Railway Rates and Charges 357 



has been due to comparisons with railway conditions in other 

 countries. 



At one time the comparison specially favoured was between 

 English and American railway rates ; and this was persisted 

 in until it was conclusively shown that there was, and could be, 

 no basis of comparison between huge consignments, carried 

 long distances, on comparatively inexpensive lines, and small 

 average consignments, carried short distances, on the most 

 costly railway system in the world. The element of " the same 

 or similar circumstances " was obviously lacking. 



Comparisons were then made with railway conditions in 

 Continental countries, and various tables of comparative rates 

 were published from time to time, in support of railway 

 nationalisation theories or otherwise. But many of these 

 comparisons have been wholly untrustworthy because, once 

 more, they have not compared traffic carried under 

 the same or similar circumstances. Exceptional rates 

 granted, say, by the Prussian Government in the special 

 interests of their commercial policy, but (i) applying 

 to large consignments sent to a port for shipment, the 

 rates being substantially higher when the commodities 

 do not go further than the port, (2) granted in competition 

 with routes passing through adjoining countries, and (3) being 

 simply haulage rates, which include no additional services 

 whatever, have been compared with English " domestic " 

 rates for smaller quantities of traffic, or, it may be, with 

 " paper " rates for traffic that is practically non-existent, 

 and, therefore, has not called for special rates, while the 

 English rates may also include a variety of supplementary 

 services by the railway company (loading, unloading, collec- 

 tion, delivery, warehousing, etc.), which the Continental 

 trader would either have to perform himself or pay for as 

 extras. 



The comparisons may thus be wholly misleading ; but, 

 assuming that complete equality of conditions could be assured, 

 or allowed for, and assuming that the Continental rates were 

 then found to be lower than the really corresponding English 

 ones, it would still be necessary to remember that in this 

 country there have been, from the earliest period of railway 

 development, many circumstances and conditions, due to 

 State policy or to other causes, which have tended to swell 



