15
It Is an Axiom of Business That the Country
Is Always Prosperous When the
ailroads of the United States Are Active
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Southern Pacific Modern Passenger Station, Medford, Ore.
THERE is nothing" fundamentally wrong with
the country; there is nothing fundamentally
wrong with the State of Oregon; there is no
fundamental thing wrong with the railroads.
The crops of the country and of the State of
Oregon have been abundant, have sold at good
prices and have speedily moved to the markets
of the world.
The Oregon country served by the Southern
Pacific is in good shape, and its people have
money deposited in the banks.
This company has faith that any necessary
readjustment of relations will be made upon an
equitable basis.
MARVELOUS crops would count for nothing
if forced to lay in the fields until the
farmer could move them to such markets
as he might reach by team. Railroads are nec
essary. The value of the tremendous territory lying in
Western Oregon, with its vast wealth of timber,
coal, mineral and prospective soil values, will be
increased by additional railroad expansion. If
new trunk lines are to be built and extensions are
pushed out, these betterments must be made
through borrowed capital.
In order to borrow the vast sums of money re
quired for these operations the investor must be
assured of fair dividends every year, and that the
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Southern Pacific Modem Passenger Station, McMinnville, Ore,
Southern Pacific Modern Passenger Station at Albany, Ore.
FIGURES THAT TALK
Southern Pacific and subsidiary lines in Oregon
employes number . . . 4,871
Persons in Oregon directly dependent upon Southern ,
Pacific and subsidiary lines (estimating five to
family) 24,355
Mileage, Southern Pacific and subsidiary lines in
Oregon ; 1,200
Annual payroll of Southern Pacific and subsidiary
lines in Oregon... $ 4,877,417
Southern Pacific and subsidiary lines in Oregon pay
in taxes annually 1,211,357
Southern Pacific expended in past three years for
additions and betterments Southern Pacific main
line and branches in Oregon v 990,490
Southern Pacific expended:
On account of the Portland, Eugene & Eastern for
electrification, construction, reconstruction and
new electrical equipment 6,789,164
On account of the Willamette Pacific Eailway
New construction of line Eugene to Marshfield
already expended 7,500,000
To be expended. 2,500,000
On account of the Salem, Falls City & Western for
new Williamette River bridge at Salem and con
struction and betterments 236,163
On account of the Corvallis & Eastern E. E. for
reconstruction and betterments . 177,585
On account of the Pacific Railway & Navigation Co.
for reconstruction and betterments 541,186
On account of the Coos Bay, Boseburg & Eastern
R. . for additions and betterments 31,683
Total .$19,977,628
In these figures are included heavy purchases of Oregon
lumber, ties, poles and other forest products.
earning power of the railroads shall not be dis
turbed. - . .
Without the railroads civilized life itself would
be impossible in this age of the world.
The more highly developed the transportation
facilities of a people the more rapid their devel
opment industrially and socially.
AS ILLUSTRATING the present conditions
of the railroads, the economies they are
now required to practice, and the reason
for the practical abandonment of railroad con
struction, save for a few extensions, the history
of the United States following the panic of 1893
may be recalled. Then almost an identical situa
tion existed.
The traffic of the railroads fell off during the
period following that panic, just as it has during
the past three years. Then freight cars and en
gines were standing idle, as they are today.
Business revived in 1898 and continued to grow
until three years ago. Vast sums of money were
secured and put into new lines, reconstruction of.
roadbeds and improvements necessary to enable
the railroads to keep pace with the rapid growth
of the various communities. Gradually, however,
owing to the reduction in the earning power of "
the railroads through the regulations brought
about by State and Federal legislation, the
steady increase in operating expenses due to ad
vances in wages and prices of all materials, the
dividends of the railroads have dwindled to the
point where it is next to impossible to induce in--vestors
to look with favor upon railroad securities.
All over the country the statement is heard that
investors are fearful of further drastic regula
tion of public utilities..
It is during a time of depression, when traffic
is light, that railroads should repair, equip, ex
tend and get ready for the heavier demands that
always follow such conditions.
When the railroads cannot borrow money the
condition today they must retrench. It is esti
mated that every 12th person in the United States
is directly supported by railroad money. The rail
roads are the greatest purchasers of timber, lum
ber and materials of other kinds in the United
States. When they stop building the effect
reaches into every factory, mill and store.
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All-Steel Electric Train, Southern Pacific Lines in Oregon.
IT IS probable that the Interstate Commerce
Commission would not have granted the re
cently allowed increase in freight rates upon
the request of Eastern railroads had not they felt
that it was just and in the interests of the general
public. The American people are everywhere
beginning to believe that there has been too much
regulation against railroads and too little atten
tion paid to their rights.
Legislatures of the United States passed more
than 300 bills regulating railroads in the sessions
of two years ago.
The Southern Pacific claims full partner
ship with the people of Western Oregon in
the development of . the territory, that all inter
ests are identical, and it points to its three lines
to the Coast, its three valley lines, its electric
zone and the vast sums it is expending in
betterments as conclusive proof that the railroads
of today are working with the property owner
to that end.
If may be truthfully said that no taxpayer in
the State of Oregon has a greater interest in good
government than the Southern Pacific, it being
one of the largest taxpayers in the state.
Think it over.
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Southern Pacific Modern Passenger Station and Well-Kept
Park at Eugene, Oregon.
Southern Pacific Modern Passenger Sl&tion at Corvallis, Ore.