Page:The truth about the railroads (IA truthaboutrailro00elli).pdf/35

Rh more and better hotels and more and better street-paving and lighting and more and better restaurants; but in the case of the hotels, paving, lighting, restaurants, and many other things, the public are willing to pay more, and do pay more, for the better facilities. Not so with the railways; with more trains, heavier trains, faster trains, more luxurious trains, and better track, there has swept over the country a wave of legislation for a 2-cent fare. The 2-cent maximum fare is unjust, and retards the development of the very things the railway-user wants, because it is obvious the railway-owner must sooner or later stop doing so much work without any margin of profit at all.

In England the first-class passenger rate is 4 cents, second-class 2½ cents, and third-class 2 cents. In Germany, the first-class is 3 cents, second-class 2.55 cents, third-class 1.79 cents; but the second- and third-class accommodations in England and Germany are nowhere near as good as those furnished the traveler in the United States. Rh