LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Harrisburg, December 1, 1913. Hon. Henry Houck, Secretary of Internal Affairs of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Sir: I have the honor to present herewith the report of the Railway Bureau for the year ending June 30, 1913, for transmission to the General Assembly, as required by law. Very truly yours, MONROE H. KEHLER, Acting Chief Bureau of Railways. REPORT For the year ending June 30, 1913, there were 398 steam railway corporations, 389 street railway corporations, 294 telephone and telegraph companies and 4 canal companies, or a total of 1,085 corporations from which reports were received by this Bureau for the year and which are covered by this report. The above quoted figures will give some idea of the tremendous labor involved in sending out blanks and the receiving and filing the same when returned together with the task of properly arranging and compiling the data which they contain, so that the public may more readily grasp the import of the great mass of facts and figures. The force at the command of this Bureau and the money available are entirely inadequate to do the work imposed upon the Bureau by law and it is, therefore, exceedingly important that all corporations required to file reports, should do so promptly. In this connection it is only proper to explain the delay which occurred in sending out the blank forms of reports for the last year. The State Legislature was in session in the first part of the year 1913 and imposed such an unprecedented quantity of work upon the Public Printer that it was impossible for him to furnish the blanks promptly and for this Bureau to distribute them as early in the year as is contemplated by the law. There have been as usual a number of mergers and consolidations during the year. The history of public service corporations abundantly shows that they usually start as small local enterprises to supply the pressing needs of the public. That they are promoted by enterprising men of municipalities or communities and that they often have a hard struggle for success. Failures and reorganizations are frequent. But as soon as the enterprise begins to promise success, along comes the "octopus" in the shape of the large and well established corporation and absorbs it, either by lease or merger. In this manner most of the large operating railroad, street railway and telephone and telegraph systems have been gradually built up. Through this operation of the law of the survival of the fittest the several systems are constantly extending the scope and magnitude of their enterprises while the number of smaller independent companies is just as continually decreasing. That this is eventually for the best interest of the public is scarcely debatable. By reason of their superior ability to command capital the large operating systems are enabled to furnish better service and greater facilities often at less cost and more safety than it is possible for the smaller independent company to do. And since the policy of the regulation of public utility companies has become firmly established the abuses which were so often incidental to the control by powerful corporations have been greatly minimized and will, it is hoped, in time, disappear entirely. The arrangement of this report follows that which has obtained for several years past. The Bureau fully realizes that it is not all that it might be but submits that it is highly creditable when the force and means available for the work are considered. The figures upon which deductions and conclusions are made are furnished by the companies, verified by affidavit. If the figures furnished should for any reason be incorrect or unreliable, the Bureau is helpless to ascertain the fact, as it is not provided with sufficient means to pursue the investigations to that extent. The tables of companies compiled from year to year contain many discouraging aspects. The chief of these is the variance from year to year in the units reporting. If the units, that is, the companies reporting, were always the same, the results obtained would have the merit of certainty, that they unfortunately do not now possess. When a company capitalized in the millions, for some reason is added to or is taken from the list this year as against last year, it may give to the comparisons an appearance exactly the opposite of the real facts. That all of these difficulties might be overcome and almost absolute certainty be obtained is not to be doubted but it would require far more time and assistance than this Bureau has at its disposal. Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing right and it certainly behooves the State to provide with greater liberality for the work of the Bureau. Acting Chief of the Bureau, Monroe H. Kehler, under whose supervision the report was compiled, takes this oportunity to express his thanks to the following employes of the Department of Internal Affairs, viz: Miss Nellie E. Blessing, stenographer, and Messrs. Thomas B. T. Baldwin, Samuel H. Lemon and Max H. Matthes for faithful and valuable assistance rendered him. STEAM RAILROADS. A critical study of the figures contained in this report will throw much light upon the many intricate railroad problems of the day. It is no exaggeration to say that the gravest economic problems con |