In answer to this the public may say that the low return of 4½ per cent is applied to a capitalization that is unfair. Valuations of railway property have been made in a number of States by public authorities, with the result that in the States of Washington, South Dakota, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin the figures for the value of the railway property were $1,211,806,522 as compared with the aggregate gross capitalization of $1,210,999,033. In Minnesota the State made a valuation of the property of the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Minneapolis & St. Louis roads of $193,094,302, while the capitalization for the three roads in Minnesota was $155,051,909. Here are a few cases where governmental authority has made a valuation of the railroads, and in every case the value is more than the capitalization. Taking the country as a whole, there is no doubt but that the railroad properties to-day as going concerns are worth more than the par value of the capital standing in the hands of the public.
In all business transactions there are at
