Page:The National Geographic Magazine Vol 16 1905.djvu/489

under the supervision of Prof. Henry C. Adams, statistician to that Commission. The first part of the bulletin, discussing the main results of the investigation, was written by Professor Adams. The second part, or "Supplement," consists of a series of papers by experts considering "Various Aspects of the Question of Railway Valuation."

The commercial value of railway operating property in the United States, computed for the year 1904, was $11,244,852,000. The apportionment of this value among the various states and territories of the Union (foreign possessions excluded) may be seen from the table on the preceding page.

The above valuation does not include the value of Pullman cars or private cars. The physical value of this equipment, that is to say, its value independent of the commercial use to which it is put, is estimated as follows:

Pullman cars $51,000,000

Private cars 72,000,000

The total number of Pullman cars "available for the business of the company" on July 31, 1904, was as follows:

Standard cars with sleeping accommodations 2,903

Ordinary, or tourist, cars with sleeping accommodations 547

Parlor cars 464

Composite, dining, and other cars 85

Total 3,999

By commercial value is meant the market value. The two chief factors determining the market value of railway property are the expectation of income arising from the use of the property and the strategic significance of the property.

The value submitted was determined not with a view to discovering a proper purchase price for the railways of the United States, nor as a basis for taxing these railway properties, but as one step in ascertaining for the Census Bureau the total wealth of the United States.

Whether or not the value ($11,244,852,000) above submitted represents the value upon which the railways of the United States might properly be taxed depends upon whether the state undertakes to tax the roads at their full commercial value, including the values of both tangible and intangible property, or whether it seeks to confine its taxation to the value of the tangible property alone. In the former case the value submitted is believed to be substantially correct so far as it concerns the operating properties of the railways; in the latter case it is too high.

The results of the investigation reported in this bulletin have been carefully tested, and it is believed that the methods employed conform closely to those followed in the business world.

The loss of their ship, with most of their stores and equipment, almost at the beginning of their Arctic campaign, was mainly responsible for the modest achievements of the Ziegler Polar Expedition of 1903-1905. The party did not get farther north than 82° 13′, which is some degrees south of Abruzzi's record, but they did considerable surveying and conducted scientific observations of value. On the arrival of the expedition in Norway, Commander Fiala issued the following statement:

"Our rescue was most timely. By my order the America wintered in Teplitz Bay, where early in the winter of 1903-4 the ship was crushed in the ice and became a total loss, together with big quantities of coal and provisions.

"Supplies of stores left at Franz Josef Land by various relief parties saved us very serious privations. Three attempts to reach a high latitude failed. The scientific work, however, as planned, was successfully carried out by Mr Wm. J. Peters, of the United States Geological Survey.

"Our rescue was due to the splendid