SCIENCE. 



FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1887. 



COMMENT AND CRITICISM. 

 The full discussion, from both the economic 

 and the commercial standpoints, that the inter- 

 state commerce bill has received in the United 

 States, bi ought out the many points of contact 

 between the railway problem as it presents itself 

 to this and to other nations. We have had forced 

 home upon us the conviction, that while local 

 conditions may vary, yet the question at issue is 

 substantially the same, whether it presents itself 

 here or in Great Britain or Germany. For this 

 reason the observations concerning the railways 

 and transportation made by the British commis- 

 sion on the depression of trade — of vrhose report 

 we present an account elsewhere — will be of in- 

 terest to those who have studied the railway 

 problem in the United States. The report of the 

 majority of the commission finds, that, among 

 all the causes which are said to have aggravated 

 the prevailing depression, none has been so per- 

 sistently put forward as the difficulties connected 

 with the transportation 6f goods. The complaints 

 made before the commission under this head are 

 of three classes : "1", that the railway companies 

 regulate their charges so as to favor one district, 

 or place, or trade, at the expense of another, and 

 the importer of foreign goods at the expense of 

 the home producer ; 2°, that the cost of transit in 

 this country is excessive as compared with the 

 charges made for similar services in other coun- 

 tries, and that consequently our home trade is 

 being crippled or destroyed to the advantage of 

 our foreign competitors, who are able to place 

 their goods in our markets at a less expense than 

 the home producers, who carry on their operations 

 at a much less distance ; 3°, it is contended that 

 if the water communications of the country were 

 properly developed, an effective competition would 

 thus be established which would regulate the 

 monopoly now possessed by the railways." 



or locality loses, another must gain. Further- 

 more, if companies be compelled to withdraw the 

 advantages complained of in the case of imported 

 goods, what assurance is there that it may not be 

 found necessary to follow the same treatment with 

 goods intended for export, and, in fact, to abolish 

 all through rates ? In regard to the second point, 

 it is admitted that railway transportation is 

 cheaper on the continent than in Great Britain, 

 because of the lower initial cost of the continental 

 railways, and because the longer distances to be 

 traversed there operate to reduce the rate per 

 mile. But it is contended that the present rates 

 — which have parliamentary sanction — only af- 

 ford an average return of about four per cent on 

 the capital invested, and consequently cannot be 

 reduced. The commission adds that it is not 

 so much the cheapness of land transportation on 

 the continent that is felt, but the cheapness of the 

 sea transportation between the continent and 

 Great Britain : for the complaints arise princi- 

 pally from the inland towns which have no trans- 

 poit save that afforded by the railways, and con- 

 sequently are at a disadvantage as compared with 

 sea-coast towns. As this advantage in favor of 

 the latter is perfectly natural, the commission 

 finds no justification for interfering with it. On 

 the third point both complainants and commission 

 agree, and the latter recommends the adoption 

 of measures which will permit of the free devel- 

 opment of canals wherever they are likely to be 

 useful and prevent their being controlled by the 

 railway companies, as appears to be the case in 

 many parts of the country. 



The report states, that, so far as the first of these 

 points goes, even if proved, it could only account 

 for a local and not for any such wide-spread de- 

 pression as is found to prevail ; for what one trade 



No. 212 — 1887. 



The bill which has been introduced in the 

 assembly of the state of New York, entitled "An 

 act to regulate the licensing and registration of 

 physicians and surgeons, and to codify the medi- 

 cal laws of the state of New York," is one which 

 should meet with the hearty support of the medi- 

 cal profession, and receive the vote of every mem- 

 ber of the legislature. That legislative action is 

 necessary to codify the laws relating to medical 

 practice is evident, when it is considered that there 

 are at the present time fourteen or more such laws 

 in force, some of them having been enacted as 



