THE Railways and the Politicians. a showing of Railway Operations in Texas, including RBCBipts and ExpBiidltuiBS for Tbr YBars Past, compiled from the Official Records of the State Government, by u . vJ". T i-A-TsT-hü. AUSTIN: Eugene Von Boeckmann. 1890. Railways and the Politicians. a showing of Railway Operations in Texas, including Receipts and Expeitilltures tor Ten Years Past, compiled from the Official Records of the State Government, by J". CT. AUSTIN: Eugene Von Eoeckmann. 1890. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1890, By J. J. EANE and J. J. TOBIN, In the office of the Eibrarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. This publication purports to give a correct and reliable exhibit of the financial and business operations of Texas railroads over a number of years and their present condition. It is mainly com¬ piled from the records of the State Comptroller's office. The annual reports of railway companies in part comprise these rec¬ ords. These reports are not received and filed unless they have been attested by the proper officers under oath, as required by law; when so received they are accepted as reliable by the public and by the stockholders. They are found to tally and agree with the reports of the officers of the companies to the Interstate Com¬ merce Commission and to their several boards of directors and to their stockholders. The same inquiries are made on the part of the State, by the Comptroller, and covering the same subject matter as are made by the Interstate Commere Commission. The questions relate to precisely the same points—and are answered as fully as required,—that are covered by the questions of State railroad engineers and State railroad commissions in other States. A few important companies have not responded fully, the officials of such companies having no data. Railroads having changed hands by sale or having been reconstructed and reorganized by court management, and coming into the posses¬ sion of new officials, their records are often found incomplete or in a state of confusion. However, the points touched upon in this publication are fully represented in the reports of the com¬ panies for the past year and they comprise everything in the operation of the railroads that in the least bears upon the so called " railroad question." This work omits the purely mill roads, confining their business to transportation for the mills and - L'l ' having no transactions with the public. It also omits the opera¬ tions of the Galveston and Western and the Fort Worth and Rio Grande, whose reports were not received by the comptroller in time for his annual exhibit. No report whatever was received from the Rio Grande and Eagle Pass Railway Company. As the entire mileage of these lines is only some 83 miles and their business small, the omissions do not affect the result of the showing. It will be noted that the summaries here given do not correspond exactly with those made by the comptroller, which is explained by including in this work the Texas & Pacific mileage and other data the comptroller omits. The differences however are immaterial. From the reports of the railroads a number of years the politi¬ cians have drawn their conclusions, using only garbled extracts. This exhibit accepts the testimony they tender—the annual re¬ ports—but gives the entire testimony without reserve. —5— TABLE NO. I, Showing the Mileage of the Roads reported to the Comptroller as in opera¬ tion in the year 1888-'89. Name of Company Main Side Track. Track. Total Miles. Miles. Tenths Miles. Tenths Miles. Tenths 76 00 i 60 77 60 i 01 i gi 12 go i 60 13 6g 465 24' 42 50 507 74 41 go 2 55 43 55 936 90 110 10 1047 00 50 gg 24 00 74 go 958 gg 99 99 1057 99 56 50 5 5° 62 og S°7 gg 71 19 578 19 192 gg 14 00 206 gg 775 40 99 20 874 6g 6 70 83 7 53 883 02 90 45 973 47 91 00 5 80 96 80 16 94 4 02 20 96 15 og i 00 16 og 22 50 22 50 20 15 10 55 30 70 560 ig 34 10 594 20 103 57 93 104 50 640 30 61 70 702 go 100 41 6 79 107 20 104 16 27 65 131 81 966 10 135 00 iioi 10 160 80 1 '5 62 176 42 230 og 10 07 240 07 38 gg 1 2 00 40 go 7 90 i 40 9 30 51 00 45 51 45 53 go 53 og 10 . 00 to go 8151 ; 7c '880 ' 59 9032 ; 29 Austin & Northwestern | Brownsville & Gulf Central Texas & Northwestern Fort Worth & Denver City Fort Worth & New Orleans i Fort Worth & Rio Grande Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Galveston, Houston & Henderson. .. Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Gulf, Western Texas & Pacific Houston & Texas Central Houston, East & West Texas International & Great Northern Louisiana Western (Extension) Missouri, Kansas & Texas New York, Texas & Mexican < Paris & Great Northern Paris, Marshall & Sabine Pass Rio Grande Rio Grande & El Paso San Antonio & Aransas Pass Sabine & East Texas St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Southern Kansas Texas & New Orleans Texas & Pacific Texas-Mexican Texas Central Texas Sabine Valley & Northwestern Texas Transportation Texas Trunk Texas Western Texarkana & Fort Smith railway mileage. The foregoing table shows a total of 8151.70 miles of main track and S80.59 miles of side track. It does not include all the railway mileage in the State, owing to the failure of four small lines to make reports to the comptroller. These lines are added, viz: Total above reported 8151.70 miles Rio Grande & Eagle Pa.ss 27.00 " Fort Worth & Rio Grande 40.00 " Galveston Western 13.71 " Galveston Wharf Company 8.00 " Total operated in 1888-9 8240.41 miles Before the close of the year covered by these reports and not included in them, the G. W. T. & P. had built and in operation a branch from Victoria to Beeville, about 54 miles, and two other lins had been extended and the track laid a distance estimated at 65 miles, which, with 29 miles of lumber railways, make a total 8388.41 miles of railroad in the State. The mileage reported to the comptroller for taxation or road and rolling stock differs from the foregoing, as in some cases, it appears, sidings are included, and in other instances only main track is rendered, and as the 496 miles of the I. & G. N., exempt from taxation, is not ren¬ dered. The table of mileage herewith is believed to be as nearly correct and complete as any statement that has yet been published. In statements, heretofore made, an excess above the actual amount has been claimed, the error being in duplicating the line between El Paso and Sierra Blanca, jointly operated by the T. & P. and the Southern Pacific, and the line from Fort Worth north, jointly operated by the T. & P. and the M., K. & T. The mileage of former years, adopted in the comparative state¬ ments contained in the publication, has been obtained from the tax reports in part, from contemporaneous statements in the press, from time tables of the roads, from railroad manuals, and for the two years 1884 and 1885 from the State engineer's reports, which, however, are corrected, his additions being incorrect. —7— TABLE NO. 2. Texas Railways by Branches and Divisions. MILES. Austin & Northwestern (main line) 74.00 Marble Falls Branch ...— 2.00 Brownsville & Gulf Railway i-oi Central Texas & Northwestern Railway 12.00 Fort Worth & Denver City, (main line) 449-24 Panhandle City Branch 16.00 Fort Worth & New Orleans Railway 41 -oo Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railway 50.00 Galveston, Harrisburg & San .\ntonio, (main line) 850.00 Eagle Pass Branch 35-3° Gonzales Branch 12.30 La Grange Branch 31 -oo Harrisburg Tap 8.00 Gulf Colorado & Santa Fe, (main line) 417-69 Branch .-Vlvin to Houston 25.66 " Somervell to Conroes 73-59 " Temple to San Angelo 227.04 " Coleman to Junction 6.26 " Cleburne to Dallas 53-33 " Dallas to Paris 100.90 " Ladonia to Honey Grove 11.80 " Cleburne to Weatherford 41-73 Gulf, West Texas & Pacific, (main line) 56.50 Beeville Branch 55-oo Houston, East & West Texas Railway 192.00 Houston & Texas Central, (mainline) 338.00 Austin Branch 115.00 Waco Branch 54-oo International & Great Northern, (main line) 647.00 Branch, Troupe to Mineóla 44-40 " Houston to Columbia 50.00 " Phelps to Huntsville 8.00 " Round Rock to Georgetown 10.00 " Overton to Plenderson 16.00 Louisiana Western Extension Railway 6.70 Lake Creek Railway 8.00 Missouri, Kansas & Texas (in Texas) Denison to Henrietta iit-5o Fort Worth to Boggy 251.15 Denison to Mineóla (02.40 Denton to Dallas 31-3° Dallas to Greenville 52.20 McKinney to Jefferson i53-'o Trinity to Colmesneil 66.43 ¿tí.í. -Ai'i t —8— MILES. Dallas to Lancaster 14.80 Echo to Belton 7.14 San Marcos to Lockhart 16.00 Whitesboro to Fort Worth 71.00 New York, Texas & Mexican Kailway 91.00 Paris & Great Northern Railway 16.94 Paris, Marshall & Sabine Pass Railway 15.00 Rio Grande Railway 22.50 Rio Grande & El Paso Railway 20.15 Rio Grande & Eagle Pass Railway 27.00 Sabine & East Texas Railway 103.57 San Antonio & Aransas Pass (main line) 148.50 Branch, Gregory to Corpus Christi 14.00 " Skidmore to Alia 43.00 " San Antonio to Kerrville 71.00 " Kennedy to Wallis 131.60 " Wallis to Houston 4S-5o " Yoakum to West Point 50.00 " Ingleside to Ingleside Junction 4.50 " Aransas Junction to Rockport 45-50 " Shiner to Luling 40.00 St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas, (main line) 304.60 Branch, Mt. Pleasant to Sherman 109.90 '• Commerce to Fort Worth 97.20 '• Tyler to Lufkin 88.60 " Corsicana to Hillsboro 40.00 Southern Kansas Railway 100.41 Texarkana & Fort Smith Railway 10.00 Texas Central, (main line) 178.00 Branch, Garrett to Roberts 52.00 Texas Mexican Railway 160.80 Texas Mexican Northern Railway i.oo Texas & New Orleans Railway 104.16 Texas & Pacific, (main line) 777.00 Transcontinental Division 244.00 Marshall to State Line 20.00 Texas Sabine Valley 8c Northwestern Railway .... 38.00 Texas Transportation Railway 7.90 Texas Trunk Railway 51.00 Texas Western Railway 53-00 Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railway 40.00 Galveston & Western Railway 13-25 Galveston Wharf Co. Railway 8.00 Total Miles 8,412.35 The foregoing includes mileage not reported to the Comptroller, and completed mileage during the past year, which is not con¬ tained in that operated the whole year. s —9— TABLE NO. 3. Capital Stock Paid In aiul Cost of Construction. NAMK OF2COMPANY. , '5.0"^ o|,i art 0 S 0 A tj ♦Austin & Northwestern Brownsville & Gulf Central Texas & Northwestern East Line & Red River Fort Worth & Denver City Fort Worth & New Orleans Fort Worth & Rio Grande Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio. Galveston, Houston & Henderson Galveston & Western ,. Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Gulf, Western Texas & Pacific Houston & Texas Central ♦Houston, Eastern & Western Texas .. International & Great Northern Louisiana Western Missouri, Kansas & Texas New York. Texas & Mexican -Paris & Great Northern Paris, Marshall & S. Pass Rio Grande Rio Grande & Eagle Pass Rio Grande & El Paso San Antonio & Aransas Pass Sabine & East Texas St. I.ouis, Arkansas & Texas Southern Kansas Texas & New Orleans Texas & Pacific Texas-Mexican Texas Central Texas, Sabine Valley & Northwestern.. Texas Transportation Texas Trunk "♦Texas Western Texarkana cfc Fort Smith ♦Cost of construction estimated. $ 724,000 25,000 200,000 8,985,000 300,000 24.765.794 I.000,000 $ 9,526 31 $ 24.752 47 16,666 66 850,000' In.184 21 25.000 24.752 47 310,927 25,910 58 19,31261' 17,488,256 37.58760 7.317 07' 495.339 12,081 43 26,433 55; 52.867,368 56.427 97 20,000 00, 3,000,000 60,000 00 4,560,000 500,000 7.726,900! i,5oo,oooj 9.755.000, 50,0001 46,410,000 630,040! 500,000 150,000 225,200 4.759 91 8,849 55 15.240 43 7,812 50 12.579 44. 7,462 681 29,515 94Í 6.925 51 10,000 00Î 11,342 22; 23.776.277! 497.3011 27,679.903! 3.360,000; 27,945,714' 184,000 39.829.40O: 2,169,369 439.559 190,000 403,082 24,818 6b 8,801 55 54,595 46 17,500 00 36,042 96 27,462 68 25,448 02 23.839 55 12,666 6b 17 914 75 200,000l 5,000,000' 300,000! 16,081,000 604,500 5,000,000! 38,710,900: 2.500,000 200.000, 50,000 23.400 750,000 9.925 55 8.926 97 2,895 62 25.114 78 6,020 31 48,003 07 40,069 24 15.547 26 860 86 1.315 78 2,962102 27.550 2,755 00 11177,454,284! $346,659,473 700,000 17,435,944 2,575,000 22,007,836 2,187,500 8,337.410 8O,477.I55' 4.979..055 4,899,000 475.000 335.078 636,000 100,000 34.739 45 31.135741 24,862 41 34.371 13 21,785(67 80,044 26 83.301:06 30,964127 21,300 00 12.500 00 42.414 93 12,000 00 10,000 00 TT"; —10-- TABLE NO. 4. Comparative Statement.—Railroad Stock.—Amount actually outstanding. Year Miles Amount of Stock Ending of Stock paid in. per Mile. Sept. 30. Railway. 1882 3935 5124,055,137 831,551 47 1883 5049 144,246,076 28,569 23 1884 5638 141,724,881 25,137 43 1885 59°7 151,028,419 25,567 70 1886 6522 156,384,297 23,977 96 J887 7312 161,965,824 22,150 68 1888 7656 171,034,468 22,340 31 1889 8151 177,454,284 21,770 88 Memoranda.—The average capitalization of railway com¬ panies in the United States is $29,935.00 per mile, and in Texas $21,770.88 per mile. The difference in favor of Texas amounts to $8,164.12 per mile or $66,545,742 le.ss of capital saddled upon Texas than would be, had the watering process obtained here, instead of the freez¬ ing out process. The extent of the freezing out experience investors in Texas railroads have endured, in the past eight years, is represented by the difference between $31,551.47 per mile and $21,770.88 per mile, which, upon the whole amount of capital now reported, is estimated at $79,721,747.97. There is no dividend paying railroad in the State, so that stock¬ holders may well have con.sented to the reduction of capitaliza¬ tion, which is evident, and which should effectually close the mouths of the politicians who have presumed upon public ignor¬ ance in charging that the companies had long been systematically watering their stock. [See remarks on Railway Bonds.] —11— TABLE NO. 5. Indebtedness. NAME OK COMPANY. INDKBTKDNKSS. Bonds. Coupons. $ 4,<(81 001$ 12; d' .(Qti ,000 ,000 .000 .078 30,000 00 259.170 00 19,787 50 '407,7'67'0O 105,840 00 95,172 00 '166, 1.251, 1,238, 1,587, •24. 789. 1,128, 379. 1,968, 690 61 972 18 891 OS 139 97 11-9 12 969 00' ,148 00' 419 00 ,1-20 00 116,800 07 87,733 25 8.643,705 19 709,000 CO 27,801',921'45 2,148,788 46 '23,191025*76 5,040 34 24.586,801 21 2.473,270 Ü0 16,812,972 09 149,437 00 52.'-7I,244 56 1,709.376 24 .•■;:í7,00() DO 168,000 00 175,547 00 696.600 61 12,696,972 18 3'313.891 01 19,026,309 97 1.6-26,976 62 2,993,969 00 51,866,921 00 2,825.259 00 5,162.292 00 475,000 00 335,068 00 116,800 07 $233,869,422 810.854,564 89 $18,r>l.-),-.-26 93i|263,m2l3 91 Comparative Statement of indebtedness. Miles Amox'nt of Bonds; Amount of VE.4R ENDING SEPTEMBER 30. ok 1 Bonds V Railway outstanding. ' per mile. 1 ! 1882 3935 $133,447,903 $33,910 52 1883 5049 163,679,728! 32,418 23 1884 5638 164,087,467 29,103 84 1885 5907 181,173.794 30.671 03 1886 6522 201,678,638 30,922 82 • 1887 7312 221,247,469 30,258 13 1888 7656 221,409,3401 28,919 71 1889 8151 233,869,422' 28,692 II Within the period covered by the foregoing table, the average amount of bonds per mile standing against Texas railroads has been reduced $5,218.41 per mile. In the same period the average rate of interest has been re¬ duced on the outstanding bonds from about 6}i per cent, to about 5^ per cent. The reduction in the average amount of bonds per mile has been mainly cau.sed by the bankruptcy of companies and their reorganization in which bonds were wiped out' and scaled. Average interest is lower on account of substitution of lower rate bonds in reorganization for higher rates, and in recent issues on new roads a lower rate is secured. The average amount of bonds and stock per mile is $15,098.85 less than in 1882. —13— TABLE NO. 7. Earnings Year Ending Oct. /, / Name of Company. Austin <6: Northwestern Brownsville «fe Gulf. Central Tex. & Northwestern.. East Line & Red River Fort Worth 1883 5,049 29,943,567 18S4 5,638 27,520.709 4,899 04 Total gross receipts 1885 r.,907 26,214,200 4,436 82 1886 (),522 26,128,537 29,312,536 4,006 21 seven years. 18 1,245, 94, 900, s: l,0.5(r 75. 16. m 639 124 1,130 79, 175, 2,516: 15o: 237. 23, 33: ,455 00 ,080 00 ,480 00 ,040 00 ,204 80 ,850 00 ,950 00 ,360 00 ,400 00 .000 00 .475 00 ,500 00 .080 00 ,150 00 .37.5 26 ,5.50 30 ,000 00 ,930 00 ,750 00 ,507 80 $12.192,118 16 ^ X * X n «3 * « > X c c 18,891 58 582 41 12,045 06 192,537 08 ¿,708 26 20,768 76 3,825 55 $449,541 34 = = « » 0/ S 4; - .>5 u a o ^ ^ C3 192,182 64,. 60,435 7S 1,443,187 66 63,510 93 l,.328,2r5 0.5 46,675 63 492,985 14 23,823 00 195,359 54 "r,30i",0ir94 105,696 56 16,659 17 7,934 59 is,082*20 198,.533 10 212,741 44 1,318,368 09 104,423 87 1,368,426 83 308,534 78 237,689 96 3,104 09 34,348 67 30,661 94 6,211 35 $8,926,692 3i *And exclusive of cost of fuel of some nine companies, amount not precisely as¬ certained. The interest column shows the amount of interest accruing, of which, however, a large part was unpaid, as appears in the debt statement coupon column. ( —16— TABLE NO. 9. Earnmgs, §28,2oy,ç26.— Where they went!! Wages and salaries $ 18,669,300 Taxes paid 645,587 Floating debt paid 1,192,858 Fuel, cost of * 2,746,944 Judgments, for damages, etc., (estimated) 500,000 Iron, lumber, and material used (estimated) 1,898,481 Interest paid 2,452,444 Cash hung up in Receivers' hands 602,812 Total $ 28,207,926 recapitulation. Expended in Texas % 25,158,170 Paid interest 2,452,444 Receivers' hold-up 602,812 Total $ 28,207,926 Excess of expenses and interest over earnings of twenty-fouF companies $ 8,926,692 Excess of earnings over expenses and interest, eight companies 449,541 Net Deficit, ( See Table No. 9 and 10 ) $ 8,477,151 [Note.—The foregoing shows expenses, less interest paid, to have been ¿25,158,170, but omits certain incidental expenses which comprise an unknown though not large amount. (See Comptroller's report, page 840 and explanations thereof in this publication). The difference between the amount expendedjin Texas as shown above, $25,158,170, that given by the Comp¬ troller is explained by the fact that the foregoing includes cost of fuel not estimated in the Comptroller's figures for several companies and does not include interest payments which are ^-17— reported in the Comptroller's figures of expenses. The Table shows the interest paid, in addition to the $25,153,170 of ex¬ penses, to have been $2,452,444—not a cent to stockholders— and paid out of the State about two per cent, of the interest for that year accruing on railway obligations. Of the earnings $25,755,482 was expended in Texas supporting 27,000 employes and their families, in paying State, county and municipal taxes, in paying damages, and for lumber and material, fuel, and float¬ ing debt.] ( See tables 10 and 11 giving statement of taxes and wages and salaries paid.) \ TABLE NO. 10. Salaries and Wai>-es of Railzuay Officers and Employes 7 exas. m Name of employment. Numberof' persons. : Average yearly pay per capita. General oñicers General freight and passenger agents Land oflice Auditors and assistant auditors Traveling auditors Clerks in general oflice Porters and and watchmen Traveling agents Engineers and superintendents Firemen Train masters and dispatchers l>epot Masters. Road masters and fuel agents Storekeepers and clerks .* Superintendents' clerks District treasurers and paymasters.. Station agents and assistants Conductors Brakemen Telegraph repairers Telegraph oiierators Clerks, foremen, etc., at shops Mechanics in shops Foremen and laborers Engineers and firemen Pumpers. Work hands Bridge repairers Work train* Masonry gangs Marter meclianics, master car builders and as¬ sistants.... Machinists and blacksmiths.. Car repairers, carpenters, etc, Yardinasters and switchmen. Other employes. Total oiflcers and * See ('omplri)]le given is based upon 151 ■ 33 42 ÜÓI) 281 57 55 185 124 3 ; 8() ¡ 31 i i,u4o ; 734 1 1,503 ' 2« 510 i 176 ! 683 I 5»,3Üít 1,891 1 247 1,968 I 1,156 627 205 36 1,836 1,307 682 042 ^4,-250 3,500 3,600 1,800 1,200 9U0 540 1.500 1,260 720 1,500 720 1,5(X) 6O0 900 1,800 720 1,080 720 720 600 540 780 480 990 450 47)0 780 390 780 1,500 858 540 720 510 çÇ> œ a§g »641,750 115,500 151,200 45,000 26,400 599,400 151,746 85,500 69,300 133,200 x8d,000 2,160 111,000 22,200 77,400 55,800 1,396,800 792,720 1,080.000 14,400 306,000 95,040 532,740 4,468,320 1,872,090 111,150 885,600 901,680 244,530 159,900 54,000 1,575,280 705,780 491,040 508,680 J employes, 27,644. Annual pay, $18,6()9,.)00, . er's report. ]»age 341, for list ol'employes. The rate of pay above the pay roll of companies, and average run out. —19— TABLE NO. 11. Taxes Paid by Texas Railroads for the Year Ending September jo, i8ço. Name Of Company. Amount Paid. Austin & North Western ^ 3,093 99 Brownsville & Gulf 173 82 Central Texas & Northwestern 690 24 Fort Worth & Denver City — 21,985 73 Fort Worth & New Orleans 2,399 25 Galveston, Houston & Henderson 14,273 76 Galveston, Harrisburg: & San Antonio 56,295 00 Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe 85,976 34 Gulf, West Texas et Pacifle 2,777 47 Houston, East & West Texas 9,684 00 Houston & Texas Central 93,898 35 International & Great Northern ... 44,923 41 Louisiana Western - 489 93 Missouri, Kansas & Texas 58,988 83 New York, Texas & Mexican 5,033 63 Paris & Great Northern 1,112 78 Paris, Marshall & Sabine Pass 579 GO Rio Grande. ... 1,500 00 Rio Grande & El Paso 3,752 54 Sabine & East Texas 6,9-52 63 Kansas Southern 4,274 99 Texas Central 13,382 15 Texas Mexican 5,772 44 Texas et New Orleans 18,042 71 Texas, Sabine Valley et Northwestern 700 78 Texas Transportation. 1,000 28 Fort Worth & Rio Grande 3,369 96 Taxes paid as per report :5460.130 01 ESTIMATED ON BASIS OF THE FOREGOING. St. Louis, Arkansas et Texas $ 53,529 60 Texas & Pacific 80,294 40 San Antonio & Aransas Pass 43,492 80 Texas Trunk 4,182 00 Texas Western 2,788 00 Galveston & Western 1,170 96 Total taxes paid $645,587 76 The year covered by the railway reports contained in this publication is known and remembered with gratification by tax¬ payers as that in which the State revenue tax was reduced to ten cents on the $100 of property. Notwithstanding this low rate the railroad companies contributed $645,587.76 to the sup¬ port of State, county, and municipal government in Texas that year. The railroads paid the State per cent, of their gross earnings while standing off nearly ail other creditors. It is con¬ tended that railroad property is not rendered for taxation at its full cash value in Texas. No other class of property is so ren¬ dered. In States having railroad commissioners many railway '« —20— lines are rendered for taxation at greatly less values than the average in Texas. The roads of Texas the past year paid an amount equal to ten per cent, of the State tax on property. The State of Texas collects its dividend from the companies with the greatest regularity, having as it were about twenty-five million dollars of preferred stock in the syndicate on it collects an average of 2)^ per cent, profit annually whether the com¬ panies are in court or out and whether they pay mortgage dibits or not. One railroad company's annual taxes amount to 20 per cent, of its gross earnings, another's tax to nearly 10 per cent, of its gross earnings, and others 4 to 5 per cent. Four com¬ panies pay State and local taxes amounting on an average to 4 per cent, of their gross earnings, and the property of these companies is rendered for taxation at about the average. I —21— TABLE NO. 12. Mileage, Area, and Pofidation of 8g Counties Having Adequate Railway Facililies. Counties. Anderson . Angelina.. Austin Bastrop ... Bell Bexar Bosque Bowie Brazoria .. Brazos .... Brewster. . Burleson .. Cass Cherokee.. Clay Coleman... Collin Colorado.,. Cooke Coryell Dallas Denton ... DeWitt ... Duval P^astland.. Ellis El Paso Falls Fannin . Fayette Fort Bend. Galveston . Goliad .... Gonzales .. Grayson... Gregg Grimes ... Guadalupe Hardeman Harris Harrison .. Henderson Hill Hopkins .. Houston ... 48. 41 112 87 til 8'j 201. 124 58 5ÍI 09 07 241 30 80 100 102 77 80 37 170 8; 32 38 2*28 62 4 93 72 37 d oc) o á8 18,086 6,205 17,190 19,996 27,706 47,210 11,498 12,989 12,291 12,203 324i 13,104; 20,122! 18,007; 5,035; 4,428' 30,998 17,353 22.230 13,006 77,323 20,740 11,952 6,072 6,566 31,578 14,2n 17,044 33,872 34,(;40 11,220 26,379 5,152 19,988 43,?.90 9,709 19,140 16,123 1,230 3S,344 26,922 12, 26 415 20.374 20,082 .255 c3 ^ Í I ÚÍ 1,088 878 711 928 1,025 1.175 1,041 915 1,479 519 2,278 615 951 1,008 1,122 1,243 884 960 933 960 900 909 918 1,759 909 969 8,460 776 891 963 889 673 823 1,077 968 279 781 711 1,180 1,800 899 965 1,030 755 1.176 Counties. Hunt Jefferson Johnson Jeff Davis Karnes Kauttman .. Kinney Lamar Lampasas Lavaca Leon Liberty. Limestone . McLennan Medina Milam Montague Mongomery Nacogdoches Navarro Nueces Palo Pinto Panola Parker Polk Red River Robertson Smith Tarrant Titus Travis Trinity Tyler Upshur, Val Verde Victoria Walker Waller Washington Webb Wharton Williamson Wise Wood Popu¬ lation 1888. ® S 145 62 90 43 44 91 48 49 41 57 43 44 38 149' 571 75; 51! 71' 35' JOB. 87! 37! lül 0.) 64 36 73 107 201 33 70 44 51 42 111 49 33; 88, 54; 70' 52i 90| 39 50 27,850 5,753 21,522 1,790 2,661 21,700 3,880 35,939 5,590 15,531 13,474 4,672 19,572 38,001 4,231 19,274 15,282 11,426 14,057 25,753 6,854 4,601 12,980 17,448 9,911 20,094 23,121 25,313 28,848 8,110 37,233 7,008 8,518 13,026 2,002 7.271 12;582 10,064 30,581 8,966 5,683 20,988 13,361 18,850 869 1,032 687 2,289 735 m 1,704 920 858 1,004 1,049 1,172 974 1,083 1,304 991 891 1.054 974 1.055 2,845 668 799 90O 1,109 1,062 869 957 900 420 1,019 708 918 519 3,231 882 768 499 603 1,552 1,172 1,197 837 900 Total 6,278! 1,542,440 99,320 —22— TABLE NO. 15. PofIllation and Arca of Eighty-Four Counties Having No Raihvavs. Counties. Anderson Archer Atascosa. Bandera Bally Baylor Blanco Borden Brisco Carson Castro Chambers Cochran Collingsworth.. Concho Cottle Crane Crockett Crosby Dawson Deaf Smith Dickens Dimmitt Edwards Floyd,:. Foley Gaines Garza Gillespie Glasscock Gray Greer Hale Hansford Haskell Hidalgo Hockley .... Hutchison Jack Jasper Jones . Kent cîx> — cc S ^ 5 9 <5 40 1560 521 900 :h)26 1224 3t)s7 1001 30 918 1057 900 4335 713 80 900 40 })00 500 900 30 900 2179 851 30 825 35 900 800 956 150 1125 18 806 127 3332 180 900 30 900 50 1410 .50 900 893 1290 1312 2316 50 1147 60 2537 40 1560 33 900 6939 980 45 900 135 900 1s04 2462 500 998 80 910 646 900 4102 2356 35 900 80 900 6231 870 6906 973 1699 900 138 900 Counties. Kimble King Knox Lamb Live Oak Llano Loving Lubbock Lynn JIadison.. Mason Matagorda.. McCulloch McMullen Menard Moore Motley Newton Ochiltree Parmer Randall Refugio. Roberts — Sabine vSan Augustine . San Saba Schleicher.. .. Scurry Sherman Somervell Star Stonewall Sutton Swisher Terry Throckmorton.. Upton Wheeler.. Yoakum Young Zapata Zavala 1992 85 550 60 1470 6313 80 3d 55 7787 4294 3776 2719 715 1303 27 125 4555 125 30 140 1245 120 4525 6366 5716 100 434 40 3005 8349 400 50 30 40 634 28 560 30 2878 2326 962 1302 900 900 1080 1117 952 775 900 900 460 908 1428 1043 1176 886 900 1005 875 910 858 900 850 900 572 564 1131 1300 900 910 199 2544 900 1500 900 900 900 1197 900 825 900 1291 1290 tr; —23— DISTRIBUTION OF RAILWAY FACILITIES. Eighty-nine comities [see Table No. 14] have 6278 miles of railway, 99,320 square miles of area and a population of 1,542,- 640, or three-fourths of the population of the 245 counties. Eighty-four counties having no railway mileage, [see Table No. 15] have an area of 90,868 square miles and a population of only 124,103. Seventy-four counties having altogether 1873 miles of railway, have a population of 348,289. Does this un¬ fair distribution show that the time has arrived for hobbling the railway builders? The foregoing figures show the portions of the State in which a few noi.sy persons, interested and clamorous for restridtive legislation, are well provided, and that other por¬ tions in area larger than the largest State, except Texas, have no railwa3'S. Thej' show some of the population well fixed, and some railroads in undisputed pos,se,ssion of large sedtions of the country. So there are prosperous localities and powerful corpo¬ rations working together, having interests identified and adverse to a liberal policy, under which the old and new lines are being extended into the comparatively unsettled distridts. Eighty-four counties with 58,155,520 acres of land, three-fourtlis of it as fer¬ tile as any land in the world, without one mile of railway. Ten million acres now produce in Texas $140,000,000 worth of staples every year, but the producers have facilities for sending their produce to market. Here are 58,000,000 acres equally as fertile which will remain unoccupied and unprodudtive until railways are provided. The po.ssibilities of development that the.se fadts suggest, are calculated to attradt capital, unle.ss secdional and local .selfishness, adroitly stimulating popular predjudice and aided by .self-seeking demagogues, shall succeed in calling a halt upon railway con- strudlion in Texas. The four counties of Bexar, Dallas, Grayson and McLennan, exceed in population by 82,520, the entire population of the 84 counties having no railways. The.se are prosperous communities rapidly growing, while the unprovided west and northwest stand still. Their pro.sperity is principally, if not wholy due to the tra¬ ditional liberal railroad policy of the State. The large cities —24— they contain would prosper by the continuance of that policy, but they contain, as other cities and communities do, a few self¬ ish persons interested in restriélive legislation, and many poli¬ ticians. The conclusion that the country settles up and devel¬ ops with railway facilities is shown. Eighty-nine counties of all clas.ses of lands, black, red and sandy, and in every sedlion, have three-fourths of the population, nearly five-sevenths of the wealth; seventj'-three counties, scantily supplied with railroads, have one-fifth of the whole population, and eightr'-four counties without any railroads at all, have one-twentieth of the population, mainly subsisting on free grass. Is this condition to be made permanent? —25— TABLE NO. 16. Railway Tonnage in Texas. Years ending September 30. Miles of Railway. Tons Transported Average Tons PER Mile. Proportion (Average) oiEarnings per Ton. 1884 5638 5,801,236 1,100 Is 39 1885 5907 5,646,593 1,029 4 74 1886 6522 6:361,744 956 4 64 1887 7312 7,406,040 976 4 10 1888 7656 8,564,846 1,01 I 3 97 1889 8151 8,696,123 1,119 3 65 Within the period considered railway mileage has increased 107 per cent., while the tonnage has increased only 86 per cent. It should be borne in mind that the cotton produced has only increased 56 per cept. and that the increased tonnage is largely from lumber, which is the cheapest freight carried. —26— SHALL WE HAVE A POLITICO-RAILROAD POOL? The Democratic party of Texas, a dominant political power, so long as it responds to the demand of the intelligence and the vir¬ tue of the country for just laws and honest government, has de¬ clared that railroad rates should be so fixed that their net earn¬ ings will not exceed a fair interest upon the money private per¬ sons have invested in the roads. The courts have recently indi¬ cated this proposition to be founded upon well establi.shed prin¬ ciples of law, but have gone further to say that while the politi¬ cal authority may exercise its power to limit the demands of rail¬ roads to the extent indicated, yet that authorit}' exercised beyond the limit so established would be, in practical effect, to confiscate railroad property for public purposes without compensation to the owners. In the same direction the attorney general of the State has laid down the legal proposition that the railroads can exact from the people revenues sufficient to meet the interest on their valid outstanding mortgage bonds. Apply these propositions to the business of Texas railroads. There are 8151 miles of road which to build and equip cost $346,659,,:|73, [see table No. 3] but say the builders of roads when labor, material and rails were 100 per cent, higher than now must consent to a new basis, viz: the value of the roads at existing prices of labor and material, and that the roads could be now duplicated for $25,000 per mile. Say the aggregate cost of the 8151 miles shall be arbitrarily re¬ duced to $203,775,000, the original investment being reduced over $140,000,000. On the reduced e.stimate the democratic party will permit a profit of say 5 per cent, amounting to $10,- 188,750. Before a profit is realized, however, comes in the at¬ torney general who observes that the people must first pay inter¬ est on the valid bonds. This interest amounts to $12,192,118 per annum. [See table No. 8.] The expenses of operating the roads is reported at $26,605,614 [see comptroller's last report, page 340.] We have the politicians' proposition to allow stock- —27— holders $10,188,750; the attorney general's proposition to al¬ low bondholders $12,192,118, and the operating expense of $26,- 605,614, aggregating $48,986,482, to be collected every year. But the total earnings last year [see table No. 7] were only $28,207,- 926. So then in order that the investors and creditors of the railroads ma}' take what the party and the law allows them, and that the politicians may have a margin for reducing the charges, it will be necessary to reduce the operating expemses some $21,- 000,000 annuall}-. The only proce.ss available for the State regu¬ lation in the direction of relief for the patrons of railroads con¬ sistent with the platform of the democratic party and the legal opinion of our eminent attorney general is to reduce railway ex¬ pemses to about $5,000,000 per annum. This would be absurd. The foremen, laborers and workhands employed by the roads to keep them in repair receive over $5,000,000 per annum [see table No. 10]. Until the State .settles and develops in keeping with rail¬ road facilities investors in that property may not expect divi¬ dends. They have received none for years, and very little sym¬ pathy from the people of Texas or from the holders of mortgages on their investments. Many years will pass before they can hope for dividends. But until that time arrives does not the platform of the Dallas convention commit the democratic party to inaction in so far as regulating railway charges is concerned. Leaving out of consideration the interests of stockholders, and eliminating from the railway financial problem above stated the $10,888,750, interest on the reduced value of the roads and equipments we have a very simple proposition. The law as enunciated by the best authority allows intere.st on the bonds $12,192,118, and oper¬ ating expenses $26,605,614, a total charge of $38,797,732, to be paid out of gross receipts amounting to $28,207,926. The fig¬ ures of the comptroller [see comptroller's report, page 340, also table No. 8^ herein,] giving $26,605,614 as the expenditures of Texas railroads last year include the payment of bonded interest by three or four companies amounting to something over two mil¬ lion dollars, but they omit the cost of fuel of many roads which would be not a great amount short of the intere.st paid. The companies are, it is .shown, in default on interest over $10,000,- 000. [See table No. 5.] Their earnings fall short very largely of -28- meeting current expenses and interest to say nothing of dividends.. "How can this be so"—the politician asks—"when they have the right under the law fixing maximum rates to charge much higher rates than they do now? It sounds like the old railroad lobby "chestnut." In reply it is merely required to state that several of the leading railways are in court because they have not been able to pay interest on their bonds, and that in court and in process of recognization forced by interest defaults 4421 miles of railway in Texas are now involved, pending which no interest is paid and no money collected to pay it with. The re¬ mainder of the mileage has been reorganized in and out of court reducing interest charges, but in most instances is yet unable to earn sufficient to pay currrent expenses and interest. Facts es¬ tablished by the records of the courts open to all canuot be ex¬ plained away by the politicians' incredulous shrug of the shoul¬ ders. He wants to create a new office and fill it. He would in the office be compelled to accept the record of the courts and the sworn reports of the companies. He could not reduce the charges of railroads nor resist increased charges if demanded, a contingency justified by the business of the railroads and invited , by a new inimical and prejudicial policy on the part of the State. But he would have an arm in the State treasury and a periodical row with the railroads, timed for the summer campaign and fall elections unless the railway managers and state commission¬ ers, as thej' have in other States, pool their interests to run the roads and the politics of the State by one syndicate. —29— RAILWAYS AND DEEP WATER. Railwa}' managers in Texas have assumed that 90 per cent, of their buisne.ss accrues from interstate commerce. Possibl}- this may be exaggerated, as is natural under the circumstances. If only 75 per cent, of their earnings are derived from interstate commerce, the difficultj' of the problem is only increased. Assuming that the bulk of the interstate business is transacted at rates which cannot be advanced without diverting it to water transportation, and granting that on the local busine.ss, compris¬ ing 25 per cent, of the whole business, rates may be reduced upon compulsion, by the edict of the legislature or a legislative commission, would not the earnings of the roads, as conclusively shown by the official reports, at once fall below operating ex¬ penses, to say nothing of interest on bonds or dividends on stock. The roads of Texas cannot equalize local or through rates. If it were possible to equalize rates, and through rates were ad¬ vanced, by arbitrary State command, to meet the deficiency re¬ sulting from forced reduction of local rates, the result would be injurious to the producing interest, while it is not doubted that local commerce, at a few points, would be benefited. Under normal conditions, products of the field and forest are carried to outside markets at very much less rates than obtain in local traffic. The difference between these rates, on the bulk of busi¬ ness, represents a large sum. The equalization of these rates would transfer the difference between local and interstate com¬ merce. Home products shipped out would be burdened with this difference, and local commerce relieved to a like extent. This conflict of interest would seeminglj-be sufficient to pre¬ vent an attempt to adjust local to through charges, were it, in the first place, pos.sible to realize the visionary idea. But not¬ withstanding the low rates at which railways carrj- cotton and other produce through from Texas to the north and east, the}- do not, by any means, handle the bulk of it as through freight. In —30— the year 1885-6, Texas produced 1,369,208 bales of cotton. Without adequate port facilities, without deep water at any Texs port, and with loeal rates ou cotton transportation at what may be considered remunerative prices, the railroads were com¬ pelled to yield 719,255 of the 1,369,208 bales to competing water transportation. They handled less than 50 per cent, of it as through freiglit, at the exceedingly low rate demanded. Had they been able to carry this cotton at lower through rates, they doubtless would have diverted a much larger portion from the water route, and had the}- not been able to compete in low through rates with the water route, instead of handling 400,000 bales for New York and eastern mills, Galveston would have handled 800,000 bales in addition to the amount sent abroad through that port. It may be said, the pro.spect of deep water on the Texas coast, under these conditions, threatens seriously the through traffic of of the railways. That is a problem for the future. Texas legis¬ lation cannot affect it, but must look to tlie existing laws of trade and commerce, with the purpose of stimulating whatever of competition between water and rail systems of transportation is found to have operated for the general advantage. It is entirely reasonable to assume that the elimination of either competitor would strengthen the survivor, at the expen.se of the producers and consumers of the State. The ocean cannot be suppressed, and traffic over it cannot be regulated or affected by traffic asso¬ ciations or by State legislation, but its competitor can be seri¬ ously hampered and crippled. The result of such action would, in short, be, to build up two or three great cities in the State, on the coast, where water lines are untrammeled by law, and on the northern border, where interstate traffic cannot be affected by State laws. Who would pa\' for this local prosperity, is a serious question for the people of the whole State. Tlie railwaj- com¬ panies, left to the laws of commerce, ma\- be expected, as they have gradually for eight years past, and it is believed for twenty years—though the records being incomplete, this latter proposi¬ tion is not urged—to continue, year by year, reducing their charges, keeping pace with the economies anticipated from better seaport facilities. The growth of commercial cities in the State would be assured b3^ the regular and gradual process which gives them permanent and staple prosperit}', resulting in equal benefit to the whole people and the railway companies. The following statement shows that competition between the two great rivals for transporting the cotton crop may be as well illustrated b}' anj' other recent 5'ear's transactions as hy that of 1885-6, quoted in the foregoing, viz.: COTTON CROPS OF TEXAS. Year. Total Bales. Handled b}' Water. 1879 951.093 564.309 1880 873.367 480,352 1881 1,260,147 694,661 1882 878,854 442,800 1883 1.513.310 S65,104 1884 1,104,825 595,800 1885 842,660 462,463 1886 1,369,208 719.255 1887 1,381,523 725.162 The figures for the past two years are not at hand, but thej- are known to conform to the foregoing. Here, in nine 3-ears, the State has produced 10,181,087 bales of cotton, of which, as through freight, the railroads have carried overland 4,531,181, and ocean vessels have carried 5,649,906 bales. These figures are ver^- suggestive. It is believed they also indicate the ratio of the return through trade, and explain the action of the railroads in reducing their charges below the rates allowed by State law, State rates being absolutely pro¬ hibited by the laws of commerce. At any rate, there is sufficient to admonish the people of the existence of meritable competition as long as both rivals are left free to maintain it, and a competi¬ tion which inures to the direct and sole interest of producers of staple products and consumers of all imported goods. ¥ —32— OTHER CAUSES OF REDUCED RAILWAY CHARGES. The yearh' reduction of Texas railway earnings, computed on the basis of mileage was to have been clear!}' anticipated for the reason of causes quite as potent as the rivalry between water and railway routes, forced an active competition between the com¬ panies, and also forced them to turnish local transportation at the lowest possible rates. In ten years the population increased forty per cent., while railway mileage and investment have in¬ creased 170 per cent. Had the railway companies waited upon produdfion and trade to increase in the same ratio as population, it is redily perceived that with nearly twice their earning capac¬ ity, they would have, as compared with their business of 1880, only forty per cent. more. The expenses of operation doubt¬ less increased with mileage, while earnings decreased. The roads had to consider whether they would rest content with the devel¬ opment of the State on the basis of the slow increase of popula¬ tion. They found their lines increasing at the rate of 200 per cent, in the ten years, while their business if left to grow with the population, would not increase over fifty per cent. If they waited expecflant until the growth of the producing and consum¬ ing elements, which furnished them business, should overtake the railway development, nothing else than comparative idle¬ ness for their rolling-stock and the discharge of great numbers of their employees, could be expedted. The railway companies were, it is plain to see, forced to efforts for the creation of new business, and this became their settled policy. They were vitally interested in promoting settlement, and accord¬ ingly encouraged immigration, expending large sums of money in advertising Texas abroad, in sending agents through the older States and Europe, and in providing transportation for immi¬ grants to Texas, often below cost. They also encourage the establishment of new enterprises, which become sources of new business for their lines. This policy necessarily required and -SS- still requires the roads to haudle their local business at the lowes^ possible rates. In order to develop business more rapidly thau if left to the ordinary influences, it was essential that it be subsi¬ dized, as it might be said, by reduced transportation charges. Here are the roads creating produélion and consumption, and here are their enemies denj-ing them this privilege. If they had rested content with the natural development, the}' would have been forced to charge the full local rates that the law allows for the small volume of business loffering, and to have pra(5lically withdrawn from competition with each other, resulting b}' this time in the consolidation of the four or five great competing s}-s- tems represented in the State. Their offence has been to dis¬ criminate, if at all, so as to promote the development of the State, thereb}- keeping local charges down, and to render possi¬ ble aétive and healthy competition for through freights. So it will be found that while the number of producers and consumers have increased 39 to 40 per cent., the railway business has in¬ creased 90 to 95 per cent. This represents increased producing capacity of the people, increased industrial acffidty, increased ability of the population to buy and consume the necessities and •enjoy the luxuries of a civilized people. In order to promote this development, and so secure new busines, and in order to give it stability and retain it, the companies were compelled to reduce their earnings per mile as the figures show, and to main¬ tain the redudtion. To retain the business they now have it is necessary the}' shall be content to transact it at rates which will not pay operating expenses and interest upon the investment until the population shall catch up with railroad development. Incident to this process is the bankruptcy of many companies, their re-organization, and the redudtion of the capital stock or at any rate of their fixed charges. Interference with this process, by which the companies would be compelled to abandon the poli¬ cy of stimulating immigration and promoting the establishment of freight-creating industries, and the investment of tax-paying capital in Texas would naturally force them back upon the ordi¬ nary consumption of a stagnant commonwealth for support of their lines. It would invite a conflidt, in which protedted by the right to colledt a freight tax sufficient to pay expense, and a fair profit lipon the investment, the companies would be pitted against politicians, but able to demand under the law 25 to 50 per cent, greater earnings than they now receive. The politicians might create for themselves offices, in which they would regulate the present liberal policy out of existence, and regulate into existence a much heavier burden upon the people. That is j ust what has occurred in other States, which is proven by the facft that for ten years the people in those States having railway commissions, have paid heavier charges than have been elsewhere demanded. Wherever these commissions have not been run simply for the salaries and emoluments, but have attempted to reduce charges below expenses and interest on the railway investment, they have utterly failed, and the people have been taxed for no bene¬ fit. Bear in mind this experience is in States which are compara¬ tively well settled up, and in which the population is uniformly distributed, and bears about the same proportion to railway mile¬ age that obtains in the central and more densely populated por¬ tions of Texas In such States the rate question in simplified. But in Texas as the tables herein show, there is an area larger than Indiana, without a mile of railway, then a population of 120,000 over an area of 70,000 square miles to furnish business for 1500 miles of railway, then 6000 miles of railway for an area of 65,000, square miles densely populated for a new State. The regulating doctrine would perpetuate the burdens of 120,000, for it would interrupt the pre.sent policy encouraging settlement. Beft to maintain their developing policy the railroads steadil}' re¬ duce their charges, forced by their environments to this course, though permitted by law for ten years to double their present rates, as still further illustrating this idea of the necessity upon the roads of stimulating development to increase business more rapidly than than the increase in population it is shown that, the production of cotton and the staples has fallen behind the in¬ crease oí mileage. Table No. 16 shows that the tonnage of the roads has largely increased above the ratio of production and of population in the pa.st eight years under the stimulating policy of the companies, 1jut yet falls short of mileage and earns for the roads 23 per cent, less per ton. —35— SQEEZING WATER OUT OF RAILROAD CAPITAL. Special attention is solicited to the comparative statements of the debts and obligations of the railways. A sure and certain process of reducing railway obligations, has been in operation many years in this State, as elsewhere throughout the country. Not only have the obligations per mile been reduced largely, but the per cent, of interest upon the bonded debt has ben lowered. Three of the largest sy,steins of railways in Texas, comprising nearly half its mileage, have reduced their interest charges, and three of the remaining companies, now in process of reorganiza¬ tion, have in contemplation schemes of like character. This pro¬ cess, together with that by which their obligations are also, in amount per mile, reduced, will result probably in lessening the fixed charges of Texas roads in another decade fully fifty per cent, below the rate per mile in 18S3, certainly that much if stock obligations are included in the estimate. [See tables Nos. 4-6 and 8.] Finally, if this be regarded as an ex-parte exposition by partisan representation, it must be conceded that it is leased upon the truth as to every line, word and figure quoted, or else tho,se who have for ,some years agitated the scheme for regulating and reducing the charges of the railroads, are left totally without evi¬ dence of the justice and right of their contention, for they derive their testimony from no other source. —36— REDUCING LOCAL RATES. To stimulate manufacturing industries in the State by exempt¬ ing them from taxation, would simply benefit one class at the expense of all tax-payers. So would be, in acftual pradlical ef- fe<5t, the protection and building up of commercial and manufac¬ turing centres and emporiums by special reduction of local freight charges, at the expense of producers and consumers at large. Should the State, by law, force a change of the normal conditions under which the products of the field and the articles of general consumption, both necessarily carried great distances, are now so transported at lower than local rates, and local rates should be re¬ duced, this charge would, as shown elsewhere, necessarily ad¬ vance through charges, which no legislature has power to pre¬ vent. Here, then, is a tax for the protection of a class of merit¬ orious home industries, to develop urban aggrandizement at the expense of the people at large. The per cent, it would take off from the price the cotton and wool producers get for their pro¬ duce is small, and the benefited interests are large, growing and important. If it were apparent that a forced readjustment of taxes or of freight charges was necessarj' to .secure for Texas the steady and healthy growth of her cities and manufactures in equal rate of progress with the development of agriculture, the importance to a civilized community of these local institutions and industries would probabl}' justify some relaxation of the very general opposition to class legislation, and induce the producing interests to voluntarily contribute to the "even and symmetrical development" of all other industries in the State. But we have, from the very highest source, a refutation of any such assumption. The agricultural bureau of the State govern¬ ment reports both manufacturing and urban growth to be largely more rapid than the agricultural. Commissioner Foster decides this point in unequivocal language, viz.: "The tendency shown by the statistics of other States to an —37— abnormal increase in the population of cities and towns is clearly manifested in this State. A careful analysis of the census shows that the per cent, of increase in the large cities and towns is much greater than in the rural districts. In 1880 there were eleven cities in the State with a population of 4,000 and upwards, and a total population of 112,396. The same places now have a popu¬ lation of 226,400—a gain of 97 per cent. In addition to this, eighteen other towns in the State have a population of 4,000 and upwards, making in all twenty-nine such towns as against eleven in 1880." In another place he reports the capital and value of raw mate¬ rial and manufactured products of the seventeen industries re¬ ported to him in 1887, exceeded all the manufacturing capital and output of 1880. In the last year it is notorious that manu¬ facturing in Texas has developed more rapidly than ever before. Mr. Foster, in 1887, found a capital of $11,547,243 invested in seventeen leading classes of manufactures which he repre.sented to comprise three-fourths of the capital invested in the manufac¬ tories in the State. In 1887, then, about $15,000,000 were in¬ vested in manufacture, but now each of two cities has a larger manufacturing capital than the whole State had in 1887. In 1887 the lands of the State devoted to agriculture amounted to a little less than ten million acres, at a liberal calculation representing an invested capital of $100,000,000, while city lots and improve¬ ments were assessed below their real value at $105,226,386. Last year city property increased in value 7 per cent., while lands in¬ creased about 4 per cent, in value. In 1887 the city population was 691,312 of a total of 2,015,032, which Mr. Foster considers abnormal development of that class of the population. The as¬ sessed value of city lots and improvements and of merchandise and manufacturers' tools and implements Igst year was about $150,000,000, while the assessed value of land devoted to farm¬ ing, together with the farm stock, amounteh to less than $135,- 000,000. Assessments for taxation are not reliable, but are gen¬ erally claimed to be nearer the actual value of rural property than city property. If these figures, procured from official sources, do not show that in wealth and population the commer¬ cial and manufacturing interests are relatively growing faster and reaching an abnormal development, then it must be admitted, agricultural interests are not entitled to the first position in im¬ portance, and should rest content with present conditions, or even concede discriminiating changes in taxes and freight charges to develop industries more necessar}' and valuable to a civilized people. It is admitted that the legitimate prosperity of Texas cities does not, in theory or fact, necessarily imply injury to rural in¬ terests, and it may be fairly assumed, the trade competition, their rapid growth stimulates, is an important agency in promoting agriculture. Further, during forty years, it is assumed, the lo¬ cal commerce of Texas relatively' to the producing interest, had not made the progress a healthy condition required. If, however, it now tends to abnormal development and to the exercise of an influence in legislation regulating trade and commerce suificient to endanger other interests, this is surely not the time to increase its power by discriminating laws. POPULAR INTELLIGENCE DISCREDITED. CONCLUSION. Evidence which is conclusive as to facts and issues pending in the people's courts should be conclusive upon the same issues pending in the political forum. We have heard leading poli¬ ticians in Texas say that the facts relating to the operations of Texas railroads, such as are reproduced in this work, could not be controverted in the judicial tribunals, but that the "man up the creek" will not believe them. The "man up the creek" is finally bound to submit to the truth whether he accepts the court's findings as true or not. The facts which the courts of Texas bj- their records establish are that the railroads' revenues can not be reduced by the State without violating the Bill of Rights in the Constitution which prohibits the taking of property for public uses without adequate pay, and that, whether the "man up the creek" credits the.se facts or not, the courts are here empowered and required to protect that property against confiscating legislation. Under this state of facts the politician, who still urges the "man up^the creek" to discredit the evidence which is to finally and conclusively decide the issue, takes him to be a credulous imbecile. Have the office creating politicians correctly sized up the masses of the people of Texas ? Are the people, as these schemers contend, too ignorant to weigh the evidence and so controlled b}' passion and prejudice, carefull}' stimulated by class organs and converted railroad lawyers out of a job, that they will not believe the evidence i.F their .senses? We believe the people more intelligent and hon ?st than the place hunters. We contend that it would be thejjetter policj'' of the railroads to encourage the very legislation proposed—the creation of the useless offices at public expense—thap to resist, if they felt that the people at last would ignore reason and evidence —40— under the overmastering influence of ignorance and passion. If the railroad owners have no better estimate of the virtue and in¬ telligence of the people than have the politicians, they would do better to invite the most radical legislation proposed the more quickly to show that a power exists in this country to protect their interests fully. A resort to this flnal protection is attended by heavy expense to the State and to the railroad owners, but if the people have ** been correctly gauged by the politicians, it must come at last, and it is better for all concerned that it come quickly. Some leading railroad managers in Texas have accepted this view of the situation. They are however more or less impatient. The railroad men generally believe the people of Texas amenable to reason and the demands of justice, and they hopefully appeal to- the facts attested by the authentic reports of their sworn offlcers and to the findings of Texas courts. What will the people do about these facts and findings ? The issue is left with them. If they will not read and if they refuse to believe the truth, they are injured and the new ofScers benefited. There it all ends as it has everywhere. This matter is here discussed frankly and with a firm belief in public intelligence. Very few persons are aware of the exceedingly low estimate that the average dema¬ gogue places upon the intelligence of the people. In congenial circles the demagogue is free to express his views, but these circles happily are narrow. When a doubt is expressed as to the justice or right involved, he shrugs his shoulders, smiles and re¬ marks, "that makes no difference, 'the man up the creek,' all the same, thinks it's so." This contemptuous opinion of the people is the explanation of the political wrecks that strew the Plutonian shores. How many of these demagogues has the Democratic party of Texas stranded for all time? A new brood is now on hand. i 4. ^ \