EAILWAY KATES 199 



fresh meat — the very commodities to which farmers are 

 recommended, and peasant proprietors would be obliged, 

 to turn their attention. Here time is of the essence ; delay 

 injures condition ; quick transit is a necessity ; and conse- 

 quently there is no natural competition between sea and 

 land carriage. If perishable produce was sent to London 

 by sea, it could not compete in quality with English goods. 

 When, therefore, foreign perishable produce is sent through 

 to London at through rates, which are actually less than 

 those charged to local growers, and in fast trains from 

 which local growers are excluded, the English farmer is 

 indisputably injured. Here is no natural competition 

 between sea and land carriage, both of which are available 

 to the foreigner, to cheapen the through rates, but only the 

 artificial competition, created by rivalry between competing 

 companies, each seeking, in the interests of their respective 

 shareholders, to outbid the other and attract the traffic to 

 their own lines. Here, then, British farmers pay the 

 carriage bills of their foreign rivals. It is idle to plead the 

 interests of the consumer ; they would be equally consulted 

 if companies paid smaller dividends, and they cannot be 

 served at one and the same time by bringing remote mar- 

 kets to his door, and by driving near markets to a distance. 

 Space is annihilated, but only if it is sufficiently great ; 

 food is cheapened, but only by bounties to foreign pro- 

 ducers, and premiums on distance at the expense of 

 proximity. 



What is the remedy ? Equal mileage rates are simple, 

 but the simplicity is attained by the sacrifice of equity. 

 Rates based on the cost of conveyance without reference to 

 the value of the articles are financially unsound. A ton of 

 sand would pay the same as a ton of copper, or a hundred- 

 weight of fresh beef as a hundredweight of potatoes. On 



