DISCRIMINATION IN RAILWAY RATES. 505 



ference in the traffic, the discrimination becomes then unjust. The 

 fallacy of the proposition seems not to have been discovered by many 

 who have been prominent in discussing the question of the regulation 

 of railroad rates. I mean those who have taken a political rather 

 than an economic view of the subject. Following a similar kind of 

 reasoning, they have deduced the unreasonableness of higher rates 

 from the existence of lower rates. " As," they say, " rates on grain, 

 flour, or other things carried at low rates, being voluntarily fixed by 

 the carrier, are presumably fair, it follows that rates not so Ioav are 

 unfair," Here, again, the traffic is conceived of as a mental abstrac- 

 tion which admits of no division or degree ; it is always traffic — that 

 is, always the same ; while, as a matter of fact, there is a much 

 greater difference in the things than in the discrimination. For, prac- 

 tically, instead of a refined classification, taking into account all dif- 

 ferences of value, bulk, quantity, or destructibility, things which are 

 similar in these respects, though not the same, are grouped together 

 in a single class. 



The enforcement of uniform rates on all the traffic of a railroad 

 (making a difference only for bulky and perishable articles) is in prac- 

 tice a thing of the past, though with politicians it is still pi'eached. 

 It has, wherever tried, been found not only wanting, but destructive. 

 In Belgium, as most of the railroads were owned and operated by the 

 state, the uniform rate theory was naturally adopted, as upon the 

 face it seemed to be the fairest plan. The effect was the restriction 

 of traffic and the oppression of commerce. After this system had 

 been some time tried, however, the cause of the restriction was seen to 

 be the lack of discrimination in things, basing the rates upon bulk, 

 weight, and destructibility only, and ignoring the fundamental prin- 

 ciple — the value of the service. 



The result of this experience is thus stated by the Commissioners 

 of Railroads of Massachusetts : 



"In 1856, in spite of a considerable increase in the miles of railroad 

 worked, the freight movement of the Belgian railroads was found to 

 have seriously decreased. Instead of making good the deficiency in 

 receipts by increased rates on existing business, the administration 

 met the emergency by accepting all traffic that offered, at greatly re- 

 duced special rates. This policy succeeded so well that, in 1861, the 

 principle was adojJted as regards minerals and raw materials of a 

 regular low scale of charges, with a reduction according to distance. 

 This resulted in the following year in an increase of 72 per cent 

 in the tonnage of this class of goods. In 1862 the principle was ex- 

 tended to goods of the next class, with similar results. In 1864 

 freights were reclassified and the new principle applied to all except 

 the first class, or small parcels which in this country are known as ex- 

 press matter. The result was summed up by the Minister of Public 

 Works as follows : * In eight years, between 1856-'64, the charges on 



