The 1928 financial statements of corporations prominent in many U. S. industries last week furnished statistical evidence of general U. S. prosperity.
Railroads. Though passenger traffic on Class I railroads (184 main trunk lines) was the smallest in the last 20 years, freight traffic increased ½ to 1% and by cutting operating expenses most roads showed larger earnings per share in spite of many decreases in gross income. These roads reported net operating income of approximately $1,200,000,000, a return of 4.71% on their property investment. The 1927 return was 4.38%. The following table...