JNTU DES INSTITUTYS FOR WELT ""RTSCHAFTY TIEL Ty AS ABLIOTHEK Si 269 0 5 J) 2 4 Washington TRANSPORTATION AND ~ COMMUNICATION IN THE UNITED STATES 1925 REPRINT FROM COMMERCE YEARBOOK, 1925 PAGES 508 TO 549 Trade Information Bulletin No. 425 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE 2s a 2 ~~ +" Trade Information Bulletin No.— mom i Price, 10 cents Nh, on i =, vl 2 dan rd FOREWORD re Transportation and communication form the base on which the industrial, commercial, and economic structure of a country is built. The exchange of commodities is dependent on adequate carrying facilities, the development of which in turn creates a demand for further exchange. There are few industries and business enterprises which could continue to operate for long without the services rendered by modern transportation and communication mediums. Thus, the progress made by the United States in this field is of interest to everyone in the country. Naturally, those most intimately concerned with the development of transportation are, first, the shippers of the country’s products, and, second, the transportation agencies themselves. But the interest extends much further than this. Manufacturers of locomotives, roll- ing stock, railway building material, and the myriad accessories which enter into the equipment of a railway system; builders of ships and marine engines; manufacturers of motor cars, trucks, and busses, and of airplanes and airplane motors; radio, telephone, tele- graph, and cable interests—all these, and in addition the industries allied with them, must find a survey of transportation and communi- cation in the United States of considerable value. The following report constitutes the Transportation and Com- munication section of the Commerce Yearbook, published. by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. In addition to the information reprinted on the following pages, the Yearbook contains reviews of commodity production in the United States and surveys of the principal industries and commercial services of the country. Copies of the Commerce Yearbook, bound in cloth, may be obtained from the district and cooperative offices of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, or from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., for $1 each. Jurrus Kuen, Director, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Jury, 1926. TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION SUMMARY.—While economy and efficiency marked the operation of the rail- roads in 1924, the year 1925 witnessed new records. Traffic, measured in ton- miles, was even greater than in the peak year 1923 and 6.6 per cent heavier than in 1924, Ag compared with 1924, the operating revenues increased 3.8 per cent; operating expenses, however, were greater by only 0.6 per cent; and net railway operating income therefore gained by 15 per cent. Freight and passenger rates. remained practically the same. Trafic was moved not only without delay or interruption, with almost no car shortages and high car sur- pluses, but also with greater rapidity and efficiency. This excellent showing is credited to the operating officials and employees, and to the hearty coopera- tion of the buyers of transportation—particularly through the Shippers’ Regional Advisory Boards of the American Railway Association. The improvement in financial results of operation shown in 1923 and 1924 continued throughout 1925, the operating ratio decreasing in these three years from 77.88 to 76.13 and to 74.11 per cent. The net railway operating income of Class I roads in 1925 was 5.9 per cent of the aggregite tentative valuation (818,900,000,000) of the steam railway property of the carriers subject to the transportation act, 1920. This ratio for the southern district was 11.9 per cent, for the western district 5 per cent, and for the eastern, 5.4 per cent. Railway mileage has changed but little since 1918 and the volume of tonnage originating has increased less than 9 per cent. There has been a marked in- crease in ton-mileage, however, indicating longer average distances hauled. Ton-mileage figures in 1925 were 37.2 ber cent greater than in 1918 (fiscal year). The average amount received per ton-mile has increased 50.6 per cent since 1913, while operating expenses have increased 102.9 per cent, operating revenues 91.6 per cent, and net revenue from railway operations 39.1 per cent, Table 1.—Summary of Major Statistics of Railroads Nore.—Figures for 1925 do not include the smaller roads (Classes IT and III). The percentages of increase over 1924 are computed from data for Class I roads only, as shown in subsequent tables. [tem 9131 1099 1992 1094 1 1008 Per cent change 1925 from — 1913 | 19041 Number of miles owned. ... Freight originated (thou- sand tons)... ...__..____. Freight ton-mileage (mil- lion ton-miles).....______, Average freight rate per ton per mile (cents)____._! Operating revenues (thou- sand dollars)_.._.._._____ Jperating expenses (thou- sand dollars).......______ Net railway operating in- come (thousand dollars) 8! 9,777 250,413 1,182,548 1,111,822 301, 730 | 342,188 50.720 1.164 3,193,118 | 5,674,483 | 2,235,923 4,500,991 | 8.805.266 769. 411 950. 9299 1,387,755 418, 256 | 1.132 6,419, 210 4,999, 383 074. 918 250, 156 | 1.287,413 11,247,137 391,045 4414,140 1.132 41.008 6,045,252 | 46,120,370 4,608,807 ' 4 4, 535, 785 084.463 4 1. 120. 361 +56] 45.0 tan.2] tee +506] 16 43.3 +0.6 415.0 491.6} 1102 9 ! Fiscal year ended June 30; other years ended Dec. 31. ! Percentages based on 1924 and 1925 figures for Class I roads only, ' Not available. 20% t Class I roads, } Class I and II roads. Sea note 2 Table 9 RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION - 509 TRAFFIC Traffic Program. During 1925 there was a continuation of the concerted effort to handle traffic without delays and to meet all requirements for car supply. The success of the carriers is borne out by the fact that with practically no car shortage during the year, the average daily car surpluses were never less than 148,762 cars in any quarter, and that the percentage of unserviceable equipment was lower than during either 1923 or 1924. As compared with the ideal goal set up of reducing unserviceable freight cars to 5 per cent and unservice- able locomotives to 15 per cent, the carriers averaged 7.7 per cent and 17.9 per cent respectively, during 1925. Although the number of new locomotives and freight cars installed during 1925 was not Chart I—REVENUE FREIGHT ORIGINATING, BY DISTRICTS (CLASS 1 ROADS) MILLIONS OF SHC" 700T Tog 500 300 - 400 300 200 00 oh 1914 1915 1916 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 FISCAL YEARS ENDED JUNE 30 CALENDAR YEARS (2088-112), as great as in immediately preceding years, it compares quite favor- ably with other earlier years, and the average size of equipment units is constantly rising. Twelve shippers’ regional advisory boards have been organized by the American Railway Association. These boards, composed of representatives of production, distribution, consumption, and finance, in cooperation with the carriers, are voluntary public organizations, each representing a territory of common business and transportation interest. Their purpose is to promote the economic and transporta- tion welfare in each territory, assisting the railroads, individually and collectively. Bach of the regional boards is organized by com- modity groups to the end that the various business interests in sach section may be adequately represented. A great part of the 510 COMMERCE YEARBOOK increased efficiency in railway operation has resulted from the coop- eration of the shippers and receivers of freight, and other groups associated with transportation. During 1925 the average daily movement per freight car was 28.3 miles, over 514 per cent greater than in 1924, and 1.8 per cent greater than the previous best year’s record in 1923. In October the average was 32.2 miles per day, 1.5 miles greater than during the best previous month, October, 1923. The average of car miles per car day has exceeded 30 miles during only five months in the. history of the rail- roads. The idle cars, serviceable and unserviceable, are included in the data on which these averages are based, so the actual mileage of the freight cars in use is greater than indicated. A high average in this item during a period with high car surplusages is thus indicative of even greater efficiency of operation than the figures alone show. Table 2,—Mileage and Traflic of Railways y NoTE.—Data for all roads for 1925 not yet available, but Class I roads handle the great bulk of the ISI Ness. Yoarly average or year ended— fune 37: 1B01-808 1 rns [L°5-19008........... et hg ta mmm wall To¥z] {i$ (QO: Number of miles owned 163, 597 180, 657 197, 237 22,472 37, 977 3,904 18, 101 224, 363 229, 051 233, 468 236, 834 40, 203 43, 979 ue, 777 9, 777 252, 105 IR2 7R0 254, 037 253, 626 353, 529 153, 152 152, 845 151, 176 EC 41° 50, % 250, 156 (2) Revenue freight Revenue passengers Aver- | Aver- Reve- age | age nue per: a) per! tons top il w wits Per loaded | per | mile il- er Millions | capita | car train | lions | capita Ton miles Passenger-miles' Reve- nue per passene ger- mile {conts) 85, 693 113, 962 47,077 57,280 | 73,291 (4, 522 186, 463 25, 878 236, 601 218, 382 218, 803 255, 017 253, 784 264, 081 301, 730 288, 637 277, 135 1,280 (0 LBS (2) 802 16.6 92 16.9 139 7.6 us 7 C214 £)) 2 515 Qo 705 at n452 0. 43 9 64 9 700 | 19.5 5777 20.2 3,126 2101 5,947 211 2 700 91 1 184 0.885 229 L772 281 L750 296 757 311 2763 308 . 780 322 , 766 4 . 748 57. 759 352 754 363 763 380 .783 383 787 407 L744 ‘445 F729 447 737 1768 TIE 13,383 13, 863 17,354 .9, 690 20, 916 1,923 . 3, 800 | 35,167 | 7,719 ‘9,083 29, 109 22,338 ’3,202 3,132 4, 673 35, 357 1) ATH 200 189 223 1g 250 26. 2.10 2.02 2.01 1.99 "01 “ot 06 . 00 nol ty v r sr) 2.01 1.99 1. GO 39 361 ROT 366, 173 398, 263 108, 778 367, 161 113, 699 309, 533 142, 188 116, 256 301, 945 t14. 140 ¢. 634 808 946 497 7 v4 22.8 24.8 27.0 25. 4 57 552 588 621 623 33¢ a7 2H er 719 . 728 . 862 . 987 Nee “g 220 ‘~ 160 212 a3 270 Lil” © 8l11 2, 294 ’3, 368 35. Of4 0 2.05 39% 2.10 7 242 '16 2.50 i 2.7¢ Bau RA 343] 3.0. 320 | 2¢ 112 ac ale 3 BRO 45 a be PF 1. 098 I Mileage in 1890, { Class I and II roads. ? Not available, ¥ Class I roads. 3 Mileage in 1895, Source: Interstate Commerce Commission. Revenue Freight Tonnage. The ton-miles of revenue freight carried by Class I roads in 1925 totaled 414,140,000,000, greater by 6.6 per cent than in 1924 over 511 37 per cent more than in the highest pre-war year, 1913 (fiscal year), and slightly above the previous record figure of 1923. Table 3.—Freight Traffic of Class I Railways,! by Districts ear 9147... 015% BS Jom nwmn mmm 1 eee 925... ‘er cent change from 1924__._._ Revenue freight originated (thousands | of tons) Total Eastern | Jouthern| Western | . 008, 460 923, 428 203, 367 264, 016 263, 344 096, 111 255, 421 240, 183 13, 745 279, 030 157, 208 47,137 450 196, 101 153, 741 790, 301 317, 844 314, 704 23, 811 106, 786 19, 674 7,238 07 892 . -. 595 331, 208 174, 319 164, 482 196, 392 1, 475 216, 082 24, 564 24, 127 17,258 “586 ¥ 338 338, 040 315, 205 116, 674 134, 697 132, 558 377, 737 4, 508 43, 250 ©7919 = 919 £ 181, 621 42.3 411. 4 Ton-miles of revenue freight (millions) ! Total Eastern Southern, Western 284, 025 273, 913 362, 444 394, 465 105, 379 164, 203 110, 306 106, 840 130, 285 a7 43,116 (35, 643 77,487 187, 966 190, 943 70,118 88, 518 8, 503 31,210 13, 088 ", 039 9, 730 19, 524 17,325 31, 708 38, 371 72, 101 34, 000 6, 925 9, 679 ‘9, 565 1 705 “5 92, 285 90, 945 123, 251 (38, 128 142, 335 30, 176 44, 363 08, 658 18, 511 27, 034 36,025 “49 460 At n "4.7 { Includes all roads with an annual operating revenue exceeding $1,000,000; these account for about 93 per cent of the nunber of tons originated and 99 per cent of the ton-mileage. ? Year ended June 30; excludes some unassigned originating freight. Source: Interstate Commerce Commission. The tonnage of revenue freight originating in 1925 was 5 per cent greater than in 1924 and only 2.5 per cent less than in the peak year, 1923. The increase over 1924 in the eastern and western districts amounted to 2.3 and 4.7 per cent, respectively, and in the southern district to no less than 11.4 per cent. The relative importance of the three districts has not changed greatly during the 10-year period covered in Table 3, although in recent years there has been some gain in the southern district at the expense of the eastern. While both tons originating and ton-miles are excellent indexes of railway traffic, neither presents an entirely accuratd picture. Statistics of tons originating somewhat understate the increase in volume of freight handled, since they do not take into consideration changes in the average length of haul, which has increased since pre- war years. On the other hand, an increase or decrease in the number of ton-miles does not necessarily represent a proportional change in the transportation burden imposed upon the railways. Neither “he revenue nor the expense of handling a shipment 200 miles is twice as much as for hauling it 100 miles. The ton-mileage of revenue freight carried by Class I railways during each month of 1925 exceeded that in the corresponding month of 1924 with two exceptions. Each of the last five months of 1925 exceeded the corresponding months of 1923, the previous peak year. In absolute figures the eastern and southern districts showed almost equal ton-mileage increases; relatively, however, the southern dis- irict gained 11.7 per cent as compared with 5.7 per cent for the eastern district The increase in the western district was 4.7 per cent. 512 COMMERCE YEARBOOK Table 4,—Ton-Miles of Revenue Freight Carried by Class I Railways, by Months [All figures in millions of ton~-miles] Month ranueary.... February... ‘Aarch...... is 1 1 ST day cue... une......... uly... lugust._... jeptember_. Jetober___. November... December. _| 1021 26, 627 2, 200 1 932 * 084 5252 + 442 ©. 397 /, R20 1922 23, 742 25, 453 29, 468 22, 290 %5, 064 “a, 477 47 All roads 1623 | 1924 1925 | 34, 020 29, 464 35, 302 34, 794 35, 994 34, 234 4 A] ¢ 30,614 ») 135 % 970 29, 092 30, 522 8, 759 29, 925 9 "26 40 33, 147 30, 565 31,918 20, 358 "2,178 "2,780 , 487 , 704 .3,005 ‘0, 382 7, 254 34, 899 *7 053 Eastern district 1924 | 1025 13, 844 4, 857 5, 478 2, 806 2,912 7 73 2 ue , 463 3, 864 1 266 2, 523 )927 ,454 5 130 } 602 "418 3,575 5, 903 15. 015 £0 4 766 4 118 Southern district 1924 1925 6, 625 6, 919 7,109 5, 410 5300 5,125 3, 209 3,811 3,015 "688 7,426 7 782 7,31 8, 771 7,106 < 853 490 207 21 28¢ 661 026 2 053 Western district 1924 | 1025 ° 10,145 | 10, 359 10, 383 9,876 Nn, 220 798 61¢ 04% L775 2, 154 .2, 565 11, 153 11,367 9,930 10, 546 9,982 10, 761 .1,028 11, 676 12, 889 14, 208 _5, 146 13,125 11 832 Source: Interstate Commerce Commission. Chart IL—TON-MILES OF REVENUE FREIGHT (CLASS I ROADS) BILLIONS OF TON-MILES Or ED Eastern~f Caper Onan nnn og dog, 1921 1922 1923 924 1988 sits Revenue Freight Originating, by Commodities. The character of the freight traffic handled by the railroads is shown in Table 5. Products of mines have made up well over half of the freight originating in each year, amounting to 54.4 per cent in 1925 as compared with 56.1 per cent in 1913. Since 1913 the volume of agricultural products handled has been over 100,000,000 tons annually not counting livestock) and has varied comparatively little. There RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION 513 has been a marked increase in the tonnage of manufactures and mis- cellaneous traffic (in car-lots) since pre-war years. The volume of products of mines and of manufactures loaded during 1925 was greater than in 1924, the latter making a new high record. The other com- modity groups show a decrease, most marked in the case of agricul- tural products. Table '5.—Revenue Freight Originating on Railways, by Commodity Groups [Thousands of tons] Year ended— Total 1 >roducts of agri- culture Animals |_ and | oroducts Coal Products of mines All other Products of forests Manu- factures and niscella- neous Mer- chandise Jess than car lots)’ CLASS I AND II ROADS une 30, 1011. _..... TT —— LL —— Dl ccsonanan 1018. so mnnuiun Dec. 31. 1916 ______ 281, 293 , 011, 784 , 160, 863 1109, 271 + 005, 020 "203 091 34,478 39, 688 06, 067 102, 200 113, 040 116. 887 23,611 u, 799 26, 446 27,139 2, 660 31 904 335, 685 352, 770 390, 701 383, 882 348, 130 199 R53 i95, 907 206, 371 260, 239 242, 194 208, 443 314. 998 97,427 91, 359 12,079 -10, 878 93, 971 111 850 172, 554 176, 266 206, 787 186, 358 163, 988 239. 849 36, 203 38,118 12, 520 41, 474 48, 163 £4 490 CLASS IT ROADS Nec. 31, 1916. _..__, TU wns Srp 19... SII 2) mmm msn B00 cnvanay, EB annem 2000, cm mn 1925. eee Per cent change from 1924 __.___ , 203, 367 264, 016 263, 344 096,111 255, 421 940, 183 023, 745 £79, 03" 187,20 047 - 13, 635 04, 629 16, 051 15, 033 10, 840 1069 11,787 nore 30, 473 31, 858 25, 777 35, 494 16, 505 i, 263 a ogn ~~ 302, 409 143, 722 166, 483 375, 022 162, 440 65, 850 26, 438 ~ go 287, 624 288, 931 268, 312 214, 929 49, 705 45, 420 96, 560 69, 752 41, 107 wa Toy +18. 5 98, 819 00, 838 97, 256 94, 076 00, 766 76,419 2, 059 roa ~{ % 231, 038 240, 269 226, 077 710, 256 51, 864 72 169 20, 442 "7767 27 re-4 11 52,911 53, 769 53, 387 51, 302 33, 202 11,992 13, 220 14, 338 10, 549 10. 580 1 Down to 1916, inclusive, undistributed freight, as follows, is included in total but not shown elsewhere: 1911, 35,338 tons; 1912, 32,414; 1913, 16,022; 1914, 15.147: 1915. 2 Ai25° 1914 1.660° 1916, Class I. 1 RAT. Source: Interstate Commerce Commission Car Loadings—Surpluses and Shortages. The total number of cars loaded (revenue freight) during 1925 was 51,178,000, greater than in 1924 by 2,644,000, or 5.4 per cent, and the greatest in the history of the railroads (Table 7). During the third quarter of 1925 the car loadings exceeded those of any previous quar- ter, while even the last quarter surpassed the highest quarter in any previous year (third quarter of 1923). In Table 6 average weekly car loadings are shown by quarters, the original statistics being based on weeks rather than months to avoid the effect of varying length of the months. Car shortages were practically nil in 1925 except for the last quarter, during which there was a very slight shortage of certain classes of equipment. Although figures of car surpluses and shortages are not entirely satisfactory as an index to the carriers’ capacity to take care of traffic requirements, they present an approximate picture of the situation. Frequently shippers order more cars than are needed during a shortage period in the hope of thus getting their minimum 1950-——98+—— © 514 COMMERCE YEARBOOK requirements. This causes an overstatement of deficiency in equip- ment. Both surpluses and shortages are reported as aggregates, for the same days, owing to the fact that there may be a shortage in one region and a surplus in another, generally due to differences in certain seasonal factors. Chart IIIL—CAR LOADINGS, SURPLUSES, AND SHORTAGES OF CARS, BY QUARTERS (CLASS I ROADS) THOUSANDS OF CARS 1000 Fa Car Loodings ~ Nee ROO S00 400 nfs Yerage 200 = Shortage -Daily Average 200 1921 [922 1923 Lisboa Lt 1924 1925 od Table 8.—Revenue Car Loadings and Surpluses and Shortages of Cars of Class I Railways, by Quarters Period \verage weekly loadings: January-March_.._____________. April-June. _______ TTT July-September. ___~___~_7 7777" October-December... "7 erage daily surpluses: January-March. .___.____.__.__ April-June... ._.._ "77 July-September... ___" October-December... ._____~ srage daily shortages: Tanuary-Mareh. o.oo... ___. ADHI-JUne. ooo eeeeeammn on July-September..._..._........ Detober-December. ovo eeoeo 1018 | 1990 | 702, 894 761, 511 316, 634 237 18% 317, 186 334, 485 147, 449 371 521 11, 721 39, 520 50, 888 33. 308 8, 027 4250 2067 3 ORR 1,570 2, 969 12,188 32 264 81, 280 96, 057 13, 212 35. 820 1021 603, 533 743, 845 303, 787 723’ A023 370,195 436, 206 278, 712 120, 039 781 301 1,835 nD LOR 1099 761, 626 778,895 868, 218 O15 4920 301, 000 309, 668 118,271 6. 468 504 1,519 51,000 (38. E04 1993 $70, 518 976, 059 .022, 903 G82. 221 20, 568 29, 923 69, 664 190. 104 73,975 27,019 9,735 8 128 1004 1925 391, 385 302, 088 962, 830 tT 005, 018 204, 030 , 042, 253 1. 025. 484 196, 469 332. 097 255,729 161. 501 265,078 327, 368 216, 150 148. 762 3,008 | 260 197 58 237 444 69] 1193 Source; American Railway Association RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION 515 The fact that 1921 showed very little shortage of equipment was due to lack of demand for cars owing to business depression. On the other hand, the adequacy of car supply in the last three years, and more especially in 1925, in the face of heavy traffic, was due not only to better management and the ownership of more and better cars by the carriers, but also to the cooperation of the buyers of rail transpor- lation in giving the railroads, 90 days in advance, an estimate of the amount and kind of equipment that would be required. Although car loadings during every quarter of 1925 exceeded those of the corresponding period of 1924, high surpluses of equipment were Chart IV.—CAR LOADINGS OF PRINCIPAL COMMODITY GROUPS. BY QUARTERS (CLASS I ROADS) MILLIONS OF CARS BOM a RK a fey 40 3 5 3 0 > 20 5 8] + — er Tee Su, 5 925 maintained in every“quarter; even during the last quarter, when a slight shortage of certain classes of equipment was noticeable, the daily surpluses of cars averaged almost 149,000. Traffic was handled most satisfactorily, with a minimum of delay or interruption. Car Loadings, by Commodities. The figures of car loadings, by quarters, for major commodities show certain fairly regular seasonal fluctuations (Table 7). The im- Proved service of the carriers has resulted generally in more seasonal loadings because of lessening of stocks carried. Grain and grain products normally move in greater volume during the last half than whe first half of the year, but the difference was less marked in 1925 than in 1924. Forest products in 1924 and 1925 show little change. 516 COMMERCE YEARBOOK shipments being heavier during the first 6 months. A heavier move- ment of coal occurred in 1925 than in 1924. The ore shipments fluctuated as usual, the heaviest movement coming in the third quarter. An important change was evidenced by increased merchandise (less than carloads) and miscellaneous shipments. This shows more quick order buying as a result of fast and efficient delivery by the carrier. As compared with 1921 when the service was much slower and not so dependable, total carloadings in 1925 were greater by about 12,000,000 cars; merchandise (less than carloads) loadings increased over 2,000,000 and miscellaneous over 6,000,000 during this period. This shows rather conclusively the efficiency in rail transportation during the last few years. Table 7.—Car Loadings (Revenue Freight), by Commodity Groups, Class I Railways [Thousands of carloads] Period Oc eee “er cent change from 924 1924 January-March____._._.___. APrI-InNe. coving gs July-September. ._....__.... October-December... 1925 January-March. _........... April-June... oo. o.oo... July-September... ......_. Detober-December. oo ooo. Total 39,323 13, 208 19,812 18, 534 31. 178 | LR 4 . 588 597 , 516 2 832 , 765 5 532 , 549 » Bay 3rain and orod- nets 2,293 2, 453 2,276 2,571 2.300 —-1{} B 582 105 748 745 564 459 645 R32 Live- atock 1,497 1, 626 68 1,753 1.635 ~~). 432 391 417 513 414 352 386 483 Forest prod- ucts Coal 2,488 2,016 3,745 3, 667 3 741 7,975 7,384 9, 504 8, 537 3 866 +201 43.0 085 947 852 RR 2,390 1,719 2,035 2 393 085 986 885 R75 2, 272 I, 932 2,303 2 259 Mer- rhan- dise (less shan car Lots) Coke + Ore 317 188 717 518 £24 907 1,590 2,342 1.679 2 019 {1,010 1, 826 12,165 12, 520 13. 171 4-20. 5 420.3 45.2 165 120 98 135 127 563 665 294 | 3,028 3,176 3,117 3,189 170 141 3,146 130 653 | 3,333 131 | 796 | 3,328 193 420 | 3.384 Mis cella- neous 12, 836 14, 925 17, 295 17,239 18.821 180 3,876 4, 186 4, 586 4 641 1,073 4, 686 5, 065 t. 007 Sotirce: Ameriean Railwav Association. RATES AND FARES Since the reductions of 1922 no sweeping changes have occurred in freight rates or passenger fares, and in 1925 there were few changes of importance even in individual rates. Slight adjustments in rates were made within restricted territories on certain commodities. For the most part, therefore, changes in total railroad revenues during the last few years reflect changes in volume, distance hauled, or character of freight and passenger traffic. Freight rates in 1925 were about 16 per cent lower than in 1921 based upon ton-mile revenues. Had the 1921 ton-mile revenue average applied in 1925, the operating revenues would have been approximately $730,000,000 creater., RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION 517 Receipts Per Ton-Mile, by Districts. } Average receipts per ton-mile constitute a rough index of the general level of freight rates, weighted in accordance with the volume of the various items comprising the traffic and the distance carried, although a change in the character of traffic may change average receipts when actual rates remain constant. The year 1921 showed she highest average receipts, since which time there has been in each year a decline in all districts, except in the eastern from 1923 to 1924. In no district, however, has the average fallen below that for 1920. Compared with 1913 the general average for 1925—1.098 cents per ton-mile—is higher by 53 per cent. This is somewhat less than the general increase in the average level of wholesale prices, which, in 1925, was 58.7 per cent above 1913. The differences in average receipts as among the districts are partly due to differences in the character of freight handled. The southern district includes the roads of the Pocahontas region which have a very large volume of coal at a low average cost per ton-mile. Table B.—Average Receipts per Ton per Mile of Class I Railways (Cents) Total Jnited States District District Year East- ern South- ern West- arn Year Total Jnited States East- arn South- ern West- ern 0181 (eemaeans OLE E, cv mmmmsc MEL in mami 61, eae Po enn JY Testi ition me ).719 0.628 (723.633 722.648 707 | 647 07.646 15.663 e410 R13 0. 674 , 668 630 619 622 635 MRR ). 8" 892% , 878 , 842 . 83€ .824 044 in .——— -— WII 2 ees gon. TTT .973 0.014 0.873 L098 L052 1.020 .909, L170 L275 1.243 L079 | L422 L177, L172] .980| 1.202 L116 | L104 | .o59 | 19297 Lue | Liez| Cees! 1208 1. 008 L 108 928 1. 19F | Years ended June 30; others are calendar years. Source: Interstate Commerce Commission. EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES The average number of Class I railway employees in 1925 was 1,746,000, as compared with 1,755,000 in 1924 and 1,858,000 in 1923. The total compensation paid to employees in 1925 was $2,860,000,000, as compared with $2,828,000,000 and $3,005,000,000 in 1924 and 1923, respectively. For the year ended June 30, 1913, the average num- ber of employees was 1,759,000 and the wages paid totaled $1,339,- 000,000. In 1920 the average number of employees was 2,023,000 and the total compensation $3,682,000,000. These data exclude switching and terminal companies. There was thus a reduction in both total compensation and em- ployees from 1923 to 1924, and a further reduction in employees between 1924 and 1925 but an increase of $32,000,000 in wages pald. Comparing these changes with those in volume of traffic it is 518 COMMERCE YEARBOOK found that the labor cost per unit of service has decreased. The increased efficiency in railway operation in 1925 was due to the sfforts of both men and management. During 1925 the prevailing wage rates were those established in 1924 when wage rate increases were granted quite generally through- out the country to various classifications of transportation employees, including engineers, firemen, conductors, and trainmen, these in- creases ranging from 5 to 6 per cent. FINANCES Operating Results. A summary of the financial side of railway operation silce 1890 appears in Table 9. As compared with the average for the period 1891-1895, the year 1925 showed roughly an increase of five and one-half times in operating revenues, of six times in operating ex- penses, and of three and one-half times in net operating railway in- come. Taxes increased over ten times during this same period. The operating ratio advanced sharply during the war; gratifying decreases appear since 1920. A decrease of slightly more than 1 point under the operating ratio for 1925 would bring it to the level of 1913~14. Table 9.—Operating Finances of Railway Companies No1e.—~In thousands of dollars. Data for 1924 and 1925 relate only to Class I companies, the financial tems for which, however, represent nearly 98 per cent of the total. Beginning with 1908, switching and rarminal companies are excluded. See also Table 10. Yearly average or year ended— [une 30: 1891-1895_.. .. .......- 06-1900. LL eeneee le SR pw III I 00 dite memes De cceemm—ae + Mata) 1 1, 127, 531 » 264, 048 588, 526 ,726, 380 900, 847 975, 174 082, 482 325,765 580, 106 440, 639 473,205 812, 142 852, 855 906, 416 ,198, 118 127,730 5 956, 103 Operating revenues Freight 758, 930 $79, 837 118, 543 + 207,220 338, 020 379, 003 450, 773 640, 387 , 823, 652 655,410 677, 614 925, 554 925, 951 1, 968, 500 ), 198, 931 2 126, 717 > 037. 996 Passenger 281, 414 279, 900 351, 356 392, 963 121, 705 144, 397 £72, 695 510, 033 564, 606 566, 833 563, 609 328, 092 357, 638 560, 373 505, 088 703, 484 346. 475 Operating expenses 759, 588 832, 377 , 030, 307 116, 249 257, 539 338, 896 300, 602 536, 877 748, 516 710, 402 650, 034 881, 879 , 976, 332 035, 058 935, 923 2, 280, 416 5 ORK] AR2 Operating ratio ser cent 87.37 55. 85 54. 86 84. 66 | 86. 16 57.79 36.78 86. 08 87.53 0.08 | 56, 72 56.92 39.28 | 70. 02 70. 02 72.91 70. 5 Taves 34,915 41,970 16,708 50, 054 53, 252 56, 802 58,712 59; 064 73,743 78, 674 85, 140 98, 035 102, 657 113, 819 122, 005 140, 470 137 7s Net rail- way oper- ating in- come 2 333, 027 389, 701 511, 421 560, 077 590, 056 579, 476 833, 168 719, 824 766, 846 834, 794 710, 474 305, 097 744, 669 727, 458 805, 266 874, 190 804. O74 an 011i 1. RR RE Re (Gi onimenenan 1995 6. oo. *, 691, 065 115, 413 935, 200 250, 420 310, 151 632, 665 574, 453 419, 210 523,708 2 120 379 2, 831, 092 % 807, 436 » 522, 052 , 624, 886 420, 833 004, 109 '» 085, 742 "712, 495 '347, 421 {551 394 722, 359 340, 910 046, 166 193, 431 304, 815 166, 252 087, 516 158, 925 , 076, 653 ’ O55. R79 2, 426, 251 906, 283 1071, 522 1498, 817 .954, 394 668, 998 500, 991 999, 383 510, 056 : 535 785 55. 73 70. 62 31.67 2 ge (3. 1 161, 825 18, 632 299, 533 39, 136 ag, °7¢ BL] AR IHR 904 .. 058, 506 930, 557 546, 223 154, 132 12,101 801, 139 769, 411 974, 918 “73, 945 £190 281 Includes miscellaneous revenues from operation. ! Obtained by deducting from railway operating revenues the following items: Railway operating ex- anses, railway tax accruals, uncollectible railway revenues and net equipment and joint fachity rents. ) Class I and Class IL roads. 1 Class I roads. RBouree: Interstate Commerce Commission. RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION 519 The total operating revenues of Class I carriers in 1925 amounted to $6,120,000,000, 3.4 per cent more than the 1924 total and 91.6 greater than in 1913-14, but very slightly less than in 1923 (Table 10). The operating revenues of the southern district increased 8 per cent over 1924, a decidedly greater ratio than shown by the other districts. The total operating expenses in 1925 were $4,536,000,000, or about $27,900,000 greater than in the preceding year. In the western district there was a decrease in operating expenses, and in the eastern and southern districts a greater increase appeared in operating revenues than in operating expenses. The operating ratio in 1925 was reduced to 74.11 per cent from 76.14 in 1924 and from a maximum of 94.32 per cent for 1920; the ratio had been 72.83 in 1913-14. The ratio for the southern dis- trict was lower than in 1924 by over 8 points, and for the first time since 1918 was less than the ratio for the western district. Table 10.—Operating Finances of Class I Railways! by Districts {Millions of dollars] Operating revenues Operating expenses Year 2 912-14 (average)..... An EHR Tv emer NY) ctcaanmen——— oan a 994. je O25 or ccacammaae Per cent change from 1024. [912-14 (average). .... B18: ne necmmmmmimmen 1917 me eeecmamn “IR emma Ie: SR 01%, mwas 1 SN Per cent change from 1924 Total Eastern Southern | Western ' 2,982 3, 697 014 {881 5,145 3, 178 "517 5, 550 3, 200 5, 921 5 120 L, 324 , 622 1785 2 207 2 282 % 747 2, 461 > 517 & 151 523 306 85 306 377 877 1F 1,207 1, 452 1,623 1, 890 > 057 | 2, 454 9,179 % 127 209 3, 231 «261 +1 4 Ja o Net railway operating income ? 719 {, 040 934 339 i Ir -fy 1 282 117 324 192 "25 “tr 10 167 171 ‘39 328 '56 : x 233 % +15 0 dy fd edt Total | Eastern | Southern | Western 817 915 1,078 1,479 L, 672 2, 187 1,740 i, 646 1,764 1,671 1, 659 +.7 Ratio of expenses to revenues (per cent) 2,112 2, 357 2,829 2,082 4, 400 A, 828 * 563 elf “805 “0f 970 1,102 I) 338 1, 892 ), 023 2.728 “N83 c0 ny 325 3¢n 41” =H 70. 84 65. 54 70. 48 81. 58 85. 52 04.3% ‘2.71 73.28 87.97 74.97 85.76 8. 66 9, 90 Tt 5 &i 72.07 65.02 68. 04 77.76 87.35 3.42 La 42 67.70 63. 01 66. 46 78.30 31. 32 10.12 9. 86 77.38 6. 39 74.90 ag Om 6s bY: 1 PP : Excluding switching and terminal es . gars ended June 30, 1912-1914; others calendar years. CL . . ® Obtained by deducting from railway operating revenues the following items: Railway Spomng ex- benses, railway tax accruals, uneollectible railway revenues. aud net eauipment and ioint facility rents, ¢ Deficit, Source: Interstata Commerce Commission. The net railway operating income for 1925, $1,120,000,000, was a record figure and 15 per cent greater than in 1924. The increases 520 COMMERCE YEARBOOK for the three districts reflect the respective changes in the ratio of expenses t0 revenues. The southern district showed a gain of 22.4 per cent, the eastern 16.3 per cent, and the western 9.7 per cent. The net railway operating income in 1925 was about 55 per cent greater than the average for the three fiscal years ended June 30, 1914. However, it was derived from gross operating revenues more than double the pre-war figure. Increased economy in operation is evident from these data. The net railway operating income of Class I roads in 1925 was 5.9 per cent of the aggregate tentative valuation ($18,900,000,000) of the steam railway property of the carriers subject to the transportation act, 1920. In 1924 this ratio was almost 5.2 per cent. For the southern district the 1925 ratio was 11.9 per cent, as compared with 9.8 in 1924; for the western district, 5 per cent as compared with 4.6; and for the eastern district 5.4 per cent as compared with 4.5. Table 11.—Operating Revenues and Net Railway Operating Income of Class I Railways, by Months! [Thousands of dollars] Period 1923 Fanuary... _....... Tebruary.-._..__... March... ___. april. Mayan une. _ oo ILE iiss cm ABZOBE uc imme September... _._. October _..._..... November... .__ December.___.___._ 1924 [BOOTY cna ininnn February_....___.. March... ..._ SPIEL wv ten armen AY canummnevnnnana fune. oo... __.._. PLY. oo mmmiinniins Augusto cee September. ......_. October. .vweaene.. November.._..__. Dace’ - 1925 [onUarY. ocean. February. amma. March... ene... AD ememammn MAF cn ma senna Tr IY nvuuei manaws Auguste o coon. September. .o...... OCEODRL aw mmmmmc en November. - ooo. December. __._____. Operating revenues Total ' Eastern | Southern 502, 542 146, 949 535, 826 503, 304 545, 113 41. 399 234, 127 200, 442 256, 532 954, 113 269, 585 565. O15 85, 205 79,125 02,413 88, 543 39, 579 4’ OTR 536, 307 564, 529 546, 062 587, 014 531, 989 494’ 815 259, 181 268, 573 247, 568 262, 972 236, 537 295 64d 32,997 36, 279 35,100 31,710 36, 544 35 795 168, 986 179, 454 505, 371 175, 232 477, 520 $65. 870 215, 798 221, 786 137, 651 221, 355 221, 853 014. 781 33, 680 35, 045 1,190 34, 43] 32, 696 77 200 £81, 826 508, 506 541, 047 572, 872 505, 889 505. 176 220, 852 228, 968 236, 983 247,499 218, 973 203 017 78,346 32,180 35,292 91, 800 87, 628 04.437 484,774 154, 998 186, 485 173,497 188, 683 506. 808 219, 450 208, 873 223, 491 222, 567 230, 296 34. 7192 98, 273 35, 769 n, 47 36, 283 36, 439 36. 213 522,427 555, 367 565, 452 91,313 32,82; x04. 007 242,117 255, 328 Md, 712 252, 900 :31, 406 231. 464 37, 66¢ M, 056 28,010 04,278 97, 555 100. 445 Western 183, 210 158,382 186, 881 (80, 648 188, 949 191 335 184, 129 209, 677 213, 304 233, 232 208, 908 183 945 169, 508 70,723 76, 530 169, 396 173, 180 173. 500 182, 628 197, 353 118,772 233,573 199, 288 187 799 77,051 60, 354 71, 247 34, 847 71, 948 85 RRA 192, 647 205, 982 222, 73 “34, 19¢ 23,830 109 (00% Net railway operating income Total Eastern Southern | Western 61,120 39, 275 84,124 33,515 00, 321 a8. 973 22, 347 (4, 950 10, 215 13, 630 19, 754 18 ERE (5, 001 13,245 '8,043 7,301 16,238 12’ 17. 23, 780 11, 079 24, 066 39, 585 2, 328 28. 530 84, 035 98, 934 02,476 03, 776 86, 776 70. 048 13, 702 17,254 33,321 34, 050 29, 037 04’ 420 12,3819 ‘3, 614 3,757 15, 492 3, 027 15. 344 28, 914 38, 067 15, 308 54, 234 44,712 20 070) 51, 387 71, 6056 30,320 32, 200 30, 930 RS. B01 21,445 20, 368 36, 805 30, 537 31,011 30 4668 3,192 7,652 8, 640 4,933 3,006 1.899 18, 750 24, 085 24, 875 16, 829 15, 923 0a’ E12 74, 368 95,707 117,018 97,223 93,396 <8. 695 34,035 42, 158 16, 322 16, 314 32,138 29 504 12, 521 5, 589 1010 9,332 i7, 662 21’ 899 27,812 37, 067 52, 686 B1, 677 13, 596 39’ 360 65, 842 34, 620 73,117 36, 109 5, 857 31. 751 25, 937 27,700 1,839 4, 963 30, 284 12 8R1 16, 464 '8, 007 0,356 6,134 6,251 » 0R4 23,441 19,123 20, 922 15,102 20, 322 20 0Ra 39, 463 24, 805 “4, 585 27,700 3,043 04. 667 17, 556 “6, 830 1,414 19, 045 28, 71¢ 35 B74 .8,316 2,712 4,784 *5, 126 1,452 21.984 33, 591 45, 144 58, 387 63, 529 46, 775 27’ 100 ! Preliminary, hence data do not always agree with yearly figures shown in other tables. Nource: Interstate Commerce Commission. RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION 521 The net railway operating income for all Class I roads combined reached a peak in October when it was about $10,500,000 greater than in October, 1924, totaling $137,700,000. Distribution of Operating Revenue. Of $6,120,000,000 total operating revenue of Class I railways in 1925, $2,660,000,000 (excluding items for labor chargeable to capital account) or 43 per cent was spent for labor, compared with 44 per rent in 1924 and 1923: 5514 per cent in 1920, and 38 per cent in. 1916. Chart V.—DISTRIBUTION OF OPERATING REVENUE (CLASS I ROADS) BILLIONS OF DOLLARS 3 prr—iiidin Total Operating Heven A 2 3s - af, EY olL_—t 1913 1914 1915 1916 FISCAL YEARS ENDED JUNF AN a6 1017 — db _- 19.) el 1922 1923 1824 1925 CALENDAR YEARS (2088-10 A total of $1,983,000,000 or 32 per cent of the operating revenues was spent for fuel, material, supplies, and other expenses. Taxes re- quired $359,000,000 or 5.9 per cent of the total operating revenues; in 1924 taxes accounted for 5.7 per cent; in 1923, 5.3; in 1920 and 1916, 4.4 per cent. In 1925 there remained 18.3 per cent of the total Operating revenues as net railway operating income with which to pay fixed charges on bonded debts and returns on other capital em- ployed. This compares with 16.5 per cent in 1924, 15.3 in 1923. and 28.9 in 1916. 1950—26+F 02 522 COMMERCE YEARBOOK Table 12.—Distribution of Operating Revenues of Class I Railways? [Millions of dollars] eAT Total perat- ing revenues Labor ? Fuel (loco- Toti ve) Mate- rial, wupplies, ete.’ Taxes All other eXpenses Net rail. way operat- ing income OTR, cu mes RR HS Emmy BIR, i iiitm wi Cee , 10& °, 597 1,014 \, 881 145 178 517 559 200 S921 5, 120 , 245 , 366 1,618 2, 431 T6844 424 I R90 , 468 2, 785 - 825 2 630 242 251 "34 530 474 “i 2 DL 551 51% 32 I 002 367 J1if 2 156 1,266 1,132 "wy A 157 1e > £ L8¢ 78% 23¢ 1, 040 244 934 26 639 ny 455 dui a7 39% 801 361 7680 4185 962 413 974 ® 1,120 RT © 7 as “3 340 259 t Excludes switching and terminal companies. ! Excludes that portion of pay roll chargeable to capital account, ! Includes uncollectible railway revenues. | Fiscal year ended June 30; others, calendar years. } Three items amounting to $1,983,000,000 not available in detail. Source: Compiled by Bureau of Railway Economics from reports of Interstate Commerce Commission. Railway Capital and Dividends. The total amount of railway capital actually outstanding has increased from $19,029,000,000 on June 30, 1913, to approximately $22,061,000,000 December 31, 1925. The data in Table 13 are from reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission except those for 1925, which are estimated by adding all new railroad issues during the year. The ratio of funded debt to total railway capital has increased rather regularly since 1919. A certain part of the reported capital outstanding consists of securities held by railroads themselves, aggregating approximately $3,000,000,000. This leaves the net capitalization of the companies considered as one system at the end of 1925 about $19.000.000,000. Table 13.—Railway Capital Actually Outstanding Nore.—In millions of dollars. Excludes securities held by or for the issuing company but not those held by other railway companies. Switching and terminal roads not included. but nonoberating as well 18 operating companies are included. Year ended June 30— Me mis wins Whe ememesmoss {tPA oe emimae [CI L010 wma wn mins O18 Total allway ranital »,19¢ > 993 7,714 3,438 3, 989 5029 * 401 77s a. AR] Funded debt 3, 808 9, 380 764 2,075 n 437 ,42¢ A747 1,085 0 gag Qtoeck 7,301 612 011 363 > 559 600 god | 635 | Jean Per cent of debt to capital 54.6 55.% 4, ¢ fa 5.0 “fF 65.4 56.% nsf Year ended Dee. 2] — mimic Sue eammen ges TTT Total ailway ~apital 19, 631 3, 765 9, 453 9, 539 3, 098 30, 248 0, 464 1, 058 1, 681 5 0R1 Funded debt |! 0, 875 0, 761 0, 607 i, 656 1,255 1,358 1,502 1,965 2, 381 5 mar Stock , 158 J, 004 3, 847 > 883 3,843 3, 890 2 969 2003 9,300 0 318 Per cent of debt to renital 56.4 54.5 54, F 54. k 56." 56, 56. 56. { 57.1 EY ® t Estimated from unofficial sources, Jource: Interstate Commerce Commission. 523 Dividends declared in 1924, $382,880,000 (data for 1925 not avail- able), were not as great as in 1923 but exceeded the payments of 1922. The per cent of stock paying dividends, however, was greater than in any year since 1913. The average rate on dividend yielding stock, therefore, was lower than in 1923, as was the ratio of dividends declared to all stock (Table 14). Table 14,—Dividends of Railways Note. —Nonoperating as well as operating roads are included. Switching and terminal roads are sxcluded beginning with 1908. Per rent of stock ying divi- {ends ¥ ear ended— lune 30: J 1891-18053. 0. _.. 806-1900 ...! Means 9oLlie BRR Yn mm . | [ET iy Tee nn .40 "OF 37.47 2.84 ‘6. 54 v.27 69 01 6.71 “ An Divi. dends de- slared (1,000 1ollars) 4, 093 4, 295 6,736 *3,392 728 o1, 941 37,964 72,796 98, 087 90, 665 321, 072 105, 71 1 60. 107 Aver- age ate on divi- Jend- vield- ing tock Ratio of divi- dends de- zlared to all stork 5. 42 3.27 semper 5. 26 2.70 3 55 2,08 70 "20 09 En .78 . 03 » ag > 07 © 53 50 X 03 01 19 30 18 +. 00 5 42 Y oar ended — ‘une 30: 1912 meen 1912 meen 2 LR NRIIITT «ZIT Vemcemnee Wm C2 mmr P23 wwimian 924 Per | sent of stock aying | divi- dends 84, 73 66. 14 34.30 26) 45 52. 02 2.32 38. 09 9, 64 “7.30 3.92 79.38 | 22.09 rd Q7 Divi- dends de- clared (1,000 Jollars) 100,315 369, 078 451, 653 20% ATR 366, 561 381, 852 339, 186 335, 242 331,103 456, 482 338, 806 411, 882 aro Q’(G Aver- age ate on divi- dend- yield- ing etock 7.17 6. 37 7.97 g 00 8.75 %, 81 *. 60 +33 | 3. 52 °. 02 8.37 7.30 6.34 Ratio of divi- dends de- clared to all stock 4.64 4.22 5.13 2 80 4.19 1.24 3.83 3.77 3.74 5.13 3.78 4.53 1.12 1 Annual average. Jource: Interstate Commerce Commission. New Financing. The volume of railway securities issued in 1925 was about as great as in 1923, totaling over $514,700,000, but was $425,600,000 less than in 1924. New securities constituted 74 per cent of the total issue. Long-term bonds and notes were $473,591,000, or 92 per cent of the total for all classes of securities issued during the year. Table 15.—Railroad Securities Issued: 1920-1926 In thousands of dollars] tem rman! All classes of securities. NOW op om wrmn Refunding ___.__ Long-term bonds and DOES ooo OFNAING - «vo wremeeee cme Short-term bonds and NOteS..ovemmeooeennn NOW eee ee a Refunding. ..uowreomeeecaennen Stocks (all new 1020 377, 880 322, 380 RA. 500 356, 380 02, 380 “4, C00 1,500 2%, 000 Nn [O21 355, 288 352, 666 NT £92 538,793 336, 671 302,122 16, 495 15,995 500 1099 351, 531 523, 808 or 204 589, 211 164, 488 124, 724 35, 352 32352 3,000 26, OBR i 1922 518, 249 464, 516 B3. 733 171, 340 427, 956 43, 883 19, 088 9,238 9,850 LR] TE ny 1094 1925 940, 297 779, 617 180). BRNO 514, 709 380, 281 124 498 809,084 473,591 567,404 | 339, 563 141,680 | 134,028 75,250 24, 900 56, 250 24, 500 19, 600 400 £E O83 16, 218 Source: Commercial and Financial Chronicle. 524 COMMERCE. YEARBOOK Foreclosures and Receiverships. The mileage operated by receivers at the end of 1925 totaled 18,039 as compared with 10,487 miles in 1924. According to the compila-~ tions made by the Railway Age the number of roads in receivers’ hands at the close of 1925 was five less than in 1924, numbering 48, Only five companies went into receivership during the year, and over 99 per cent of the mileage involved was that of the Chicago, Milwau- kee & St. Paul, with its 11,007 miles of line. Because of the great extent of the St. Paul there have been but two years since 1876 during which the mileage of roads going into the hands of receivers was greater than in 1925. Foreclosure sales covered 6,151 miles in 1922, 637 in 1923, 3,992 in 1924, and 638 in 1925. The sales in 1925 comprised six companies, Regional Consolidations. Negotiations and plans for consolidation have been under way, although little actual progress toward unification of the carriers into a few large systems has been made. During the 12 months ending October, 1924, 33 out of 34 applications for authorization of one carrier to obtain control of another were granted, while in the same period in 1925 there were 39 applications filed, 26 authorizations issued, and 3 applications withdrawn. The Interstate Commerce Commission expressed doubt as to the wisdom of the provisions of the law requiring the preparation of a complete plan of consolidation. A recommendation was sent to Congress, also, that the law be amended to authorize consolidations ander the supervision of the commission, Hearings were held on the application of the Norfolk & Western to acquire control of the Virginian, among other cases, and the com- mission concluded its hearings on the Van Sweringen so-called Nickel Plate unification plan. The decision in the latter case, in March, 1926, denied the application for control of some 9,000 miles of line under the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co.; the trans- portation plan was generally approved, but the financial structure was disapproved, considerations, terms, and conditions of proposed acquisition of control not being found just and reasonable. PLANT AND EQUIPMENT New Motive Power and Rolling Stock. A smaller amount of new motive power and rolling stock was put into service in 1925 than in either of the two preceding years, although greater than for several years preceding 1923. The previous large additions to equipment, and the more efficient care and handling of the existing equipment, permitted the smaller purchases to satisfy all needs. Care has been exercised in purchasing to secure the best iy 525 and most efficient type of equipment. Further data are given in vhe section on Machinery and Railway Equipment (page 379 of Com- merce Yearbook). Table 16 shows installations and retirements of locomotives and freight cars since 1913, and the number and capacity of those in service at the end of each year. While the number of new cars annually installed has decreased since 1923 the average capacity and number in service has increased. Fewer locomotives were in service in 1925 than in immediately preceding years, but the average size has grown steadily, and the aggregate tractive effort in use is con- siderably greater than a few years ago. Table 16.—XLocomotive and Freight-Car Equipment of Class I Railways Locomotives Freight-train cars In service Year! ors er cr RW ERR Am mmm swam er fmmmeeac ees n———— wT TT Num- yer in- talled , 381 245 L114 086 148 802 of 17 od 226 360 786 733 Num- Jer re- tired 2,338 1,862 1, 507 2,217 1,423 977 ~~ 1, 254 , 130 682 2, 746 2, 529 3. 005 Num- ber 31,172 32, 533 32,125 31, 332 11, 890 a 889 “gg 746 049 54, 512 35, 327 35, 358 a4 150 Average tractive effort | pounds)? 20, 956 80, 705 31, 840 33, 188 13, 032 ‘4,995 5 789 %, 365 * 935 1, 441 39, 177 39, 891 40. 625 Number installed 162, 670 50, 813 86, 012 26, 851 17,210 15, 249 ’8, 019 36, 044 3,406 105, 394 732, 060 156, 672 125 780 Number retired 06, 827 96, 985 90, 347 06, 272 62, 25¢ 56, 02¢ £3, 27. 75, 197 69, 24; 126, 471 213, 78¢ 118, 590 117. 021 Number in serviea 1, 237,418 > 291, 750 286, 79% 280, 955 330,123 354, 244 389, 86( 350, 707 L344, 780 >, 332, 286 , 345, 591 2, 379, 006 3 280° (00 Average capacity (tons) $38.3 830.1 40.0 41.0 {LF tL,’ ‘LL 2.0 ‘2, “3.7 <3. 4 Years ended June 30 to 1915, inclusive, thereafter calendar years. Exclusive of electric locomotives. ' Includes both Class I and Class II. Partially estimated from unofficial sources, Source: Interstate Commerce Commission. Condition of Equipment. The ratio of unserviceable to total number of freight cars for the year 1925 was 7.7 per cent and the corresponding ratio for freight and passenger locomotives 17.9 per cent. These ratios are lower oven than the low averages of 1924 and decidedly better than those in 1922. Because of high car surpluses it was natural that somewhat less effort was made than in 1923 and 1924 to cut down further the number of unserviceable cars. The figure for unserviceable locomo- tives closely approaches the 15 per cent set as a goal by the railway executives. During 1921 and 1922 the proportion of unserviceable equipment was extremely high, reaching 15.5 per cent for freight cars during one month in 1921 and 28.9 per cent for locomotives at one time in 1922, The great amount of motive power and equipment installed during the last few vears and the small percentage of locomotives and cars 526 COMMERCE YEARBOOK awaiting repair point clearly to the fact that the carriers are now fairly well equipped, and are among the causes of the greater efficiency in handling traffic. ; Table 17.—Percentage of Unserviceable Freight Cars and Locomotives Percentage of unserviceable freight cars Percentage of unserviceable locomotives Month Monthly av- [20:7 TR Isnuary... cccosnins February. _......... Morph. cosnssnennnin 4) v1 Tay a eicinmceaaaan MWe. ces mmncacmanen TY pms AUgUSE. Lc meaanan September. .ocoenoa. October. .couacaoan.. November. ....--.- December. ooo... 21 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1025 | 1921 13.1 8.8 9.8 0.8 ta 6 4 F 12.8 13.5 14.0 13.8 oa 8.0 9.0 B.8 B.{ ~ 7.8 8. 7 a] i.¢ 79 23.7 4.8 4.81 2 1922 24.9 23.4 37 73.4 2.* 1923 21. 4 25. 6 24.8 24. 4 23.6 wd Ala! Ly 8 1924 | 1925 18.7 18.8 19.0 19.2 9.1 t € : 17.9 18.9 18.9 9.1 £5 0 I 7! i. 17. 8 168.9 Source: Compiled by Bureau of Railway Economics from Interstate Commerce Commission Reports Railway Construction. The total track mileage (including first, second, third, and other track) built during 1925 was 1,354 miles, comparing with 1,114 miles in 1924, 1,176 miles in 1923, and practically double that for each of the three years preceding 1923. The mileage of new first track, representing extension of lines, was greater, in 1925 than in 1923 or 1924, and accounted for almost half of the total new mileage. The Railway Age records the following new track (in miles) built in the United States: Zant [004 vrmmn amma wa wm a as 898 ooo. First rack Second track Third track Fourth rack or more 578.95 | 456.12 | 51.22 | 25.88 643. 53 B82, 46 18. 86 9.65 Total 1,113.77 1. 354. 40 Of the first track built in 1925, Florida, with 99 miles, again accounted for the greatest mileage, while Texas ranked second with about 2 miles less. Over one-third of the second trackage constructed was in Florida, while over one-eighth was in South Carolina. The total length of line abandoned in 1925 was 606 miles, as com- pared witly. 693 miles during 1924, 518 in 1923, and 677 in 1922. The Interstate Commerce Commission authorized abandonment of 77 additional miles in 1925, Aside from trackage, there was a considerable amount of construc- tion during the year designed to assure better operating facilities, including terminal iraprovements. both passenger and freight, grade RAILWAY TRANSPORTATION 527 separation, and bridge renewals and strengthening. Improvements to freight terminals, sidings, and yards were especially important on the eastern roads, improvements of the western roads being of a more general nature. : Electrification. . Track newly equipped for electric operation in 1925 exceeded the sntire electrifications for the five preceding years, totaling 236 miles as compared with 80 miles in 1924, According to the Electric Rail- way Journal, electrification of steam railroad lines was carried out by five companies. as follows: Staten Island Rapid Transit Co. (Baltimore & Ohio system)__________ Long Island Railroad __..__ Norfolk & Western Railroad... Virginian Railway _____._._._. A New York. New Haven & Hartford Railroad _ Total. Single track miles 56. 00 54. 00 52.75 38. 40 35. 21 246. 36 Progress has been made on the Illinois Central electrification in Chicago, although it will not be in service for some months. Signal and Train Control Construction. Interlocking and signal construction was active in 1925. More equipment was placed in service than in any year since 1914 and prospects are good for an extensive program during 1926. Re- placement of older types of semaphore automatic signals with light signals occurred on a considerable scale. During 1925 the mileage of new automatic block signals completed in the United States and Canada totaled 2,641 miles of road, with 3,874 miles of track. According to the Railway Age, installations of automatic signals in Canada and the United States during 1925 totaled 2,209 semaphores and 2,444 light signals. Ninety-three interlocking plants were placed in service in 1925, four of which were in Canada. During the year 76 plants were entirely rebuilt, and overhauling and extensive additions were made to 17 others. In 1924 only two of the divisional gutomatic train-control instal- lations required by the first order of the Interstate Commerce Com- mission had been completed and four others almost completed. At the end of 1925, 24 of the 45 roads on which the first train control order is now effective reported at least one full engine division quipped, while two of the additional carriers covered by the second order also reported a division complete. The second order, issued on January 14, 1924, and now effective on 41 of the 45 roads included in the first order, required further that a second division be equipped with train control bv February 1. 1926. A few of the roads have 728 " COMMERCE YEARBOOK proceeded through their second district; the Norfolk & Western, the Santa Fe, the Union Pacific, and the Chicago & North Western have second districts practically completed. The Southern Railway reported its second installation completed on November 22, 1925. LEGISLATION ‘ During the second session of the Sixty-ninth Congress in 1925 only one important piece of legislation affecting the railroads was enacted, This was the so-called Hoch-Smith Resolution, instructing the Inter- state Commerce Commission to make a survey of the entire rate structure of the country and to make, from time to time, such re- visions as this investigation showed to be advisable, with particular reference to the value of farm products in relation to railroad rates. Several bills of importance were introduced into the Sixty-ninth Congress dealing with an amendment of the fourth section of the Interstate Commerce Act, with consolidation, with the regulation of interstate commerce by motor vehicle, and with the settlement of labor disputes. The bill to amend the fourth section was defeated in the Senate. The railroad labor act, abolishing the railroad labor board and creating new machinery for handling labor adjustments, passed the House and Senate, becoming a law in May, 1926. The other bills are still pending. MOTOR TRANSPORTATION There are in operation in the entire world approximately 24,450,000 automobiles—passenger cars, trucks and busses, not including motor cycles. The registration of these vehicles in the United States in 1925 was 19,954,000, or more than four-fifths of the total. There are also in the world approximately 1,520,000 motor cycles, of which the United States has only about 140,000. Statistics of the regis- tration of motor vehicles in the leading countries of the world, in comparison with the number of inhabitants, are presented in the table on page 405. Registration in the United States in 1925 was 13.4 per cent greater «than in 1924, as compared with an increase of 16.6 per cent the pre- ceding year. The rate of increase was substantially the same for motor trucks as for passenger cars, although in most preceding years the trucks had increased more rapidly. The increase in the number of motor vehicles registered as com- pared with 1924 was shared by every State, and for the most part no marked differences appear among the States in the rate of increase. Florida reported an exceptionally high increase of nearly 50 per cent. MOTOR TRANSPORTATION 529 Table 18.—Motor Car Registration! Qtate and year " States: Seaman Men 322s SL —— Sie 925 _ 1095 Alabam@....... Arizona. coo... Arkansas..._... California. ..... Jolorado....... Jonnecticut.... Delaware. ...... Aoridac. eno. teorgis ce nun ‘dah. uo inois. waeeann diana. noo! IWR wane nunes= ATS0S eee “entucky..___. wouisiana..___| Taine. ...._.__ Aaryland.._.__j ‘Tassachusetts Jichigan...... Vinnesnta. ___ Jrand total 1,711,339 3,231, 941 3,463, 295 2,238,375 5,002, 177 7,593, 877 9 954. 347 194, 580 68, 029 183, 589 440, 541 240, 007 250, 669 40, 140 286, 388 348, 003 81, 506 263, 177 "95, 410 159, 202 157, 033 161, 647 07, 000 40,499 34, 247 46,153 189, 010 180. 604 Passenger cars, taxis, and busses J 3,225, 859 3,483, 391 0,959, 571 13, 539, 608 15, 460, 649 17. 512. 638 171,387 59,798 159, 511 295, 796 221,513 213,486 32, 550 237,435 27, 578 73, 896 101, 943 530, 554 313,412 109, G68 135, 020 76, 000 16, 929 22,175 554, 81 385, 524 594. 879 Motor trucks nd road ractors 2 &) 1, 006, 082 979, 904 278, 804 1,562, 569 2,133, 028 2 441.700 23,193 8, 231 24, 078 214,745 18, 584 37,183 7,600 48, 953 30, 51 7,610 161, 23¢ 94, 856 45,790 47,065 na) 637 1,00; “2% v5 07. 41, 34( 63, 45¢ 4 R15 State and vear 1095 Aississippio.... Tissouri.ooen.. Jontana..._._. Jebraska. ..... Nevada. —- New Hamp- SHB vig New Jersey. ... New Mexico... New York... Vorth Carolina. Jorth Dakota... AiO. ns klahoma...... STEZON ccna ennsylvania. “hode Island. »uth Carolina. »uth Dakota... TDNesSSee....n.- WA cnnmmwnnns abc mont... rginig........ "ashington__.. "est Virginia... Jisconsin....._ Tyoming.._... Yistriet of Co- lamblia. ______ Grand total 177, 262 304, 166 94, 656 338, 719 21 169 81,498 580, 554 49, 111 , 625, 583 £340, 287 , 144, 972 ", 346, 400 424,345 216, 553 , 330,433 101,756 168, 496 168, 038 244, 626 75, 083 90, 500 69, 576 282, 650 eg 449 ne 103. 002 Passenger cars, taxis, and busses 159, 134 543, 426 82,135 301,716 12 069 72,472 169,156 47,470 1. 346, 665 311, 384 133,791 1,179, 400 393, 047 199, 517 i, 149, 074 34,337 153,343 154, 141 201,712 386, 362 79, 170 64, 566 246, 950 781, 452 190, 257 28; 090 19 B47 3G. 700 Motor trucks and road rantors 2 18,128 60, 740 12, 521 37, 003 2100 9,026 111, 398 1,641 978, 918 28, 903 111,181 167, 000 31,208 17,036 81,359 17,419 15,153 ©13,887 59,914 £8,721 11, 330 5,010 35, 700 46, 990 97, 332 1 66,206 5,164 13. 302 t Includes passenger automobiles, taxis and ears for hire, and busses; and the commodity carrying or aonpassenger motor vehicles, which include motor trucks and road tractors (excluding farm fractors). # Previous to 1924 excludes road tractors. . } Not shown separately. + Includes busses, as reported by State. . * Only six months’ data reported, July 1 to December 31, as fiscal registration vear ends June 30. Source: Bureay of Public Roads. Department of Acrienltire. The use of automobiles as public carriers is steadily expanding as shown by increased registration of taxis, busses, and cars for hire. There were 203,356 such vehicles reported in 1925. The number in the State of New York was 30,045. The use of auto busses is in- creasing within cities, between cities and their suburbs, and between smaller towns and villages. Railways are using a considerable and growing number of flanged wheel motor busses on short and feeder lines. Electric railways are increasingly operating busses in con- nection with their other services. Both steam and electric railways in many cases complain of loss of passenger traffic through compe- tition of bus lines and through the increasing use of private auto- mobiles. Most automotive travel, however, represents a net addition to the total volume of movement of persons which would not nther- wise have taken place. There is also decided increase in the use of motor trucks for trans- portation between cities and towns. While some assert that this is injuring the railroads, it is perhaps the more common belief that CRSA Fan 530 COMMERCE YEARBOOK trucks have for the most part evolved a distinct field of transporta- tion—that of the short hauls and the small shipments which are not so profitable for the railways as other traffic, In many cases also motor trucks serve as feeders for the railroads. For further data as to automobiles and trucks see section on auto- motive products. INLAND WATERWAYS Aggregate River and Canal Transportation. The total tonnage carried via our inland waterways, including the navigable rivers and canals, without known duplication, aggregated approximately 173,190,000 tons in 1924. The tonnage passing through the Detroit River, connecting Lakes Huron and Erie was 80,074,000 tons. Of this 8,036,460 tons was local traffic. The navi- gable rivers of the United States accounted for 102,430,000 tons of commerce, excluding through traffic of the Detroit River and all other known duplication of cargo. These figures may be compared with the volume of traffic by other channels of transportation (so far as possible eliminating duplication of tonnage via any one means of transport) as follows: Tonnage originating on railways. Overseas foreign cOMMEeree. oo mo cms Great Lakes trade, eliminating trade between the United States and Canada... _.____ mn Trade between United States and Canada via Great Lakes_____ United States coastwise ocean-borne commerce (excluding Great Lakes and Panama Canal)... .___. om Total of navigable rivers and canals (excluding all known dupli-~ cation) ___._-.-__. SE) AEH te ess mR A River transportation in the United States (excluding transit ton- nage of Detroit River)... _ ___.___. . Canal transportation in the United States__._. - Sault Ste. Marie. _._._._.. cer mmm cem—————a Panama Canal (intercoastal traffic only). _.____. 1, 188, 000, 000 82. 118. 000 83, 292, 000" 12, 930, 000 67, 678, 000 173, 190, 000 102, 432, 000 92, 290, 000 72, 037, 000 13. 527. 000 Great Lakes to Ocean Waterway. The investigations of the Joint Engineering Board relative to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence waterway were continued during 1925 and are to be completed in 1926. The Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors (War Department) began investigations, also, regard- ing a Lakes-to-the-Hudson waterway. The Department of Com- merce inaugurated a survey of the principal economic questions in- volved in the Lakes-to-the-ocean waterway projects, which it is expected will be completed about the same time as the War Depart- ment engineering surveys. WATER TRANSPORTATION 531 Great Lakes. Traffic moving through the canals at Sault Ste. Marie—which includes a very large part of the Great Lakes commerce—in 1925 was 81,875,000 tons of cargo, an increase of almost 10,000,000 tons over the preceding year, but 9,500,000 tons less than in 1923. The decline between 1923 and 1924 had been principally in ore and coal. The increase in 1925 was in ore cargoes, which were over 25 per cent greater than in 1924. Iron ore and coal accounted for 81.5 per cent of the total traffic in 1925, wheat and grains approximately 16.7 per cent, while general merchandise was less than 1 per cent of the total shipments. Table 19.—Trafic Through Sault Ste. Marie Canals (Short Tons of Cargo) Year Total OnnNage 890 ....... PAY ow iimmin ET — 901 ___ n, 041, 213 5,062, 580 15, 643, 073 R. 403. 065 aarp Tra Per cent change from 1094 . Year 07 oc nmmmnis 908. eee 904. ..... 005. Total "9, 718, 344 5, 369, 934 1, 200, 304 1,888, 219 3, 813, 898 5, 680, 327 » 935, 542 "9, 282, 496 8, 259, 254 36, 067, 258 1,379, 658 2, 037, 390 1, 875. 108 i127 Total Lonnage 35, 961, 146 34, 674, 437 31, 546, 106 14 270. 680 Iron ore 18, 109, 3562 11, 413, 765 5, 213, 604 33, 452, 107 31, 374, 090 30, 551, 206 "6,922, 792 6,780, 498 », 505, 323 12, 227, 338 39, 356, 943 12, 942, 197 3 874. 864 S408 Year 906. meee 907.2 908-020] 909 Coal 18, 622, 938 ‘4, 487, 221 ~ 357, 058 6,123,119 > 298, 852 7, 981, 610 > 874, 951 4, 156, 250 + 763, 15¢ 461, 018 395, 317 “E g5 pK Total Lonnage 31,751, 08" 58, 217, 21¢ 11, 390, 557 =’ 205 140 Stone 6, 181 517, 476 “71, 001 ‘02, 009 71,170 63, 271 '03, 447 356, 763 197, 255 191, 219 367. 033 RT Year Bun [O11 ec cvs 1912... General merchan- dise L, 770, 880 2 317,304 2 595, 308 903, 865 658, 36 104, 437 542, 178 556, 110 300, 163 880, 689 857, 405 623,356 707, 141 +13. 4 Total tonnage 32, 363, 218 53,477,216 72. 472. 676 All other 11, 209, 012 8, 151, 644 11, 124, 244 0, 891, 652 8, 911, 589 8, 250, 975 5, 524, 451 7, 226, 358 9, 807, 166 12, 841, 450 12, 272, 154 4, 564, 665 2 TRO 924 -F. 8 ! Mainly grain and flour reported separately in bushels and barrels, respectively. Sources: Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors. Mississippi and Warrior Rivers. The Mississippi and Warrior River barge lines, serving the Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans and the Warrior River between Birmingham, Cordova, and Mobile, have been operated by the Federal Government since 1918. During 1925 there were 910,755 tons of cargo carried by the Mississippi line and 231,464 tons by the Warrior River line. There has been a steady increase in the amount of traffic carried by the Mississippi section during 1923, 1924, and 1925. On the Warrior River the southbound (down) shipments of coal in 1925 decreased greatly and despite increases in other items the total southbound traffic was less than in 1924 by over 23,000 tons, Shipments northbound increased bv more than one-third. 332 COMMERCE. YEARBOOK Table 20.—Mississippi-Warrior Federal Barge Line Tonnage Nore.—Total tonnage in 1922 was: Mississippi, southbound 331,816, northbound 267,853; Warrior, south hound 159,728. northbound 100.616. Section and commodity Southbound 1923 © 1624 | 1825 0,870 "408,602 430, 111 Wheaton. iocommconnnee. 51,921 99,108 176,278 DOT ccc imcunccacmmea , 080 90,974 33,783 RY cineca ccna , 885 6,681 4, 761 Cotton. .__coeoeooona__. ,226 12,268 !7,058 Bauxite ore concentrates..; +673 19,654 15,567 Fabricated steel_._____._, 477 1,082 37,360 Bariron.____.............| 5,442 3,336 O) Janned goods...._.......| 8,249 14,920 [4,703 Allother.. _....._....._. 6,337 -60,570 130,611 Warrior section. ____|.81,706 134,770 111,581 22,247 82,678 26,463 "583 36, 765 49, 314 584 5,087 ® © 894 L699 | 10, 504 500 9) 2) J 2,007 @ , 97 516 3,053 5831 6,018 329,247 Section and commodity Mississippi section. Bauxite Ore. ..uomcoicana. SION <p gpg ascieionss salu. ¢ ama offee... BARRE E) 15 J Citrate of soda. ...__..._. urlap. ceo Janned goods.._. ...._.. Alother._. ...__...._. Warrior section. ___. MIanganese Ore. .......... uphar.._._. to. Came IAT ecccccmccaaa, anned goods... sono. MIDE. cumin mmm “erchandise........-._. wl other. o_o... Northbound 1023 | 1924 | 1925 480, 644 B1, 510 163,301 152, 403 6,516 148,016 192,421 7,019 | 22,524 39,820 242 17,507 12,776 3,195 6,140 | A 2,038 15,074 8 1,100 10,875 11,873 6,112 6,513 7.819 12,820 50,051 63,442 7, 545 37,576 119, 883 "416 32,031 37,042 ,771 22,566 21,788 (660 4,141 2,888 ,750 5,361 21,167 040 - 2,178, 2,892 10,629 | 14,631 L041 (®) 4,002 7.840 10.669! 14 573 219 581 (440, 901 + Included in “ Fabricated steel.” ? Included in “All other.” ! Includes: Cotton, 3,316 tous; pig iron, 5,224 tons; and cotton ties, 8,733 tons. } Source: Inland and Coastwise Waterways Service, War Department, New York State Barge Canal. There has been a steady gain in traffic on the New York State Barge Canal since its completion. The total movement on the New York State Canals amounted to 2,006,000 tons in 1923, 2,032,000 tons in 1924, and 2,344,000 tons in 1925. Of this last total 83 per cent was carried on the Erie Canal between the Great Lakes and the sea. The largest single item carried on the system is wheat; the other principal commodities are petroleum, sand, stone and gravel, barley, and sulphur. Much more wheat was carried in 1925 than in 1924. Barley, however, showed the greatest increase, 253,755 tons in 1925 as compared with 63,628 tons in 1924. There was also a large increase in the tonnage of sulphur. Table 21,—Traffic on the New York State Canals (Tons) Commodity Total. ...._.._ Products of agricul- ture: Wheat ooo... RY€rmennccaaacnn Flaxseed ......_.. Barley. .ovucuius Corn covessamuwn All other __..____ forest products; Lumber. ....... Pulpwood.....__. All other.......... Products of the = ground: Jand,stone, gravel Sulphur... Coal rcccanns All other ...._... Entire system 1923. | 19% 006. 284 12. 032. 317 1925 9 844 013 300, 732 216, 342 06, 140 63, 583 46, 558 t1 BR? 112, 840 78, 712 18, 518 63, 628 34, 666 30. 301 566, 669 43, 610 21, 880 153, 755 18,133 18 010 10, 313 24, 685 12. 999 80, 490 69, 940 8744 mae wor 7 "19 453 123, 289 22,037 {1 EL0 42, 056 384, 204 101, 624 51,743 21,657 366, 075 77,856 7, 222 21. 553 Commodity Manufactured prod- ucts: Petroleum and other oil___.... fron, pig and bloora.. oo... fron and steel articles...._... IK ocramasanes BH ae cesnanaas UEAL oman “aper and paper produets. _._... “hemicals and AINE. wm win All otherooeeonao. All other products... Entire system 1923 1924 {1995 221, 610 200, 750 322,141 35,907 31. 801 29 AR] 5,008 46, 853 39, 517 19, 440 14, 403 28,475 51,896 35, 752 12,083 35, 974 35, 814 8, 875 30, 368 30, 492 34, 657 | 24, 449 20, 464 15, 332 89, 809 A, 782 47,738 33,714 76, 704 14. 185 Source: Superintendent of Public Works, State of New York. WATER TRANSPORTATION 533 OCEAN SHIPPING SUMMARY.—The tonnage of the American merchant marine declined in 1925 compared with 1924, but nevertheless was two and one-fourth times as great as before the war, The loss appeared only in the tonnage engaged in foreign ‘rade, which was still about nine times as great as the 1910-1914 average. The idle steam shipping in world ports decreased slightly from 5,891,000 gross tons on January 1, 1925, to 5,845,000 gross tons on January 1, 1926, the United States accounting for a little over 70 per cent of the total idie on the latter date. A decline occurred in the amount of tonnage under construction in the world as a whole, the total for 1925 being 2,070,000 gross tons compared with 2,470,000 in 1924. The United States, however, with 105.000 tons under construction showed a gain of 47,000 tons. } Entrances at United States ports of vessels engaged in foreign trade totaled 89,378,000 net tons, a record figure, more than 1,000,000 tons greater than in 1924, and 49 per cent over the 1910-1914 average. Of these, 73 per cent (ton= nage) carried cargo, compared with 71 per cent in 1924. American vessels represented 40.3 per cent of the total entrances as against 43.4 per cent in 1924. Clearances from United States Ports aggregated 1,318,000 tons more than in 1924. Vessels with cargo represented 771% per cent of the total, practically the same proportion as in 1924. The weight of cargo exported was somewhat less but hat of cargo imported somewhat greater in 1925 than in 1924, Table 22. —Summary of Major Statistics of Shipping [Thousands of tons] (tem American merchant marine: Total gross A On Tonnage in foreign trade......... Entrances, in foreign trade: Total net toNNAEe. eve eeecon.. With cargo. coco ocrummuuno.. Clearances, in foreign trade; Total net tONNAZE. mm eeeeoeennn.. With Cargo. owe eeenoen.. Panama Canal, total cargo tonnage. 910- 1914 - Aver | gel © 1021 | 1999 Calendar years, except as noted won | vm 1 ams 7,735 118,282 | 18,463 031 1 11.077 1 10700 18,285 I 17,741 v9. 0689 | 18 704 ' 17,406 18 151 16, 619 1) BGT 62, 285 11, 738 85, 101 40 307 66,319 48 GRA 68, 202 iR 738 69, 378 50, 773 70,228 54, 555 23, 701 16, 579 10, 404 4 087 62, 665 48, 677 10. 767 64, 839 48,478 13. 711 . 66, 624 51, 912 25 1681 88, 910 53, 720 | 5 RQ9 Per cent change 1010-1014 1924 to to 1925 | 10925 125.0 | © ~L9 775.5 -7.3 48.8 18 55.8 © 4,2 50.8 19 35,0 1.6 2377.2 —-8.5 1 As of June 30 or for years ended June 30. ! Calendar year 1915 only, ' Per cent increass over 181A. Tonnage of World’s Merchant Marine. The world’s merchant marine, as measured in terms of steel steam and motor vessels (not counting Great Lakes tonnage in America and tonnage of Canadian lakes) was 58.785.000 tons on June 30, 1925. 1 General note as to units of measurement. — Cargo tonnage’ represents weight of cargo actually loaded, unloaded, or carried in either long tons (2,240 Pounds) or short tons (2,000 pounds) as specified. All other sonnage figures refer to capacity of vessels, The terms gross and net tonnage refer to space measurement, 100 cubic feet being called 1 ton. Gross tonnage is the capacity of the entire space within the frames and the ceiling of the hull, together with those closed-in spaces above deck available for cargo, storage, passengers or crew, With certain minor exemptions. Net or registered tonnage is what remains aiter dedueting from the gross tonnage the spaces occupied by the propelling machinery (including allowance for fuel), crew quarters, naster’s cabin, and navigation spaces. It represents substantially space available for cargo and passengers, I'he net tonnage capacity of a ship recorded as “‘entered with cargo” may bear little relation to the actual weight of the caren. h34 COMMERCE YEARBOOK or 1,255,000 more than for the same date a year earlier and 16,271,000 tons greater than the 1914 figure. The merchant fleets of every important country except United States increased during these 12 months. Germany's tonnage in 1925 was 59 per cent of the amount registered for 1914, while in 1924 this ratio was 56 per cent. Chart VIL.—WORLD MERCHANT MARINE—GROSS TONNAGE OF STEEL STEAM AND MOTOR VESSELS y 0a MILLIONS OF TONS _ 50 60 70 -—r 5 WORI N TOTAL 914 a2i 924 O25 914 92] 1924 {QDA > ba. NT | KINGDOM } ” “ANY 5 - 1G 4 921 924 | O25 HER 1914 1921 1924 1925 2088-118) | Table 23.—Gross Tonnage of Steel Steam and Motor Vessels of Over 100 Tons aa of Tune 0 Country United Kingdom. ...._.._..... British dominions !........... United States 2... cue. FraAnCO. mene —vmmmm mmm wenn Germany - «cemmeanec cnc nvannn Netherlands. co oeemoooooomeoo HF mnmmmsonnn wmemamnmmmsten PADI im ss mows so i I OT WINY ramus wigs odo oss Dther coon 1014 12. 514. 000 R, 877, 000 407, 000 837, 000 018, 000 098, 000 471, 000 428, 000 642, 000 923, 000 , 813, 000 1621 hd. 158. 000 9, 288, 000 1, 950, 000 2314, 000 2, 046, 00° 654, 00. 2, 207, 00( 2, 378, 00C > 063, 000 >, 285, 000 2 072’ 000 1099 56. 802. 000 9, 053, 000 %, 201, 000 + 506, 000 303, 000 783, 000 613, 000 600, 000 325, 000 237, 000 181 00C 1923 s¥ 939 000 9, 077, 000 » 219, 000 1416, 000 265, 000 496, 000 506, 000 788, 000 402, 000 299, 000 371 000 | 1924 57. 580. 000 18, 917, 000 @ 214, 000 v.70, 000 193, 000 856, 000 533, 00C 676, 000 655, 000 326, 000 260 000 1925 58. 785. 000 19, 274, 000 2, 230, 000 1, 551, 000 >, 262, 000 993, 000 585, 000 894, 000 , 741, 000 555, 000 200. 000 i Does not include tonnage of Canadian lakes. Does not include Great Lakes tonnage. Source: Llovd’'s Register of Shipbuilding. WATER TRANSPORTATION 535 Oil Burning Vessels. : Of the tonnage included in Table 23, oil burning vessels have in- creased from 500 of 1,720,000 gross tons in 1914 to 3,500 of 17,800,000 gross tons in 1925, including motorships increasing from 300 of 235,000 gross tons to 2,145 of 2,714,000 gross tons. The increase in the world’s oil burning fleet since 1914 about equals the tonnage by which the world’s whole fleet has grown in that time, but many older steamers, of course, were converted from coal to oil. The market for coal as ship’s fuel has hardly held its own since 1914, while the world’s tanker fleet, a large fraction of which transports oil for ship fuel, has grown from 365 ships of 1,440,000 gross tons in “hat year to 940 of 5,180,000 gross tons in 1925. Oversea Shipping Facilities of the World. Excluding shipping used exclusively or chiefly for internal and coasting traffic, the world’s transoceanic and interoceanic shipping services are almost wholly carried on by 5,575 ocean steamers each of 4,000 gross tons or over, and aggregating 22,210,000 net tons (the “net ton” is 100 cubic feet available for cargo and passengers). Toward this total ocean liners of 12 knots speed or over contribute 1,640 of 8,170,000 net tons; ocean liners under 12 knots and owned mainly by the corporations operating the faster steamers number 1,735 of 6,316,000 net tons, and tank steamers 700 of 2,970,000 net tons. Included with the liners are the merchant fleets of the govern- ments of the United States, Australia, Brazil, and Canada. These 4,075 liners and tankers are operated by less than 150 highly organized steamship companies, industrial companies, or govern- ment agencies. Most of these individual organizations are inter- related with one or more others financially or associated with others in steamship conferences. The 1,500 general trading steamers of 1,000 gross tons or over, often called “tramps,” are owned by many small concerns and individuals and aggregate 4,755,000 net tons. The preponderance of liners in handling traffic is greater than these figures indicate because the general traders are nearly all of 10 knots speed or less while liners by higher speed, attaining in some instances 20 knots or more, increase their total and relative carrying power. When speed is taken into the account, the liner organizations furnish 31 per cent, the general traders only 19 per cent. of transoceanic and interoceanic shipping facilities. Of the shipping facilities outlined, steamers between 4,000 and 5,000 gross tons make up less than 17 per cent of the tonnage, and ships of this size find diminishing employment in transoceanic trades. Two-thirds of the tonnage of liners of 12 knots or more and between 1,000 and 5,000 gross tons, was built before 1914, while almost the same proportion of such liner tonnage of 5.000 tons. or more wae 536 COMMERCE YEARBOOK built since that time. Of the world’s tonnage of transoceanic steamers of over 6,000 gross tons. 61 per cent was built in the past 10 years. Changes in American Shipping. The total tonnage of American merchant vessels in 1925 was 125 per cent above the average for 1910-1914, while the portion in foreign trade was nearly nine times greater, rising from about one-eighth of the total to almost one-half. However, total tonnage, includ- ing that engaged only in coastwise and inland water service, has continued the decline begun in 1923, falling to 17,406,000 gross tons in 1925. While in 1924 the decrease in total tonnage was shared about equally between the ships documented for foreign and those documented for coastwise and internal trade, in 1925 it was confined to vessels documented for foreign trade, with an increase in both Great Lake and coastwise and internal shipping. . Table 24 shows the changes in our merchant marine since 1850. It is noteworthy that shipping tonnage documented for foreign trade had fallen steadily between 1850 and 1910, and was less than one- third as great in the last named year as half a century earlier. A three-fold increase over the 1910 figure, however, had taken place even before the United States entered the World War, in 1917, and a considerable increase even up to 1914. Table 24.— Merchant Marine of the United States Year ended June 30— 880. wewupnmnnne 4 EER vr 01 5% Number of vessels Total 1 Sailin 2, ato 1 Steam ge | Total 24, 71% 23, 467 23,333 or’ man ub, 474 19, 995 17, 502 16,280 11 ORR E524 4,717 § 965 w53 RO 3, 535 354 4, 247 4, 068 i, 424 5, 165 7 AOR 26, 943 26, 397 26, 711 7,513 ’, 183 “12 1, 452 0’ 155 953 62 a 85,491 €,242 ‘oe ry 1 a%9 71 7% 7 Ct 6, 367 7.730 LAs Gruss tonnage (thousands) } Documented for— Sailing, ote 1 Steam and gas Foreign trade 2 Coast- wiseand internal trada 3 Great Lakes 2,010 486 "171 856 7, 565 ” 507 ang 526 1,586 B68 2,546 1,075 | 1,517 [212 1 1,353 1,859 047 % 658 897 ane 709 i, 950 2,808 2,730 2, 715 3,478 1,338 3 Tp 198 468 685 605 1, 063 |, 566 2? ROA” 501 138 £2 39 i 428 433 1 {, 076 AAG “ iQ 3, 852 3, 425 » 391 238 298 7,883 779 798 ,024 139 340 724 758 2,791 4. RE? i Includes canal boats and barges, , * Includes tonnage, formerly considerable but recently insignificant, engaged in whale fisheries. + Includes vessels engaged in fisheries (27,000 tons in 1924). t Included in preceding column. Source: Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce. WATER TRANSPORTATION 5317 Idle Tonnage Declines. The increase in total world tonnage resulting from the heavy American construction during the war, together with the decrease in the volume of international trade, brought it about that a considerable fraction of the shipping has been idle during the postwar years, This situation has greatly improved as world trade has recovered. Idle steam shipping in the ports of the world declined only 46,000 tons during 1925, as compared with a decline of approximately 1,000,000 in 1924. The United States idle tonnage declined only a nominal amount in both 1924 and 1925; it appears that the usable surplus now has been practically absorbed and extensive employment of the American tonnage now idle seems improbable. The idle ton- nage of American privately owned ships increased about 40,000 tons. During 1925 idle shipping decreased greatly in France and Australia, and materially in United Kingdom. Italy, the Netherlands, and Greece showed marked increases. Norway, one of the principal maritime countries, shows only 22,000 gross tons idle. Table 25.—Idle Shipping of Principal Maritime Countries [Gross tons] Country Total [dle In home country; United States, total... ocoeooo ____ Shipping Board... ..._...__..__ Shipping Board tankers_______._. Other Government owned......._. Privatelv owned. __________ United Kingdom ooo... _. BIANCO oe cece + emcee ema 5 NOLHOTIANIAN cw ww ire www sips mmm MOT TIRY cms asim in iets rm mmm rr BHO unis mnminskrn inane Greece... oococeomi ao. Japan. .oeooo.o ela LL. Belgitim. oes eo Denmark. o.oooooveen ol] I pve RE —— Australia... TTT (dle in foreign countries... __.._.________.__ Tan. 1, 1092 10. 834 000 5, 309, 000 {, 314, 000 914. 000 CTe1Tonn 4 769, 000 +085, 000 585, 000 | 327, 000 07, 000 04, 000 70, 000 20, 000 35,000 61, 000 3,000 J wi ann Jan. 1, 1923 | Jan. 1, 1024 Jan.1,1925 | an. 1, 1026 9,198,000 | 6.888.000 | 5 881 000 5, 845, 000 5,828, 000 4,411,000 214, 000 C03 ann” 4,271, 000 3, 564, 000 163, 000 3,000 241. 000 £, 225, 000 x. 664, 000 125, 000 17, 000 1 O00 4, 120, 000 3, 518, 000 134, 000 10, 000 158 000 , 010, 000 730, J00 479, 000 330, 000 53,000 22, 000 76, 000 “9, 000 10, 000 “7,000 0, 000 .06, 000 195. 000 909, 000 450, 000 427, 000 235, 000 50 000 705, 000 311, 000 136, 000 65, 000 %5, 000 ‘9, 000 24, 000 25, 000 ee no 00 . 9, 000 02 G00 313, 000 134, 000 225, 000 109, 000 22, 000 30, 000 09, 000 35, 000 21, 000 63, 000 44, 000 51, 000 279 O00 122; 000 20.000 {2,000 T+ 006 °°, 000 “1 000 | Not available. - Sources: United States Shipping Board and Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce. Ship Construction; Motor Ships. Merchant shipping under construction in the principal maritime countries totaled 2,070,000 gross tons on December 31, 1925, con- siderably less than at the end of the previous year (Table 26). The total for the United States increased from 58,000 tons under con- struction at the close of 1924 to 105,000 tons on December 31, 1925, the highest figure noted since the middle of 1923. Ttalian and Japa- nese construction increased over the previous year while that for the United Kingdom. France. and Germany decreased considerably. 538 COMMERCE YEARBOOK The changes in American shipbuilding—vessels built in the United States and documented for American ship owners—during the last 75 vears are shown in Table 27. Table 26.—Merchant Shipping Under Construction in Principal Maritime Countries ! {Gross tons] Country Total ...__.. United Kingdom. United States... [EalY. « ccavmmmmms Prance. . ovewusss Netherlands...... 1:1 0:) « SU lermany..... dther . . ___.. Dec. 31, | June 30, 1922 1923 2. 953. 000 2 539. 000 . 469, 000 139, 000 211, 000 188, 000 #2, oe L. 337,000 133, 000 141, 000 270, 000 99. 000 72: 000 301, 00) 286” 000 19, Udi) Dec. 31, 1823 2 444. 000 , 395, 000 91, 000 119, 000 £10, 600 112, 00 83.1. 2264 218 OUO Tune 30, 1924 2.817. 000 517, 000 104, 000 128, 000 (44, 000 96, 000 67, 000 320, 000 241. 000 Dec. 31, 1924 2 470. 000 . 297, 00C 58, 000 155, 000 197, 000 125, 000 39, 000 355, 000 244. 000 June 30, | Dec. 31, 1925 1925 2. 370, 000 2.070, 000 .. 004, 000 885, 000 92, 000 105, 000 213, 000 310, 000 169, 000 167, 000 101, 000 109, 000 60, 000 52, 000 107, 000 234, 000 234’ 000 208. 000 1 Includes shipping on which construction was suspended. Source: Lloyd’s register of shipbuilding. Table 27.—Shipbuilding: Vessels Built in the United States and Documented for American Shipowners, Years Ended June 30 Yearly average 1851-1860... (861-1870... 1871-1880. _.... [881~1890.__.._ 1891-1900... _... 1on1-1910 Num- her , 466 ', 654 i, 455 056 , 055 I. 311 Gross tons 366, 60C 209, 60: 253, 800 30, 197 135, 699 L118 178 Yearly average or vear 911-1918... 917... 918 I IIT 919.111 OMY lL Num- her , 275 i, 279 ;, 528 1, 9563 * 067 Aross tons 28¢, 487 664, 47. 1, 300, 86¢ 3, 326, 621 2’ 30. 639 Year . ——— lod... Num- har L361 845 770 , 049 067 Gross tons 2, 265, 115 861, 232 335, 630 223, 968 199° 846 Sonree: Birean of Navigation. Progress is being made toward establishing standards in ship con- struction, equipment, and operation by the American Merchant Ma- rine Standards Committee in cooperation with the Department of Commerce. (This is discussed further under “Progress in Simplified Practice,” p. 24 of the Commerce Yearbook.) Great progress has been made in the output of vessels fitted with internal-combustion engines. The gross tonnage of such vessels, launched throughout the world during 1925, was 843,600 compared with 501,800 in 1924. The total for 1925 was equal to about 65 per cent of the world’s output of steam vessels, compared with 29.5 per cent in 1924. At the beginning of 1926, moreover, the tonnage of motor ships under construction almost equaled the tonnage of steam- ships being built, whereas a year earlier, it was only 60 per cent. The gross tonnage of all motor ships of 100 gross tons and over was 1,180,000 on June 30, 1922; 1,321,000 on June 30, 1923; 1,655,000 on June 30, 1924; and 2,714,000 on June 30, 1925, according to Lloyd’s Register. The United Kingdom continues to lead in owner- WATER TRANSPORTATION "539 ship of such vessels, having 754,000 gross tons, followed by Norway with 346,000, Sweden with 278,000, and Germany with 276,000. The United States ranks fifth with 267,000 gross tons. Sales Prices of Ships. Prices of second-hand cargo steamers followed the trend of freights in 1925 and fell to a very low level. During the last half of the year, 8 steamers of 5,000 to 10,000 deadweight tons, not over 5 years old, brought an average price of only $24 per ton. Few sales were made during the first half of the year. In the first half of 1924, 8 vessels had brought an average of $27 a ton, while 3 sold during the last half brought $38 a ton. Too much weight should not be placed on these figures since in such a small number of transactions unusual factors in one or two sales may throw the average out of line. Table 28.—Net Tonnage of Vessels Entered and Cleared in Foreign Trade Thousands of net tons of vessel capacity. Net ton equals 100 cubic feet of space. excluding cabins. machinery, ete.) Macg Tatal..conununene American. o.oo... Foreign. ooo. Per cent Ameri- Cano eee on. With cargo (total)... American. ....-.. Foreign __..._.__ [n ballast (total)... American. .._.._. Foreign. __..____. Total seaports. -.._.. Total northern border 910- 1914 \ver- aoe 1 18. 819 1,328 as’ 091 4 3 2, 597 3042 “ 555 ,022 5 286 Vas 5, Guy 1. 408 Entrances Total 1093 1 1994 88, 319 88. 299 27,725 38. 594 29, 628 28. 664 41 R 42 4 ‘8, 986 21, 125 37, 861 7,333 8, e00 1 an 8, 838 1, 652 7, 156 9, 454 "975 a7R 3 ha , 26 2 ARS Sea- ports | only, 1025 1008 69, 378 | 55,636 | 21, 149 34 487 an’ W|®_n 30, 773 21, 202 19, 571 18, 605 8, 745 "_RAQ 13,450 17,033 26,417 12,186 | 4,116 3 069 6, 636 12 740 55,636 | (910- 1914 AVer- aga 1 46. 579 11, 590 24’ 920 a4 0" 10, 404 8, 996 31, 408 6,175 2, 594 3 58] 34, 065 11. 814 Clearances Total Sea- ports | | only, 1024 1925 1925 1992 | 686.624 © 88.910 70,228 | 57, 160 27,808 ' 21, 304 12,420 + 35,766 s0al 37.4 27, 932 38. 692 30, 091 28 RIR 41 a 47 7 31, 912 8, 966 32, 946 14,712 8, 966 5.746 53, 216 13 408 53,720 20, 465 33, 255 15,190 9, 626 5, 564 45,750 14, 948 30, 802 11, 410 , "6,448 4, 964 57, 160 | 57, 160 13 068 | _ 55, 294 13. 616 + Fiscal years ended June 30. Source: Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Entrances and Clearances. The amount of space available for cargo and passengers in our foreign trade is shown by the net-tonnage capacity of ships entering and clearing (Table 28). The total net tonnage of vessels in foreign trade entering American ports in 1925 was 69,378,000, a record figure. This was 48.8 per cent over the average of 1910-1914, and the tonnage with cargo was greater by 55.8 per cent. This difference indicates more complete use of the vessels, although definite knowl- 2dge on this point is precluded by the absence of data comparing actual weight of cargo with tonnage capacity during pre-war years 540 COMMERCE YEARBOOK (see general note, page 533). American vessels represented slightly less than one-fourth of the total entrances (tonnage) in the earlier period, over 43 per cent in 1924, and 40.3 per cent in 1925. While the total tonnage clearing in foreign trade has increased about one-half over the pre-war years, tonnage with cargo increased only slightly over one-third. This fact is attributed wholly to the great growth in our imports of petroleum from Mexico. Vessels in this trade generally must clear from the United States in ballast. Total clearances in 1925 were 70,228,000 tons, exceeding those of 1924 by 1.9 per cent. The Lake ports in 1925 showed no marked change in entrances or clearances in comparison with the previous two years, the changes in total tonnage being chiefly in seaport traffic. Volume of Water-Borne Foreign Commerce. Despite the increase in capacity of ships clearing, the weight of the water-borne exports of the United States, totaling 48,091,000 tons in 1925, was 8 per cent less than in 1924, largely because of smaller shipments of wheat and flour. Imports by water increased, amounting to 42,686,000 tons, or 4 per cent more than in 1924, despite smaller imports of petroleum, the biggest item. The proportion of traffic moving from Atlantic coast ports gained during the year (Table 29). These ports accounted for 60 per cent of our total imports by weight and 4314 per cent of our exports, compared with 59 and 41 per cent, respectively, in 1924, The decline in the proportion of ocean-borne dry cargoes exported in American flag vessels continued during 1925, when 30 per cent of the total was so carfied compared with 32 per cent in 1924 (Table 30). The proportion of imports of dry cargoes carried in vessels of American registry, also decreased to 28 per cent compared with 32 per cent in the preceding year. The American proportion of the combined totals for all cargoes is much affected by changes in the aggregate volume of tanker petroleum traffic and in the share of that traffic carried bv American flag vessels. Table 29.—Weight of Cargo of Water-Borne Foreign Trade, by Districts [In thousands of long tons; calendar year] District Total....... in To or from— North Atlantic distriet..__....._ South Atlantic district... ....... Gulf district .oocen anno Pacific district... ceeeao.. Great Takes distriet_______ 1029 14. RS R, 018 . 090 024 814 ido Imports 1923 | 1924 | 1925 13 2GR 40, 893 49 B88 24,270 1, 560 10, N28 7-04 19 12, 351 1,726 9, 889 2, 585 1 248 23, 676 2,085 8, 522 2, 580 ¥ 200 Exports 16822 1003 | 1924 | 19 B09 49 ORO K2 941 18,660 20,714 786 C7 10,584 10, : 5,465 8,472 a gor | 8 268 20, 696 822 19, 805 9, 360 8 578 18925 48, 091 ad 19, 904 1,023 £2, 206 8, 036 8 099 Source: Bureau of Research, United States Shipping Board. WATER TRANSPORTATION 541 Table 30.-—Water-Borne Foreign Commerce of the United States: Weight of Cargo and Percentage in American Vessels [In thousands of long tons; calendar year] Imports Exports Item Potal weight of cargo (includ- ‘ng Great Lakes) ____...___ Dry cargo, ocean. ....___.i Tanker cargo, 0cean....._._ Great Lakes. ...__...____ ar cent of total carried by: Shipping Board.-...._.... Other American .....__... British. ooo. Other forelgn_.......____. 2er cent carried in American vessels: } Of all cargoes (including Great Lakes)... ___ Of dry cargoes, ocean.._.__| Of tanker cargoes. ocoan. 1991 | 1992 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 1921 | 1922 | 10923 "1004 | 1095 3, 178 |44, 780 143, 525 '40, 809 |42, 683 2, 357 120, 790 |23, 050 21, 894 |24, 410 7,362 (19, 156 (15, 833 us 657 112, 718 | 2,459 | 4,834 1 5 142 | 4,348 | B, 555 18, 853 142, 693 |49, 604 52, 261 34,855 120, 004 [31,225 32, 626 5,980 | 6,440 | 9,488 11,057 7,818 7,189 | 8,081 1 8, 57R 5 15 16 14 13 11 44 23 24] 10 2 | 21 2, | 33 | 36 37 2 “el Fl 3%] Swi 5 48, 086 31, 000 10, 340 B '748 15 8 3 20 2 51 19 IR 7 6 46 48 21 21 oa | or 33 25 ir 53 21 54 32 70 49 28 74 38 40 33 35 32 33 34 32 32 30 40 36 25 32 35 1 Included in * Other foreign vessels.” 3ourre: Bureau of Research, United States Shipping Board. The great bulk of our export cargoes, in weight, goes to Canada, the United Kingdom, the Havre-Hamburg range, and Latin America {Table 31). Canada received 19.5 per cent in 1925, the United King- dom 14.6 per cent, the Havre-Hamburg range 15.9 per cent, and Latin America 12.8 per cent. With regard to imports, the large amount of oil imported from Mexico raises that country to first rank in point of weight of imports, shipments of that commodity to the United States, despite a great falling off, accounsing for 24.5 per cent of the total in 1925. Canada ranks next with 19.2 per cent. Latin America, exclusive of Mexico. accounted for 29 per cent of the vear's sotal imports. Petroleum and products represent the greatest weight of both im- ports and exports, accounting in 1925 for 30.2 per cent of the former and 31.1 per cent of the latter (Table 32). Exports of wheat and other grains amounted to 14.8 per cent of the total, coal and coke to 11.4 per cent, and logs and lumber to 10.5 per cent. Cotton, wheat flour, iron and steel manufactures, vegetables and vegetable products, meat and dairy products, and phosphates followed. Imports of sugar ranked second to petroleum, and accounted for 10.5 per cent of the total; iron ore represented 6.3 per cent, and logs and lumber 3.8 per cent. Fruits and nuts, molasses, nitrates, iron and steel manufac- tures, potash, and wood pulp were next in importance among the import items. Petroleum imports have fallen steadily since 1922. 542 COMMERCE YEARBOOK Table 31.—Water-Borne Foreign Commerce: Weight of Cargo by Origin or Destination [Thousands of long tons; calendar years] Country or trade region Total _._. [Initod Bingaom.. . . pewus posnnmnvnss North Atlantic and Baltic Europe... Havre-Hamburg range eu. ceeeeen-. South Atlantic Europe... mecceuo-... West Mediterranean _........_..._... Tast Mediterranean and Black Sea... West Indies. Fup Mexico... a Central Ame. o8.. .. cococcmcacnunn. North Coast South America -aea_... East Coast South America....._._.._ West Coast South America... .__ West Africa ooo iia. South and East Africa. oouoemoeao.._. Australasia. RELRRE ® reEEY East Indies Gms OTOI cman eemmmnan [ndia, Persian Gulf, Red Sea........ Canada, via Pacific. ceeoaoooaooao.. Canada, via Great Lakes and Atlantic. oo ee 1923 £3, 2968 2,611 1,585 2,663 482 1,196 291 5,540 4,151 1,085 368 1,613 3,081 198 198 166 143 L121 366 1, 054 5.913 Imports 1024 | 1925 40, 809 42 686 1,644 1,183 2,763 443 803 317 5,396 3,242 1,103 48¢ 1,416 2, 68¢ 197 210 04 405 182 750 L197 1,804 1,107 3,306 474 1,180 409 6,585 10, 495 1,202 724 1,26¢ 2,73€ 206 187 102 505 1,315 £04 L573 6,002 5, 280 Per cent in Amer- ican vessels 1925 40.4 12.9 13.0 25.3 7.4 117% 1. ¢ 37.¢ 16.5 36 13 12. 0 Tg I8.¢ 20.5 4.9 24.0 2.4 71.4 1923 | 49 080 7,302 £, 706 3,022 1,565 3,749 690 3,148 1,233 1,223 193 2,201 253 4 257 966 277 3, 092 362 677 9,326 | Exports 1024 | 1925 59 961 48 091 8,229 1,653 2442 1,255 4,29 625 3,252 1,087 1,105 259 3,03C 1,25¢ ie 30; 1,283 229 5,140 425 711 9,616 | 7,037 1,784 7,689 | 1,214 3,401 | 640 3,625 753 1,476 344 2,823 1,157 272 390 1,386 264 3,957 307 696 3.696 | rer cent in Amer- ican vessels 1025 82.0 20.9 13.2 31.8 21.3 12.9 "3.6 2.7 8.4 76.2 31.8 "3.7 13.2 S 5.4 17.4 16.6 37.7 54.7 63.5 35.8 Source: Bureau of Research, United States Shipping Board. Table 32. —Ocean-Borne Foreign Commerce: Weight of Cargo by Major Commodities [In thousands of long tons; Great Lakes traffic excluded; calendar years] Commodity Vegetables ocucaceana. Bananas ...c.esweeoe- Jdther fruits and nuts. IIRL vows wim mwas Molasses. —wemeemnnnn- O77 CL lute manufactures... Dther fibers and grass- Total CD mm meme mmm Paper manufactures... Clay. cossusessmssnnn Rubber. c...ceacaco.- Coal and coke... Petroleum. o.oo... FOOD vin mows miemion Manganese. _..conca-. [ron and steel manu- factures......ocevene Copper and manu- factures. o.oo... Miscellaneous metals. Hides and skins___.._. Logs and lumber. _... Pulpwood ..ccneeeeuon Wood pulp. .coecoon-. Sulphur and pyrites. - Potash. caccmmnccnan. Nitrates... cwnnnenns “hemicals, 1. ©, Sea... HYDE nin wmmmini = All others. ooo... Imports 1922 1 1023 | 1924 | 1925 2g, 848 138,383 (38, 551 180 6741 657 712 [,038 1,045, 1,170 ' 1,283 316 370 | ‘349 age 1780 3,318 | 3,631 | 3,876 501, 963 | 903 1,300 513 © 851 | 650 606 ug 310! 304 | 301 95 305, 270 317 20 404 | 330 | 208 3181 344 413 | 381 290 312 | 308! 307 J671 | 1,067 | 268 651 439 14,121 13,614 1,137 ,219 2,816 | 2,036 | 2,327 341 | 7364 400 | 587 574 | 8/08 178 Te 490 | 517 255 1,739 i 534 544 179 1.814 RG 7 27 3% 992 540 424 4.208 457 759 170 1.412 282 77 gn ii 4227 56° 500 4,430 Bid 5.017 ORR Commodity Total. . ... 5 Wheat. ao oueeeeeuoa.! AYO memes D103 1 FR, logs casa Jther grains. oo... Wheat flour ......._. Vegetables and vege- table products. ____. Meat, fish, and dairy produets......cecene Fruits and nuts... LRAT oo wim sms Tobacco and manu- fartures. . cacccmnn-- Cotton, raw. .oceaoooo Joal and coke_..._... Petroleum and prod- UB... cums pan mmm [ron and steel manu- factures, I. €. S.-.-. Machinery... .--- vehicles... _.... Copper and manu- factures........ LAND casing si HPI. conanemauans *hosphate__ .___..... sther fertilizers... Jhemicals, Dn. e. S__... aval stores... ..... All others. LL Exports 1023 | 1924 | 1925 1922 5,504 5,445 811 2,044 478 1,972 1453 40,718 13,883 41,340 4,783 5,360 | 3,941 756 447 | 493 758 | 204 | 189 415, 673 | 869 539 ' 490 507 1,801 1,866 321 201! 667 883 475 47 8d1 285 | 351 591 6721 242 | 245 | 274 300 1,213 | 1,566 4.002 | 4 273 335 5068 346 244 1,779 4,676 222 , 358 R41 R. 028 11,700 [13,739 112.811 L272 1,244 1,220 1,010 221. 337 420 | 448 1621 404! 450 610 242 320 452 397 946 L157 4,540 4,309 430 429 443 533 431 840 | 795 | 755 4 230) 198 | 184 °06 283] 263 | 260 199 | 369 | 367 257 076! 3.846 | 2.031 | 2. 05% Source: Bureau of Research, United States Shipping Board. WATER TRANSPORTATION 543 Panama Canal Traffic, Traffic through the Panama Canal during 1925 (calendar year) totaled 23,701,000 cargo tons, as compared with 25,892,000 in 1924, though still much more than double the 1922 figure. This decrease is accounted for by the large drop in shipments of mineral oils from the west coast of the United States. These shipments, in 1924, aggregated 7,229,000 as compared with 4,588,000 tons in 1925. Apart from petroleum our intercoastal shipments were about 750,000 tons greater in 1925. The traffic from the west coast to the east coast has been much heavier during the past three years than the west bound cargo, a fact attributable chiefly to the large shipments of crude oils and lumber, most of which go to the eastern seaboard of the United States. The cargo from the Pacific to the Atlantic was 71 per cent of the total in 1924, and 68 per cent in 1925. Traffic by origin and destination (fiscal years) is shown in Table 34. Table 38.—Commercial Trafic Through the Panama Canal [All figures are cargo tonnage expressed in thousands Total. ooo... American vessels. __ foreign vessels... _ British. ._.._.._. Atlantic to Pacific __| Pacific to Atlantic 01’ 532 Uy » Je a10 ‘3 7 C8) 1 178 C20 3, YR. roar ended Tina 2N— an Qr 599 43 73 3 L092 5. 707 0, £85 951 34 du S20 19923 19, 568 ©0585 £13 729 +, 086 12. 482 1094 28. 995 '2, 554 0, 340 1, 052 ., 860 9 135 [G95 13, 859 (2, 080 R79 917 .,358 i6 560 Calendar vear 1094 ET 25,892 93,701 14,666 12,678 11,226 11,023 5353, 5,076 1,541 7,560 18.351 16 141 Source: Report of the Governor of the Panama Canal. Table 34.—Commercial Trafic Through the Panama Canal, by Origin or Destination ‘All figures are cargo tonnage expressed in thousands and relate to vears ended June 30] Origin or destination Atlantic to Pacific 1999 1993 994 | 1005 Total ____..__....I6,408 7,088 I'7,860 | 7.308 From: United States, east 00ASE. .._oonaeeen (3,771 [5,020 West Indies ._.._| 157 | 37 Central America... .. . ...._. South America. | 54 | 82 Canada_....____.""! 95 — Mexico_.__._.______ 135! eg7 Cristobal, Canal . Zone... ._.__._____ 89 95 British Teles. 7777" god | sis Other Europe. ____ R75 04g lo: United States, west Coast. oeecno_. [1,673 13,202 3,347 2,014 South America.....| 814 1,063 1,290 1,338 Danada...........| 18 |'102| "141, "159 Sentral America_...| 52 59 90 144 North America, un- identified....enu.. Hwwrel] cies nnssesy Tar Bast... ooveoo. Australagia.___._... Balboa, Canal Zone. Miscellaneaus 156 71 -k 1,218 202 1,289 58 | 24 R0 RQ from United States east coast, to United States, west coast___ 11.988 [2.608 2710 i 9 914 Source: Report of Governar of the Panama Canal Origin or destination Pacific to Atlantic 1992 | 1023 | 1924 | 1925 15.388 112.482 119. 135 te zen Total... ._ From: United States, west coast. ....._|2,868 7,456 |12, 984 South America. __.|1,318 | 3,308 4,008 Canada.__._.......| 181 | 605 | 1,223 Central America._.| 81 86 7 North America, unidentified....._.__._ 122 0M 268 Hawpll. ncccnnunns) 112 23 32 45 For Bast_....._._..| 323 | 409 | 104 | 134 Australasia..._....| 440 398 3m 481 Miscellaneous. ._..! 87 76 135 107 To: United States, east coast...._...(2,206 West Indies.......| 43 South America... 7 Canada... 7 Mexico. mmo ioa|nnnes Cristobal, Canal Zone... ..c.....| 145 180 215 157 British Isles. __.._.11,677 1,628 2,169 2,356 Other Rurope...._|1,187 , 1,879 1, 9% | 2,335 Vi~allagom % termi] 28 65 78 143 8,054 [13,811 10,821 223 | 127 106 B81 35], 60 1251 197 |" 879 nr R05 177 "rom United States, west coast, to United States. east Arnot 4.274 | 5,460 110.808 ' 7.983 544 COMMERCE YEARBOOK COMMUNICATION International Telegraph Conference. During September and October, 1925, the International Telegraph Conference was held in Paris, at which all of the principal countries were represented. The most important questions brought before this conference were those involving change of rates and the changing of length of code words from ten letters to five. The typical code words in use to-day are largely unintelligible or unpronounceable expressions, and it is believed that if only five letters are counted to the word instead of ten as at present, a greater degree of accuracy will result in the transmission of coded messages. Radio. Several bills were introduced in the first session of the Sixty-ninth Congress, the principal purposes of which were to clarify the existing laws and to regulate radio communication. No legislation had been enacted by the end of 1925. The Fourth National Radio Conference, held in Washington in November, 1925, and presided over by the Secretary of Commerce, endeavored to solve the ever-changing problems in the radio industry. The Radio Corporation of America added a new circuit to the Dutch East Indies, and by connecting with the trans-Atlantic system at New York, now furnishes a through service to Holland. Although the circuit to Sweden commenced operation December 1, 1924, the official opening of this new route did not take place until July 2, 1925. A high-power radio station near Rio de Janeiro was placed in opera- tion in April, 1926. This station was constructed by the AEFG Consortium, composed of American, English, French, and German radio companies. This same consortium is now engaged in the ten- tative installation of a short-wave station near Santiago, Chile, which if successful, will undoubtedly result in a permanent station being built in that country. The Radio Corporation has accomplished some preliminary work in connection with the erection of a station near Manila, and engineers of the company are now in the Philippines on this project. "Dis- turbed conditions in China have prevented the construction of five contemplated stations and it is not known when work will commence, despite the fact that some of the material has already arrived. The coastal station at Galveston, Tex., purchased by the Radio Corporation from the Navy Department, is now in commercial opera- tion. Seventeen different departmental and commercial services are now operating coastal stations for marine service. The gross income of the Radio Corporation of America for 1925 amounted to $51,169,143, with expenditures of $45,431,937, leaving a net income for the year of $5,737,206. The gross receipts of ship- TELEPHONES, TELEGRAPHS, AND RADIO 545 to-shore and transoceanic operations of the company in recent years have been as follows: Service Ship-to-shore_ o.oo. Transoceanic........ ___.__ ______ "77" 021 1922 1923 $553, 300 | $630, 000 $738, 140 2, 189,000 | 2,014,000! 3 19] 558 1994 1925 $742, 345 | $735, 179 3.358, 584 | 3. 418 179 Source: Annual report of the Radio Corporation of America. Radio Broadcasting. Development of new apparatus for use in broadcasting continued, and the Presidential inauguration ceremonies were broadcast for the first time. While successful experiments were conducted in the field of international broadcasting for entertainment, this phase of broad- casting is not yet in regular operation. With this accomplishment in view, proposals are being carefully considered for increasing the power of sending stations, and a high-power experimental station has already been erected at Boundbrook, N. J., with a maximum power one hundred times greater than that heretofore used by the stations in New York and Washington. Any estimate of the sales of radio-receiving apparatus is almost impossible. © The receipts from such sales by the Radio Corporation for 1922 were $11,286,489; for 1923, $22,465,091; for 1924, $50.- 747,202; for 1925, $46,251,785. Telephones. Fifty years ago the first complete sentence was transmitted by telephone. During 1925 more than 813,000 telephones were added bo the Bell system, bringing the total number interconnected in this system to 16,720,000, of which over 4,000,000 are owned by inde- pendent connecting companies. The United States operates over 61 per cent of the world’s telephones, Europe being second with 28 per sent. More than 50,000.000 toll and eXchange connections were handled daily. The American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and associated com- panies reported an increase in wire mileage of almost 14 per cent during 1925, as compared with 15.6 per cent in 1924. Of this in- crease, 5,522,436 miles were in cable conductors, both aerial and anderground, and 57,485 in open wire, as compared with 5,148,000 and 222,000, respectively, in 1924. At the end of 1925 approxi- mately 90 per cent of the total wire of 45,474,000 miles were in aerial and underground cable and 10 per cent in open wire. During the year 527,000 telephones operating through automatic exchanges "were added by the Bell system, bringing the total to 1,496,000 or 1214 per cent of the entire number, as compared with 8.7 per cent at the end of 1924. The toll cable from New York to 546 COMMERCE YEARBOOK Chicago was completed during the past year. The transcontinental line extending from Denver to El Paso and thence to Los Angeles was continued from El Paso to Dallas and thence to New Orleans. Work has been started on a third transcontinental line westward from Minneapolis to Portland and Seattle. The transmission of pictures by wire is now commercially avail- able between New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. During the past year the Western Electric Co., the manufacturing department of the Bell system, sold all of its interests in foreign companies, except in Canada, to another corporation controlled by the Bell system. The merchandising business in electrical supplies formerly carried on by this company was turned over to a subsidiary corporation organized for the purpose. These changes were effected to enable the Western Electric Co. to devote its entire efforts to the ever increasing needs of the Bell system. Table 35.—American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and Associated Operating Companies: Comparative Statistics Nore, —All figures in thousands of miles, telephones, messages, or dollars. Mileage and number of telephones relate to December 31. Tom Total wire mileage... - Telephones owned. coococmmommacnaaaaan Connected telephones owned bY other COTPATUES, eee cccaomsi mamma Exchange messages daily ..-... cn Toll messages daily. ...oceeeccmmmnmnumannn- BLOBS OVER, .. . oi immininns sn mmmn wings Expenses and taxes. occu. .cceamaname om NEL FEVENUL. .oeceemccce cmmmmmmmemm——- 1920 25, 377 R 334 4, 268 31, 835 1,327 161, 135 81, 626 <9. 509 1991 27,820 8,914 4,466 33, 671 1,356 510, 740 406, 541 104, 100 1922 | 1993 1924 30, 617 9,516 4, 536 36, 831 1,523 564. 038 139, 546 24. 492 34, 524 10, 408 39, 894 11, 242 4,594 11, 109 1,683 523, 116 435, 740 137. 376 | 4,664 43, 981 1,835 577, 903 520, 126 148. 777 1925 45,474 12, 035 4, 685 46, 702 9,008 761, 219 578, 776 182, 444 Source: Annual reports of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. [Land Telegraphs. The Postal Telegraph Co. reports a considerable expansion of land wire facilities during 1925, involving the use of 3,000,000 pounds of copper wire. The most important feature of this expansion program was the stringing of new wires from New York to Jacksonville, with connecting lines down the east and “west coasts of Florida. It may be noted that whereas four years ago Miami ranked twenty-eighth of all the cities in the South in the volume of telegraph traffic it ranked second last year. A new line was extended into the Imperial Valley of California serving the great produce sections. These wires are also available for long distance telephone service. The Postal Co. reports the change from Morse to printer operation proceeding as rapidly as possible with over 60,000 miles so operated. Its engi- neers have perfected and put into operation three-channel” printers, which enables the capacity of a circuit to be tripled. The Postal Co.’s receipts from telegraph transmissions during 1925 were $24.273.521. as compared with $21,785,228 in 1924. TELEPHONES, TELEGRAPHS, AND RADIO --. b47 The Western Union Telegraph Co.’s revenues from telegraph trans- missions for 1925 amounted to $112,768,083, an increase of $13,089,- 247 over 1924. The net income was $15,220,541, the largest in the history of the company, and exceeded that of 1924 by $2,849,600. The Western Union reports extensive additions to its plant during 1925 amounting to over $14,000,000. The system at the end of the year consisted of 213,763 miles of pole lines; 1,603,760 miles of wire, of which 56 per cent was copper; 3,176 miles of land-line cables; 25,476 nautical miles of ocean cables; and 24,428 telegraph offices, The use of the automatic multiplex telegraph apparatus was extended, and about 64 per cent of the company’s telegraph business is now handled automatically, as compared with 62 per cent in 1924. Ocean Cables. The year 1925 marked continued activities in the eonstruction of American owned cables. The Western Union appropriated over $5,000,000 during the year for the development and perfection of high-speed permalloy cables. This new type of cable has proved so successful that the company has decided to lay a new line from New York to Penzance, England, via Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, with a speed of 2,400 letters per minute. Through the one conductor of this cable, eight printing telegraph channels will be operated direct between London and New York, thus making the capacity of the cable four times greater than the older types. The company has made arrangements with the German and British Postal Administra- ions for the leasing of a cable circuit between London and Emden. Pending the laying of phe new German Atlantic Cable Co.’s line, the Commercial Cable Co. has established a direct circuit between its London office and the Emden office of the German company. The German cable will be a high-speed permalloy cable between Emden, Germany, and the Azores, and is expected to be completed by October, 1926. It will connect at the Azores with the cables of both the Commercial and Western Union Cable Companies and will be the first direct cable communication between the United States and Germany since 1914. The Postal Co: also contemplates divert- ing two of its main cables between Nova Scotia and Ireland into Newfoundland, by which method the capacity of these cables will be ncreased by about 25 per cent. The All America Cables company has under construction an all copper telegraph line connecting its cable terminal at Buenaventura, Colombia, with Bogota, which is expected to improve greatly the service between these two points, as well as to other important cities in the interior. On January 6, 1925, the new high-speed cable between New York and Fisherman's Point (Guantanamo Bay), Cuba, was placed in operation. This third cable has made it possible for the All America company to give a direct service from 548 COMMERCE YEARBOOK New York to Buenos Aires without relays. It is believed that a similar service in the reverse direction will be established in the near future. The program of the All America Cables company calls for the construction of about 3,000 miles of submarine cables during 1926, involving the expenditure of over $1,500,000. These additions con- sist of an 800-mile cable from Balboa in the Canal Zone to Santa Elena, Ecuador; a 1,700-mile cable from Lima, Peru, to Valparaiso, Chile, also touching at Iquique, where an extension of 130 miles would provide a connection with Tocopilla; a 785-mile cable from Fisher- man’s Point (Guantanamo Bay), Cuba, to Balboa in the Canal Zone, thus eliminating the manual relays required by the present system. A new office has been opened by the All America company at San Salvador, connecting this capital with the station at La Lib- ertad. Permission has also been granted the same company to estab- lish an office in Guatemala City, which will be connected by land- line with their station at San Jose. The cable operations of most American companies show a marked increase during the year. The Western Union Co.’s revenues from cable transmissions were $10,390,406, as compared with $9,907,275 in 1924. The Postal Telegraph Co., in which system are included the Commercial cables, does not show cable receipts; however, the net profit on cable business for 1924 was slightly in excess of that for 1924. The All America Cables, including the subsidiary company, the Mexican Telegraph Co., shows a net income from operations of $3,026,955 during 1925. The volume of cable traffic between the United States and foreign countries continued to increase during the past year. The use of deferred services at low rates was extended to countries heretofore not enjoying these privileges. AERONAUTICS In December, 1925, a bill was passed by the Senate authorizing the Secretary of Commerce to designate and approve commercial air routes, to provide aids to aerial navigation, and to inspect and register airplanes and license pilots. This legislation was similar to that before the previous Congress in that it provided for applying to air services the existing laws on immigration, customs, etc., and for the regulation of civil air navigation generally. Since the end of the year this measure has become a law. Air services by commercial companies were in regular operation between Seattle and Victoria and between New Orleans and Pilot- town for the transportation of passengers, goods, and foreign mails. A number of operators carried out flichts from fixed bases to various 549 destinations for hire, while others took over the work of crop dusting, forest patrol, timber cruising, and aerial photography. A notable development in the air-mail service was the inauguration of the night service between New York and Chicago on a nine-hour schedule. The greatest American achievement of the year in air- craft performance was that of the United States Ajr Mail Service; it covered a distance of 1,681,350 miles in day flying and 839,044 miles in night flying with but one fatal accident, at the same time successfully completing 95 per cent of its scheduled flights. The most important factor in the speeding up of the mails during the year was the enactment of the contract air mail law authorizing the Postmaster General to enter into contracts with private concerns for the transportation of mails by air over selected air routes. This law offers an opportunity for connecting up the principal cities in a network of air-mail routes and has given an impetus to the perfecting of commercial airplanes from the point of view of capacity and safety. It has also created considerable activity on the part of muni- cipalities and commercial organizations in connection with the es- tablishment of landing fields for this service. Following its passage many petitions for air-mail routes were filed, air-transport companies formed, and bids submitted, and by the end of 1925 nine contracts had been let and three other routes had been advertised. In a report issued by the joint committee on civil aviation of the Department of Commerce and the American Engineering Council a survey of conditions in aeronautics at home and abroad was made, and attention was called to the fact that the delay in development of civil aviation in the United States is due to the need of a definite legal status and an established Government policy to encourage the civil and industrial uses of aircraft, as well as to a need for commercial aircraft and equipment best adapted to profitable commercial opera- tion. Of importance to aeronautics and to thase establishing landing fields is the American Aeronautical Safety Code issued through the American Engineering Standards Committee, having been prepared by the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Bureau of Standards, and representatives of all important aeronautical interests. This code presents a statement of the best practices in design, construc- tion, and operation of airdromes, airways, signals, balloons, airships, and parachutes, trafficand pilotage rules, and qualifications for airmen. The year 1925 is noteworthy for the greatest awakening of American public interest in the question of aeronautics and aeronautic develop- ment since the first plane was flown over 20 years ago. ' ®) £ g > Im x i . No by > ve * ¥1 J h 3 - oo I Ty 0 ie) - Ey 2 2 > —_ J 2 ht = ~~} 549 mations for hire, while others took over the work of crop dusting, it patrol, timber cruising, and aerial photography. notable development in the air-mail service was the inauguration 16 night service between New York and Chicago on a nine-hour dule. The greatest American achievement of the year in air- » performance was that of the United States Air Mail Service; ered a distance of 1,681,350 miles in day flying and 839,044 S in night flying with but one fatal accident, at the same time essfully completing 95 per cent of its scheduled flights. he most important factor in the speeding up of the mails during year was the enactment of the contract air mail law authorizing Postmaster General to enter into contracts with private concerns he transportation of mails by air over selected air routes. This offers an opportunity for connecting up the principal cities in a vork of air-mail routes and has given an impetus to the perfecting ommercial airplanes from the point of view of capacity and Y- It has also created considerable activity on the part of muni- lities and commercial organizations in connection with the es- shment of landing fields for this service. Following its passage Y Petitions for air-mail routes were filed, air-transport companies ted, and bids submitted, and by the end of 1925 nine contracts been let and three other routes had been advertised. a Teport issued by the joint committee on civil aviation of the artment of Commerce and the American Engineering Council “vey of conditions in aeronautics at home and abroad was made, attention was called to the fact that the delay in development vil aviation in the United States is due to the need of a definite status and an established Government policy to encourage the and industria] uses of aircraft, as well as to a need for commercial aft and equipment best adapted to profitable commercial obers. { 1 Importance to aeronautics and to thase establishing landing 18 the American Aeronautical Safety Code issued through the rican Engineering Standards Committee, having been prepared he Society of Automotive Engineers, the Bureau of Standards, ‘ePresentatives of all important aeronautical interests. This presents a statement of the best practices in design, construc- and operation of airdromes, airways, signals, balloons, airships, arachutes, traffic and pilotage rules, and qualifications for airmen. © year 1925 is noteworthy for the greatest awakening of American c Interest in the question of aeronautics and aeronautic develop- ‘since the first plane was flown over 20 years ago. ’ | i 7 ") “rw -r > x oo 3