railways always had enough cars, so that they could supply every shipper with an empty car whenever he wanted it and just as soon as he wanted it. They have not enough cars to meet this requirement at times of the heaviest business in the country, and it is not their fault that they have not. In fact, it would be an economic waste, taking the country as a whole, to have enough cars for the very highest amount of business; this would mean that many cars would be idle for several months of the year. There would be too much idle capital in such a plan.
On December 31, 1911, there were 2,160,408 freight-cars in the United States. At $800 a car this means a capital investment of $1,728,326,400. If this large amount of capital is not used steadily and economically, there is direct loss to the business of the country. But remember that the very livelihood of a railway company depends upon its obtaining the utmost possible service from its freight-cars, and there is no phase of operation to which a railway-manager gives more attention than to the
