3. Speed of trains carrying mails has been constantly increased, a study made of the speed per hour made on fastest trains on which R. P. O. cars are handled on seventeen of the principal mail routes giving the following results: Average of fastest train on seventeen mail routes: Speed Year. (Miles per Hour.) Relative. 1905 42.21 136 1899 39.23 126 1890 34.35 110 1885 31.34 100 Average increase per year 0.55 With the above increase in speed, rates paid the railroads have automatically decreased whilst expenses have largely increased to provide for the above greater speed and because of increase in prices of labor and materials of all kinds in the past five or six years. This increase in speed has been made coincident with growth of freight traffic, which is the railroads' profitable business, _the non-profitable high speed trains delaying the profitable ones, increasing their cost and incurring liability to accident_. 4. Earnings of mail trains supposedly high are not higher than other passenger trains, which, as a whole, earn very much less per mile run than freight, relative figures being as shown by last report of the Interstate Commerce Commission--as 100 is to 218, whilst the cost of running passenger trains is as much, if not more. This is particularly the case with high speed passenger trains, which is the most unprofitable business in which railroads are engaged. (On Union Pacific System last year earnings per passenger train mile were $1.71, per freight train mile $4.31.) 5. Passenger engines in hauling fast passenger trains on principal main lines at the present time have assumed, on account of increased weight of equipment and excessive speed required, enormous proportions. We now have in such service on our lines engines weighing exclusive of tender 222,000 pounds, this power being 60 per cent. heavier and twice as costly as locomotives used in the same class of service ten years ago, burning double the amount of fuel. Engineers running these locomotives receive higher pay because of the greater size of these engines--to say nothing of recent increases made in their schedules. Such heavy power moving at fast speed is extremely destructive to the roadbed, requiring a much higher standard of maintenance than formerly, maintenance of way cost in the past few years having gone up 50 per cent. Engine failures are largely confined to fast passenger trains, and, in general, expenses are increased all along the line because of their introduction.