Texas │ 11,848.03│ 237,718,000│ 1904│ 95,209,785│ 40.0 Utah │ 1,779.69│ 90,325,000│ 1904│ 20,682,461│ 22.9 Vermont │ 1,063.25│ 37,311,000│ 1902│ 27,344,020│ 73.3 Virginia │ 3,932.33│ 211,315,000│ 1904│ 63,269,623│ 37.7 West Virginia │ 2,836.83│ 201,799,000│ 1904│ 28,771,358│ 14.2 Washington │ 3,355.83│ 182,837,000│ 1904│ 26,066,949│ 14.3 Wisconsin │ 7,048.76│ 284,510,000│ 1904│218,024,900│ 76.6 Wyoming │ 1,247.70│ 100,307,000│ 1904│ 7,498,232│ 7.5 Arizona │ 1,751.35│ 68,356,000│ 1904│ 6,667,349│ 9.7 District of │ 32.00│ 5,578,000│ 1904│ 2,486,024│ 44.6 Columbia │ │ │ │ │ New Mexico │ 2,504.66│ 8,640,000│ 1904│ 8,511,538│ 9.9 ───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────┼─────┼───────────┼─────────── Total, U.S.A. │213,932.13│11,244,852,000│ │ │ ═══════════════╧══════════╧══════════════╧═════╧═══════════╧═══════════ In concluding this subject, it may not be amiss to quote the language of the Supreme Court in the Knoxville Water Case (212 U. S., 1), as follows: "Regulation of public service corporations, which perform their duties under conditions of necessary monopoly, will occur with greater and greater frequency as time goes on. It is a delicate and dangerous function, and ought to be exercised with a keen sense of justice on the part of the regulating body, met by a frank disclosure on the part of the company to be regulated. The Courts ought not to bear the whole burden of saving property from confiscation, though they will not be found wanting when the proof is clear. "The legislatures and subordinate bodies to whom the legislative power has been delegated ought to do their part. Our social system rests largely upon the sanctity of private property, and that State or community which seeks to invade it will soon discover the error, in the disaster that follows. The slight gain to the consumer, which he would obtain from a reduction in the rates charged by Public Service Corporations, is as nothing compared with his share in the ruin which would be brought about by denying to private property its just reward, thus unsettling values and destroying confidence. On the other hand, the companies to be regulated will find it to their lasting interest to furnish freely the information upon which a just regulation can be based." ----- Footnote 2: _Railroad Age Gazette_, April 16th, 1909, p. 857. EXPLANATION OF TERMS. In order that there may be no doubt as to the exact meaning of the terms used throughout this paper, a few definitions or explanations are submitted: _Appraisal, or Valuation._—These words are used interchangeably, and refer to the engineering work of determining the present worth of both physical and intangible properties of corporations.