A much greater fault with the chart, however, is found in the fact that the chart compares the operation of a railroad in different years by using the year 1908 as unity. 1908 was a panic year, with very serious business depression affecting railroads even more than some

Fig. 93. Fluctuation in the Price of Eggs in the United States as Compared with the Average of the Monthly Figures for the Preceding Four Years

The Government Crop Reporter is intended to be of service to farmers. Any charts included should be as clear as it is possible to make them. The illustration above is submitted only as a suggestion

10l2

GRAPHIC METHODS

of the industrial companies. All the years following 1908 are likely to show a greatly increased volume of business in practically any field of commerce or industry. Because 1908 was selected as unity in Fig. 94, the reader would be justified in feeling that the increased amount

of revenue in the years following 1908 might have come solely from the improvement in general business conditions, without any assistance whatever from ability in managing the railroad. If the betterment in the general prosperity of the country were great enough, it might even be possible to show in Fig. 94 a large increase in operating revenue due only

Annual Report or the Wneeling and Lake Erie Railroad. 191i tO thc 'gCUCral imprOVC-

Improvement in Economy of Operation of ment in business conditions and in spite of reduced efficiency in the operation of this individual railroad, considered 'per se. It is not intended here to cast any reflections upon the managing ability on the railroad in question. The only object in mentioning the matter at all is to point out the fact that the use of the year 1908 as unity puts the road unnecessarily under suspicion of attempting to mislead the public.