Page:The Economic Journal Volume 1.djvu/374

 352 THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL We must from the first remember that our railway corpora- tions differ from all Continental systems, inasmuch a the Govern- ment, i.e., the taxpayer, has not had to contribute one penny towards their construction or worldng, and that they have been built up on the theory that Government is not to interfere in their commercial or technical administration more than is absolutely necessary for the protection of the public. They pay moreover 22,000,000 in the shape of rates and taxes, and this is only one of the instances which show what an enormous saving in capital to the country our private system has been. The total capital sunk in the railways of Great Britain as compared to the National Debt, was, in April, 1890, in round figures as follows: Railway Capital ... National Debt ... ... 2876,595,000. ... :689,944,000. I think that these figures are enough to prove that we may leave out of consideration, in this paper, the question of State purchase, since it would more than double the National Debt. Returning then to the question of the duties of these semi-mono- polists to the public, we may put them under the following heads: I Publicity of Rates and Tariffs. 2 Performance of Contract, e.g., Punctuality. 3 Reasonable Facilities and steady Progress. 4 Fair Treatment of Individuals (1) Among the Public, (2) Among the Employees. 1. PUBLICITY OF RATES AND TARIFFS. I have put this subject first, because, in my olinion, publicity is a far better remedy for most of the grievances of the public against the railroatls than any laws. What the trader wants to know is the maximum that he may be called on to pay, and also to be sure that no secret rebate, of which he knows nothing, is made to his competitor in business. The Americans have coinecl a phrase which expresses this well, viz., 'personal discrimination.' Competition necessitates practically that there shall be differential rates, i.e., that the rates cannot be fixed exclusively .on a mileage basis, but this is a very different thing to a personal rebate.