Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1880 — Railway Bankruptcy. [ARTICLE]

Railway Bankruptcy.

The Railway Age devotes a column to a statement in detail of the railway foreclosures of 1879. It is a very interesting exhibit. On its face it is very discouraging, but the Age claims that 1879 experienced a “clearing-up shower,” and that fairer weather may now be expected. This hopeful view is based on the decrease of receiverships. The following tables present in summary the two sets of facts referred to: SUMMARY OF SALES UNDER FORECLOSURE. No. of] Mile- Capital InYears. Road* age. vested. 1876 SO 3.846 £217.848,000 1377 6 1 3.375 198.931.000 1378 48 3.9(2 811,631,000 1379 65 4,909 243 285,000 Tola’ in four year*. .. 197 16,532 £971.752.0(0 SUMMARY OF RECEIVERSHIPS APPOINTED. •Vo. of\ Mile- Capital InYears Reads age rested. 1870 42 6.662 $467,000,000 1377 33 3.057 220.294.000 1878 27 2.320 92.385,000 1879 6 657 22 200.000 Total in four years.... 113„ 13,276 £801.979,000

Commenting upon these facts, the Railway Age says: “About one-third of this represents capital stock, which in most cases has been entirely wiped out by this process, while the bonded debt has undergone a very severe scaling down. Large as is the number of these sales, however, the average amount involved is only about $3,750,000 per road, against nearly $6,500,000 in 1878, which indicates that it is mainly the smaller companies that have been passing through the fire of late. * * * . “It is evident that the occupation of the receivers is well-nigh gone, with all its loss to the railways, and that a new era of prosperity has begun.”