THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 53 



Thus influenced, the confiding people grant unhesi- 

 tatingly all the privileges asked for. The right of way 

 is given, lands are donated by Congress, money is sub- 

 scribed by counties and cities, and the inhabitants of 

 the region through which the road is to be built imagine 

 themselves on the highway to wealth and prosperity. 

 Trade, they are told, is to come pouring over the new 

 route, a direct market is to be provided for the products 

 of the region, and an era of general prosperity is to be 

 inaugurated. Figures are not wanting to encourage 

 these expectations. The most plausible calculations are 

 made, the cost of the road is given, the annual expenses 

 are estimated, and it is shown to the satisfaction of all 

 that a system of moderate charges for the transportation 

 of passengers and freight will secure to the road a reve- 

 nue sufficient to meet its expenses, and, in time, to pay 

 a fair dividend upon the capital invested in the under- 

 taking. 



A little reflection would cause the confiding public 

 to be suspicious of the men who profess to have its 

 interests so much at heart. Capitalists do not under- 

 take railway enterprises from such benevolent motives. 

 Like other men, they seek their individual profit, and 

 the welfare of the public is with them a consideration 

 only so far as it influences their undertaking. They 

 look to receive ample dividends, and are careless of the 

 thanks of a grateful country. 



" In America, as in England, the private corporation 

 owning the thoroughfare is the basis of the whole rail- 

 road system. In thus surrendering the control of this 

 system out of its hands, the community as a rule made 

 one and but one reservation in its own favor ; it was 

 almost universally stipulated that the rate of profit 



