenue Express revenue_. Excess baggage revenue and milk revenue (on passenger trains) Special service train revenue and miscellaneous transportation revenue Total revenue from operations other than transportation, together with a small amount of unclassified operating rev enues $1, 655, 419, 108 566, 832, 746 48, 517, 563 58,692, 091 The operating revenues averaged $10,533 per mile of line. 12, 838, 647 3, 480, 738 19, 715, 089 7,082, 526 21, 227, 481 The operating expenses, assigned to the five general classes, were: Maintenance of way and structures__ Maintenance of equipment__. Traffic expenses Transportation expenses_ General expenses Undistributed The operating expenses averaged $7,346 per mile of line. $329, 373, 367 368, 353, 798 48, 262, 758 868, 252, 168 55, 179, 174 126, 611 There is given below a condensed income account and profit and loss account of operating roads, which is followed by a similar statement for leased lines. For a number of items, such as dividends, taxes, etc., both statements must be taken into consideration, in order to learn the aggregate of such payments sustained by the railways of the United States. The complete report includes a summary showing the total taxes and assessments of the railways of the United States by States and Territories; also an analysis showing the basis of assessment. Condensed income account and profit and loss account of operating roads for the year ending June 30, 1908.a a Does not include returns for switching and terminal companies, and excludes a relatively small amount of data for roads the returns for which were not sufficiently complete for use in this summary. Includes $1,660 "Net deficit" for which gross revenues and expenses were not reported. Condensed income account and profit and loss account of leased roads for the year ending June 30, 1908.a a Does not include returns for switching and terminal companies, and excludes a relatively small amount of data for roads, the returns for which were not sufficiently complete for use in this summary. STATISTICS OF ACCIDENTS. The data given below has been prepared from the annual reports of carriers to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The figures vary slightly from those contained in the Quarterly Accident Bulletins published by the Commission, for reasons that may be easily explained. The total number of casualties to persons on the railways for the year ending June 30, 1908, was 114,418, of which 10,188 represented the number of persons killed and 104,230 the number injured. These figures do not include accidents reported by switching and terminal companies as follows: Employees, 65 killed, 880 injured; passengers, 2 killed, 36 injured; other persons, 58 killed, 88 injured; total, 125 killed, 1,004 injured. Casualties occurred among three general classes of railway employees, in the service of carriers other than those classed as switching and terminal, as follows: Trainmen, 1,842 killed, and 35,821 injured; switch tenders, crossing tenders, and watchmen, 137 killed, 1,068 injured; other employees, 1,426 killed, 45,598 injured. The casualties to employees coupling and uncoupling cars were: Employees killed, 222; injured, 3,378. The casualties connected with coupling and uncoupling cars are assigned as follows: Trainmen killed, 198; injured, 3,116; switch tenders, crossing tenders, and watchmen killed 9; injured, 160; other employees killed, 15; injured, 102. |