418 THE GROUNBSWELL. 



the passenger cars of the North-western, Burlington, Alton, 

 and Eock Island Eoads are crowded. Thereafter, the passen 

 gers thin out and cars are dropped off, but the cost of hauling 

 the lighter trains, per mile, is only a trifle less than on the 

 heavy &quot;runs.&quot; Yet, despite this indisputable fact, the present 

 law compels Illinois railway companies to carry passengers 

 at the same price on branches of their road, where there is 

 seldom one car load and never more than two, as upon their 

 main or through lines, where, on account of there being 

 more passengers, they can well be carried at less cost per 

 passenger. This forces railway companies to extort from 

 main line passengers compensation for work done for branch 

 patrons. And this results from a law enacted to prevent 

 extortion ! 



Eeference is often made to the two-cent-per-mile rate on 

 the New York Central Eailroad. That line is dotted with 

 populous cities its entire length, which yield it such an 

 enormous travel that the company can afford to take passen 

 gers at a much lower rate than any western railroad can. 

 The same reason enables leading Chicago railroads to carry 

 passengers at less cost on their main lines than upon their 

 branches. Trains are sometimes discontinued on these 

 branch roads because, at the rate of fare usually charged, it 

 does not pay to run the trains, whereas, if the people would 

 pay what they could afford rather than not have the accom 

 modation, the trains could be profitably run. Should this 

 pernicious principle of the law be sustained, the companies 

 will be compelled to run a lesser number of trains on their 

 branch roads, and thus incommode the people ; for it is plain, 

 people must go without what they are not willing to pay for. . 



The second clause of our criticism charges that the law 

 prohibits just discrimination. The Act says: &quot; It shall not 

 be deemed a sufficient excuse or justification of such discrim- 



