too frequently reiterated. The railway companies of the United States have, in every stage of their existence, shown a disposition to meet every legiti mate responsibility. They have been superior to the harsh judgment that has been passed upon them. We can not trace their experiences except with wonderment; great newspapers have assailed them with unbridled fury; politicians have sought to undermine them with the people; juries have denied them justice; legislatures have openly impugned their motives and questioned their methods; the public has refused to give them its confidence or sympathy; every species of folly, every device of malice, the impossible requirements of ignorance, the selfish cunning of personal interest, the ravings of demagogues, the disappointments, jealousies, prejudices, and hatreds of mankind have each, in turn and in unison, assailed them. Denied every virtue, no accusation has been tco monstrous to find believers. CHAPTER IX. RAILWAY RATES AND GOVERNMENT CONTROL-RAIL WAY GROWTH IN THE UNITED STATES: PRESENT The railway system of the United States, as it exists to-day, is an afterthought, a makeshift, fragmentary, illy conceived, incongruous. In the beginning, railroads were located with reference to local traffic only, with regard to their profitableness as short lines. Through business was a remote contingency, something uncertain and vague, too purely speculative to merit more than a passing thought. It, however, grew apace, and with increase of wealth, and knowledge of manipulation, the process of amalgamating petty interests began. At first, only continuous lines were consolidated. Then diverging lines were absorbed; afterward, competitive interests. Isolated roads were bought and consolidated, in many cases, to meet contingent possibilities. The consolidation of roads having little or nothing in common rendered it necessary to construct connecting links to weld them together. In the course of time, the necessity of connecting the great enterprises thus formed with distant markets not considered in the original scheme, forced itself on the attention of owners. This involved further building, the paralleling of existing lines, and other incongruous acts. In this "piecing out" process, this attempt to derive order out of chaos, primary conditions were reversed, and local traffic, from being a prime factor, became of secondary importance. Not only this, but the new lines, in many instances, by dividing the local business, destroyed its profitableness. The railway situation was further aggravated by the presence of many roads built for purely speculative purposes, or to satisfy the sentiments of petty districts. The process of evolution is still going on, but becomes each day more and more simple. Under the policy of giving bounties, the region east of the Missouri has been honeycombed with roads not contemplated in the original scheme. Many of them would not have been allowed, had permission from an impartial government board been required. Our railway system, having thus grown up under anomalous conditions, requires anomalous treatment. It is distinctively competitive. It is not homogeneous. The weakness of the railway system of the United States has found frequent expression in the destructive warfare of rival companies. The introduction of pools (whereby business common to two or more lines is equitably apportioned), was the remedy whereby railway owners and managers sought to mitigate the evil. Unfortunately, however, the remedy could only be partially applied without the to control those who transgressed its requirements. This protection the government not only refused, but finally passed a law prohibiting carriers from entering into any kind of pooling arrangement whatsoever. No other country in the world so greatly needs the aid of this device as the United States, because of the chaotic nature of its railway system, and yet the United States is the only country where it is denied to carriers. The law referred to was in keeping with public sentiment-with the desire to outlaw railway property. The people had long been told that railway companies were extortioners, public robbers, to be placed under the surveillance of the police. They did not, therefore, care to protect them. Ignorance and demagogism had full sway. Legislation intended to weaken the hands of managers, or cut down rates, everywhere elicited approval. There was nowhere a disposition to aid in preventing rate wars. Directly the reverse. Laws were passed permeated with the false doctrine. that the direct intervention of the government was necessary to prevent the community from being injured by excessively high rates. It was sought to inculcate the belief that we should look to the government, rather than to the owners of railway property, for honesty and wisdom; to a perfunctory service, rather than a discerning and intelligent one. In framing tariffs, economic laws were no longer to be regarded. The law of supply and demand was no longer to be considered. The belief was general that rates were excessive. No |