TRANSPORT. 259 



in other lands, against whom, with all his aids 

 and subsidies, the English farmer is asked to 

 compete on " Free Trade " terms. 



Since the question of the national ownership 

 of railways must in some measure obtrude into 

 any argument on the land question, it is per- 

 haps fair to mention that there is a case against, 

 as well as for, State ownership of railways from 

 a farmer's point of view. It has been put for- 

 ward recently by Mr. Edwin A. Pratt,* who 

 takes the Australian State railways for his 

 example, and argues that the railways have not 

 kept pace with the extension of settlement ; 

 that farmers are left to suffer from the shortage 

 of trucks ; that the railway systems are dis- 

 torted from following natural routes to the 

 coast, in order to serve the interests of the big 

 capital cities ; and gives various other minor 

 grievances, including the poor quality of refresh- 

 ments in the railway buffets. Except that the 

 ownership of the railways by the State has 

 undoubtedly been used in Victoria and New 

 South Wales (though not in Queensland) for 

 an attempt to concentrate unduly the export 



* " The State Railway Muddle in Australia " (John Murray). 



