358 History of Inland Transport 



to abnormal proportions the capital expenditure that the 

 revenue based on rates and charges must needs cover if any 

 reasonable return at all is to be made to the investors. There 

 would, in fact, be no cause for surprise if rates and charges 

 on British railways could be proved to be higher than those 

 in force on the Continent, where the conditions attendant 

 on railway construction and operation have differed so 

 materially from our own. The wonder is, rather, in view of 

 all that I have said as to the past history of our railway 

 system, that British railway rates and charges should, generally 

 speaking, be as low as they are. 



