Railroad Buying

By many students of business, the general industrial prosperity of this country in 1923 was largely attributed to the heavy purchasing policy pursued by the railroads. Recently Richard H. Aishton, President of the American Railway Association, produced figures to justify his statement that the railroads were America's best customers.

Total purchasing by the Class 1 carriers last year, including fuel, materials and supplies, amounted to $1,783,703,000. The largest item was $617,800,000 for fuel, consisting of $519,007,000 for bituminous coal (28% of the country's output), $75,867,000 for fuel oil (about 20% of total production), $18,195,000 for anthracite (5.2% of total production) and $4,731,000 for coke, gasoline and other fuel.

The bill for lumber was $232,511,000, which was 15 per cent, of total output. For iron and steel products, $464,955,000 was spent, of which $383,990,000 went for iron and steel castings and $80,965,000 for steel rails. Purchases of copper, zinc, lead, etc., came to $57,245,000; lubricating oil and grease, $15,678,000; and cement $6,120,000. The sum of $344,394,000 was spent for miscellaneous materials, including ballast, groceries, meat, canned goods, brooms, matches, pencils, typewriters and various supplies.

Most ef the total sum of $1,783,703,000 spent, Mr. Aishton declared, went into operation and maintenance of the railroads, and only a small part into capital expenditures for equipment and other additional facilities.