Page:The truth about the railroads (IA truthaboutrailro00elli).pdf/89

of interest on a debt in Minnesota, in the absence of contract, is 6 per cent, and by contract it may be 10 per cent per annum. (Rev. Laws Minn. 1905, *2733.) Rational investments in agricultural, manufacturing, mercantile, and other industrial pursuits and even well secured loans yield returns in Minnesota corresponding with these lawful rates. Investments in railroads and the returns thereon are at the risk of failures and partial failures of crops, of the disasters, delays, and expenses of unusual storms, snow, and cold, of the great financial disasters which occasionally prevent or delay the movement of traffic, and of the burden of continuous operation, whether profitable or unremunerative. It is an axiom in economics that the greater the risk the greater must the return be upon invested capital, and the conclusion is irresistible that a net return of 7 per cent per annum upon the respective values of the properties of these companies in Minnesota devoted to transportation is not more than the fair return to which they are entitled under the Constitution of the United States.”