428 THE GROUNDSWELL. 



ential members, investigated the subject in all its bearings, 

 and reported that &quot;inequality of charge in respect of dis 

 tance, besides being a necessary consequence of competition, 

 is an essential element in the carrying trade ; that is to say, 

 the principle which governs a railway company in fixing the 

 rate is that of creating a traffic by charging such a sum for 

 conveyance as will induce the produce of one district to 

 compete with another in a common market. The power of 

 granting special rates permits a development of trade which 

 would not otherwise exist ; and it is abundantly evident that 

 a large portion of the trade of the country, at the present 



&quot;Speed, Comfort, Safety.&quot; 



time, has been created by, and is continued on the faith of, 

 special rates.&quot; And they dismissed the suggestion of inter 

 ference by adding: &quot; The conditions under which such rates 

 are granted are so numerous that no special law could be 

 framed to regulate them.&quot; 



Their comprehensive view of the question was sustained 

 by the Court of Common Pleas, which distinctly recognized 

 the right of a company to charge unequal rates. In the case 

 of Eansome v. Eastern Counties Eailway, the court held that 

 a company may charge different rates for transportation 

 where the expenses thereof are different ; and, as the Com 

 mission remarked, in citing this decision; &quot;As the expense 



