Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

MISCELLANEOUS EARNINGS.

The total miscellaneous earnings, being the earnings from express, mail, extra baggage, station privileges, stock yards, elevators, switching, car mileage, etc., for 1896 were $2,277,821; for the previous year the same were $2,183,993, showing an increase of $93,828.

OPERATING EXPENSES.

The total proportional operating expenses for Minnesota, as reported by the companies for the year ending June 30, 1896, were $20,544,124; for the previous year the same were $17,279,925, showing an increase for 1896 of $3,264,199, or 19 per cent.

It will be noted by examining the reports of the several companies that some of them have apportioned operating expenses to Minnesota on road mileage basis, while others have employed the more correct basis of train mileage.

The average percentage of operating expenses to gross earnings for 1896 was 47.48 per cent.

NET INCOME.

The net income (exclusive of taxes) of the roads from Minnesota business for 1896 was $18,854,004; for the previous year it was $13,672,295, showing an increase of $5,181,709, or 37.9 per cent.

TONS OF FREIGHT MOVED AND AVERAGE RATE.

The total number of tons of freight moved by the respective roads operating in Minnesota, for the entire line, the average distance hauled and the average rate per ton per mile for each road were as follows:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Several of the most important roads in the state fail to give the number of tons hauled, rate per ton per mile, etc., by state lines, so it is impossible to make a comparison of business in this state in this particular.

PASSENGER TRAFFIC.

The total number of passengers carried in Minnesota (exclusive of those carried by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Chicago Great Western roads, which do not report this item) was 4.293,395; the passenger mileage, or passengers carried one mile, was 182,749,750; the average distance traveled was 42.52 miles. The average rate per passenger per mile for each road is given in Table VII. of this report; the rate is about the same as last year.

ACCRUED INTEREST.

The amount of interest accrued on funded debt of all the railroads reporting in Minnesota, for entire line, for the year ending June 30, 1896, was $29,561,799; the amount of interest accrued on current liabilities was $363,739. The amount of interest accrued on funded debt for the previous year was $29,382,321, showing an increase of $169,478 for 1896; the amount of accrued interest on current liabilities for the previous year was $443,397, thus showing a decrease in this item for 1896 of $79,658.

RENTALS PAID.

The amount of rentals paid for use of the tracks and terminals of other companies by the roads reporting was $6,974,491 for 1896. For the previous year the same was $7,352,062, thus showing a decrease for 1896 of $377,571.

DIVIDENDS PAID.

The total amount of dividends paid during the year ending June 30, 1896, by the railroads operating in Minnesota, for entire line, was $10,332,658; for the previous year the dividends paid amounted to $7,928,094, thus showing an increase for 1896 of $2,404,564. The $470,490 included herein as dividend paid by the Chicago Great Western Railway is called in the report "Guaranteed interest on four per cent debenture stock."

The following companies paid the above named dividends for 1896:

Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern, on common stock.
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, on common stock.

Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, on preferred stock.

Chicago & Northwestern, on common stock..

$192,500

1,380,817

1,846,313

1,953,082

Chicago & Northwestern, on preferred stock.

Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, on preferred stock.

1,563,975

[blocks in formation]

787,976

470,490

3,000

400,000

1,250,000

245.000

239,505

$10.332.658

In addition to the above dividends paid by operating railroads, the following two companies, not operating their roads, paid dividends, as follows:

St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba.
St. Paul & Northern Pacific..

$1,200,000 420,000

TAXES.

The total amount of taxes on gross earnings of railroads in Minnesota for the year ending Dec. 31, 1895, certified by the commission to the state auditor, was $1,009,224.40; for the previous year the taxes were $840,109.45, showing an increase for 1895 over 1894 of $169,114.92 in taxes. The gross earnings of the roads for the year ending Dec. 31, 1895, in Minnesota were $36,218,978.53, being an increase over the previous year of $5,745,612.53.

There is a controversy pending between the state and the Chicago Great Western Railway, in regard to the rate per cent of taxes that said road should pay, the state contending that after the road has been in operation for ten years the rate should be three per cent, while the company claim that the charter under which it was built fixed the rate at two per cent for all time. The case is in the hands of the attorney general of the state.

SURPLUS.

The following thirteen companies, operating railroads in Minnesota, report a surplus, after paying operating expenses, taxes, interest, rentals, and dividends, on June 30, 1896, including the surplus from previous years, for entire lines, as follows:

[blocks in formation]

The total surplus for the previous year was $24,103,524, showing an increase of $527,608 over the previous year. The Chicago & Northwestern road has charged $8,723,607 of its surplus to cost of road, and other companies have charged off less amounts in a similar way.

DEFICITS.

The following nine companies, operating railroads in Minnesota, report a deficit on June 30, 1896, including deficits from pre

[blocks in formation]

The total deficit for 1895 was $4,392,513, thus showing an increase for 1896 of $1,915,588.

STOCK AND FUNDED DEBT.

The total amount of stock and funded debt of the railroads reporting to this office, for entire lines, for the year ending June 30, 1896, was $1,093,879,267, viz.: stock, $430,174,635, and funded debt outstanding, $663,704,630. For 1895 the outstanding stock amounted to $428,718,466 and the outstanding funded debt amounted to $660,339,165, thus showing an increase in outstanding stock for 1896 of $1,456,169, and of funded debt of $3,365,465. (Current liabilities which were formerly taken into account as forming a part of the capitalization of the railroads, are not so treated now, but are treated in connection with current assets.)

The stock and bonds of the Great Northern Railway Company are not included in the above totals, for the reason that such capital does not represent investment in railroad, but in other properties. The St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Company's stock and bonds represent the capitalization of the railroad operated by the Great Northern Railway Company in the above statement.

The average amount of stock and bonds per mile is $40,470, and the total proportional amount for Minnesota is $242,655,834.

ACCIDENTS TO PERSONS.

The total number of passengers killed in Minnesota in 1896 was 3, and injured in railway accidents 111; in 1895 3

killed and 36 injured. Of trainmen 23 were killed in 1896 and 163 were injured; in 1895 15 were killed and 170 injured. Of switchmen, flagmen, and watchmen 10 were killed and 47 injured in 1896, while in 1895 12 were killed and 90 were injured. Of other employes 17 were killed and 212 injured in 1896, while in 1895 6 were killed and 128 injured. Of trespassers 62 were killed and 54 were injured in 1896; in 1895 58 were killed and 67 injured. Of others not trespassing, 10 were killed and 21 injured in 1896, while in 1895 8 were killed and 22 injured.

The total number of persons killed in 1896 was 125 and of injured 608. Last year the number killed was 102 and the number injured was 513.

OFFICERS, EMPLOYES, AND THEIR SALARIES.

Some of the rairoads do not report the number of employes and officers by states, as many are employed in more than one state, and the general officers, of course, have a general supervision of the whole system. A statement of the number of officers and employes of the railroads by state lines is, therefore, necessarily only an approximation, and hence of little or no value.

The total number of officers and employes of all the railroads operating in Minnesota, for the entire line, for 1896 was 88,467; their annual compensation was $49,801,876, or an average for each of $563 per year.

The total number so employed last year by the same roads was 74,955, with an annual compensation of $44,593,941, or an average of $594 per year. It thus appears that 13,512 more men were employed by said railroads in 1896 than in 1895, owing, of course, to the increase of business.

WORK OF THE COMMISSION.

During the year ending Nov. 30, 1896, there has been but one formal complaint made to the commission which involved a hearing, the taking of testimony and an official order of the commission. This was the complaint made by Hon. J. F. Jacobson against the Willmar & Sioux Falls Railway Company and the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Company. The object of the complaint was to secure a transfer track at the crossing of said roads at Hanley Falls, and it is based upon chapter 91 of the General Laws of 1895. The decision and order of the commission is given elsewhere in this report.

From this decision and order the companies interested have appealed to the district court. It is contended upon the part of

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »