Many Railway Bankruptcies In The Year Now Closing

In the Rallway Age fnr Ier. 15t appeare a remarkable Btatemeni in re gard t railway recelvershlps and (oreclosurea In 1898. [I iaya In pari : During the year now cloalng nearly L8 per cent. of the entire rallway mile&ge ol the United Stafes, repreBenttng over per eent. of the entire capitallzation, luis gone Into the hands of receivers. During the two yeara 1892 and L898 the companies for wliii-h receiven were appolnted represent over 19 per cent of the mlleage and nearly l per eent of the capital stock and bonds of all the railuays in the country. These n-cni Ineredlble statements, bul the Figures now to bc glven prove i iiciii anhappily too i rue. The year 1893 wiil be [orever memorable as a year nnprecedented in the mimber and magnitude of rail way banUruptrics. lis predeceaaor Bhowed au alarm ing Increase In thN résped over the Immediatety precedIng yearg, and the record of receiversiii,is for the fii-si hall of the preaeni year imiiea i eii im Lmprovementi Bul when the July lianic destroycd all iinaneial conlldence and involved every interest, tnany railway companles carrylng heavy loada of Indebtedneee wliich in ordinary linies WOUld have kept jifloat, were unable to meet their interest ol 1 gatfoiu, and the last few inonths lias seen the list of receiverships grow to ext ra ordinary proportlons. The Phlladfclphia and Readlng (allure in February, was the first greal wreek of tfie year, and although several otliers of Lmportance soon iollowed, it was after the panic began fhat the most notable ealainities took placa. On -inly 25 eame the Erie (allure, in August the greal Northern Paclilc confessed bankruptcy, mul in October the reater 1'nion PadilC systetn went uto the hands of receivers. Meantime and situé, less notable companies, though many of grea,t importance, have dropped into the insolvent list. nntil now, t wo weeks before the close of the year we flnd in the record of companies for whom receivera have been appointed tlrce January no le tliat seventy-one roads, with nearly 2Í3.000 miles of QneSi an outatandlng bonded imlebtedness of almost $754,000,000 and a capital stock aggregating over $534,000,000, making a total of almost $1,288,000,000 of stock and bonds from whlch all returns are suspended, with a certalnty that a large part of thelr vahie will be wiped out before the lonn procesa of the courts is ended. Tabnlated lists are given Khowlng roads for AvhTch receivers were appointed in IS'.).'1., with mileage, fmided debt . and capital stock, Kiiminary of recelrerships (or ten yeara, roads BOld foreclOBure in is1.):1., and Bummary of foreclosure sales for eighteen yeara. The statement concludes as followe : Terrible evidence of the unprofitableness of railway investments is shown in the facl that in olghteen years, 549 roads. aregating over 57,000 miles (one-thlrd our present mileage), aave been sold for debt, involvlng in Iosk bonds and stock aggregating J84.76,000,000. If the end of this career of disaster had been reached, there might now be hppe of better results, but a host of railways are still awalttng the orders of the courts for sale, and the procession of insolvents has increased with amadng rapldlty in the last few years, so that it is a painful certa int y 1 li.it 1he records of foreelosnies in the COming years will be even greater than that of an equal perlod in the pasl.