_Earnings._ _Car Foot Miles._ Passengers $1,859,839 (82.95%) 428,164,920 (80.80%) Express 187,825 ( 8.38%) 39,525,540 ( 7.45%) Mails 194,435 ( 8.67%) 62,246,130 (11.75%) ---------- ----------- Total $2,242,099 529,936,590 This table shows that for each one thousand feet of space used in passenger trains the three classes of passenger traffic contributed in earnings as follows: Passengers $4.34 139.1% Express $4.75 152.2% Mails $3.12 100% In proportion to the space occupied and facilities used on passenger trains, the Burlington road receives from passengers 39 per cent more than the Government pays for mail transportation, and from the Adams Express Company 52 per cent more; that is, the express business pays the railroad company better than the Government pays for carrying the mails by 52 per cent. If the Government had paid to the railroad company as much as the express company for each foot of space required and used on passenger trains, it would, for November, have paid $101,233 more than it did pay, or an increase in annual mail pay of more than a million dollars. * * * * * It may be of interest to note that the returns for the Pennsylvania System just being filed show the following: _Earnings._ _Car Foot Miles._ Passengers 79.8% 76.2% Express 12.6% 13.7% Mails 7.6% 10.1% For each 1,000 feet of passenger train space used on the Pennsylvania the traffic contributed in earnings as follows: Passengers $4.45 139% Express 3.91 122% Mails 3.20 100% On the Pennsylvania the passenger business is worth to that company 39 per cent more than the Government mail business, and the express business is worth 22 per cent more than the mails, indicating that express rates are relatively higher in the West than the East, but that neither in the East nor in the West is it a paying business to carry the mails at present rates. IS THE GOVERNMENT PAYING THE RAILROADS FOR CARRYING THE MAILS THE COST OF DOING THE WORK? No. The Government paid the C. B. & Q. for carrying the mails in November $194,435, or at the rate of $2,333,220 annually. The total operating expenses of the road for that month were $5,452,830. The items of passenger train operating expense strictly assignable were as follows: