4 THE RAILWAYS AND AGRICULTURE 



the completion of my book on the subject of 

 American Railways, I undertook a mission to 

 make an unprejudiced inquiry into the " ano- 

 malies " and other grievances alleged in regard 

 to the operation of British railways — especially 

 from the agricultural standpoint — and also into 

 the conditions existing in various Continental 

 countries. 



After investigations carried on in England, 

 Scotland, and Ireland, I started on my inquiries 

 abroad with the idea mainly of instituting com- 

 parisons between English and foreign railway 

 rates, and I learned how, in most of the foreign 

 countries where the railways are owned or con- 

 trolled by the State, the low rates in respect to 

 goods for export (with which inland railway 

 rates in this country are so often compared) 

 are mainly the result — apart from the question 

 of rivalry between ports — either of the highly 

 organized condition of trades, and especially of 

 agriculture, which leads to the consignment of 

 goods to the railways in waggon -loads, and, in 

 some cases, even in train-loads ; or of what is 

 practically a bounty on the export of agricul- 

 tural produce or manufactured articles in the 

 interests of the country. I found concerning 

 Germany that the profits derived from the State 

 railways are regarded by the Government as a 



