222 TRANSPORT QUESTIONS 



I do not think there is any need for me to go into 

 further details on this particular question. The idea 

 that the railways are ' strangling ' agriculture by the 

 rates they charge is one calculated to keep people back 

 from embarking further on agricultural industries, and 

 for that reason I have felt bound to take some notice 

 of it here. But the idea is one that will not stand the 

 test of investigation. As regards ' undue preferential 

 rates ' to the foreigner, that phase of the question has 

 been thoroughly exploded before the Departmental 

 Committee specially appointed to inquire into the sub- 

 ject. Great difficulty was found in getting witnesses 

 to come before the committee to support by specific 

 instances the accusations so freely made in the press 

 and elsewhere, while such cases as were brought 

 forward were shown by the railway witnesses to be due, 

 in almost every instance, either to a misstatement of 

 the facts or to a misapprehension of their bearing. 

 There is much that could be said on this point, but I 

 must here content myself with stating that the opinion 

 I have formed on a close study of the evidence given 

 before the Departmental Committee is (i) that there is 

 absolutely no reason for competent people to refrain 

 from embarking on agriculture or agricultural industries 

 because of any fear of ' undue preference ' being shown 

 by British railway companies to the foreigner ; (2) that> 

 from the market standpoint, the real question at issue 

 is, not what it has cost to bring foreign produce from 

 an English port, but what the cost has amounted to 

 from the place of origin; and (3) that, other things 

 being equal, British railway companies are vastly more 

 interested in the development of agricultural districts 

 at home than they are in helping to put money into the 

 pockets of producers and traders in other countries. 



The impression, indeed, which I gather alike from 



