288 History of Inland Transport 



ally low rates and other special facilities for the transport of 

 agricultural produce, and, also, of having done more, perhaps, 

 than any other single railway company to enable working 

 men to live in healthy suburbs around London. 



The whole position in regard to the prospective abuse of a 

 so-called monopoly due to railway amalgamations is, in fact, 

 much misunderstood. 



A railway company which controls, or practically controls, 

 the traffic in a certain section of the country is especially 

 interested in developing that traffic because it will enjoy all 

 the advantages thereof, without having to share them with a 

 rival. For this reason, instead of restricting facilities, such a 

 company seeks to increase them ; instead of imposing ex- 

 tortionate fares and rates it aims, not merely at immediate 

 profits on the transport of particular commodities, but at 

 encouraging such a development of the district in general 

 as will ensure its prosperity, increase its population, expand 

 its trade, and create more traffic of all kinds in a not far 

 distant future. 



It was precisely this idea that led the Great Eastern Railway 

 Company to set the example it did in seeking to develop the 

 interests of its agricultural districts. The more these interests 

 expanded, and the more profitable the agricultural industry 

 became to the people living in those districts, the greater 

 would be the demand for household supplies, for furniture, 

 for pianos, for building materials, and for countless other 

 commodities, most of which would bring additional traffic 

 to the line apart from the greater amount of agricultural 

 produce carried, and apart, also, from the further inevitable 

 increase in passenger traffic. 



Cornwall, again, might be regarded as the " monopoly " of 

 the Great Western Railway ; but what person would suggest 

 that the Great Western have not sufficiently boomed " the 

 Cornish Riviera " ? 



Nor is there necessarily a " monopoly " simply because a 

 particular district is served by a single railway. If the Great 

 Eastern did not take people to East-coast resorts at reasonable 

 rates, or if the Great Western charged excessive fares for the 

 journey to Cornwall, holiday-makers would, in each case, 

 go elsewhere. If either company, or any other company, 

 sought to get too much for carrying milk to London, milk 



