THE  TROPICAL  AGRlCULTURlSt. 
[Aug.  I,  1895. 
1 oi 
substantially  detiiiiiental  to  the  public 
will  “ill  tbe  loiij^  run” — a favourite  phrase  of 
bis— prove  <letriiiieiital  to  tbe  railway  ; (4)  that 
with  resi>ect  to  industry,  railway  rates  are  in 
tile  nature  of  a.  tax,  ol  a tax  too  wliieli,  beiiix 
liea\  ier  in  iiroportion  to  the  ratepayer's  distance 
ln)in  Ids  inarkel,  is  levieil  on  disaliility,  and  is 
llierefore  in  eoiilliet  with  the  souinl  principles 
"f  taxation.  If  it  lie  objected  that  there  is  more 
jddlaiit bropy  tlian  business  in  these  maxiins,  we 
I'oiiit  for  answer  to  tin-  work  wliiidi  Mr.  l^arkes 
did  in  the  liobtof  tliein.  lie  found  tbe  “(Jreat 
I'.asti'rn”  virtually  biinkrupt,  a by-word  and  a 
sliakiiie:  ot  ilie  bcail  to  sliareliolders  and  luiblic 
alike;  lie  left  it  in  1 after  1 !)  years  of  ori^^inal 
and  intrepid  maiiaoeinent,  a “ lirst-class ” rail- 
way, in  iiiaii}^  respects  /irimKs  hdcr  pmru,  no- 
tably in  the  frei[uency  and  punctuality  of  its 
train  services,  and  in  its  treatment  of  third-class 
iiassenyers.  few  railway  companies  are  well 
spoken  of  by  shareholders  and  ])ublic  alike  : Mr. 
Parkes's  Company  was  so  spoken  of.  We  cite 
liiiii  here  because  bis  acliie\ements,  aniono  tliein 
the  working  men’s  suburbs  East  of  tbe  Lea 
wbicli  by  means  of  tbe  lialf-|ienny  fare  he  may 
be  saiil  to  have  created,  demonstrate  the  power 
of  the  taritf  for  good,  and  afford  an  object  lesson 
ill  the  wise  use  of  it. 
Oftener  unhappily 
THK  I’OWKIt  OF  THK  TAHIFF 
is  either  ignoreil  or  misused,  and  is  shown  in 
the  disorganisation  of  bu.sine.ss  and  the  para- 
lysis of  industry.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  aver  that  the  collapse  of  the  English  agri- 
cultural industries  and  a good  deal  of  wrong- 
headed |)olitical  agitation  ensuing  therefrom  are 
mainly  iliie  (we  say  “ mainly,”  because  it  can- 
not be  too  clearly  kept  in  mind  that  no  large 
economic  change  is  reterable  to  a .single  cause) 
to  the  amazingly  low  “ long  haul  ” rates  to  the 
sea-board  which  olitain  on  the  traiis-Atlantic 
railways  : a tritle  over  a farthing  jier  ton  per 
mile  ((ixSt)  mills  exactly)  being  average  rate  for 
all  classes  of  freight  on  the  wheat  lines  of  the 
United  States. 
English  agriculture  thus  got  its  lir.st  wound 
from  foreign  railways,;  it  would  ajipear  to  be 
about  to  recei\'c  its  death  blow  from  English 
railways  ; and  this  by  means  of  preferential 
rates  in  faxdur  of  imported  food-stulfs.  Aided, 
however,  by  the  l.ondon  Chamber  of  Commerce 
aud  the  Mansion  House  Association,  the  im- 
perilled industries  ba\’e  instituted  in  the  Court 
of  the  llailway  aud  Canal  ('ommission  a test- 
action  against  the  Loudon  and  South  AVestern 
llailway  under  (danse  -7  of  tbe  Railway  and 
(’anal  Trallic  .M:l  of  wliiidi  jirovides  “that 
no  Kaihvay  ('ompauy  shall  make,  nor  shall  the 
(.'ourt  or  t he  ( 'ommissiomu's  sanction,  any  diller- 
('lice  in  tbe  lolls,  rales  or  (diarges  made  for,  or 
any  difference  in  rlu' treatment  of,  home  and  foreign 
merchandi--e  in  rc--p('ct  of  the  same  or  similai' 
sendee."  The  apidicants  all(^g('d  thill  in  the 
case  of  cerlain  -|ic(dlicd  kinds  ot  merchandise, 
namely  baiiiii,  freidi  meat,  lard,  butter,  idieese, 
hops,  hiiy,  iuid  wdol,  lh(>  Comiiany  charged  on 
the  imported  .uliidc  an  uniform  rate  of  (is  |i(*r 
Ion  froiii  Soiiihampton  I lock's  to  London  (7<i 
miles;  wlieiea  li.mi  .'-kmi  hampi  on  iind  inter- 
medi.iie  stiiiioii-  l(j  L(jndiiii  1 lo'  rales  (m  lln* 
liome-m.ide  iirli.de  langed  lidiii  tis  ,Sd  to  “.‘Is. 
d'lie  re-pomh'iil  ( 'ompany  iidmitled  the  prelerence, 
but  justilied  it  on  the  following  among  other 
grounds  : 'I'lnit  the  lower  I'iite  on  imported  go(  d.s 
Win  ill!  iipportioned  amount  of  a tlirough 
rato  co'.'cring  (rccan  carriage ; that  it  did 
pot  include  ccitiviu  ttjjjuiiutl  cUargeg  tvliicU  ioj 
fair  comparison  with  the  higher  but  inclusive 
rate  must  be  taken  into  account  ; that  the  arrange- 
ment complained  of  w as  necessary  to  enable  them 
to  comjiete  with  water  carriage  to  Ixmdon  ; that 
the  local  tralhc  because  insuHicient  in  volumci 
biidly  [liicked,  iuid  iiccessitiiting  iiiore  shunting, 
supervision,  and  risk,  could  not  protitiibly  be  carried 
at  the  lower  rate.  In  result  the  Court  ruled  tluit 
the  Company  Iuid  made  good  their  answer  in 
respect  of  iill  the  articles  in  (|uestion  except  hay, 
ho|is,  and  fresh  meat,  on  which  three  tiie  rate 
Wiis  ordered  t(i  be  lowered.  The  report  of  thetriiil 
“ M.INSION  iKitTSF,  .xssoci.vri'ix  r.  I,.  A s.  \V. 
1;  \II.V.  COV. 
iind  the  comments  of  the  I’rcss  thereon  merit 
careful  study  on  the  part  of  all  concerned  in 
railway  administration.  It  is  a leading  case,  and 
as  Lord  .Jersey’s  recent  motion  in  the  House  of 
luirds  portends,  will  be  followed  by  fresh  legisla- 
tion. For  as  the  law  st.ands,  it  has  been  shown 
to  be  inade(iuate  to  safeguard  the  trade  of  the 
country  under  the  tremendous  jiowers  of  contro 
exercised  by  the  railway  companies  through  the 
taritf. 
The  Railway  and  Canal  Commis.sion  mentioned 
above  is  a tribunal  created  by  Act  of  Ibirliament 
in  LS7o  and  reconstituted  with  enlaiged  powers 
in  188ft.  Its  business,  as  we  have  just  seen,  is 
to  adjudicate  on  the  legality  of  rates  and 
charges,  and  of  claims  to  reductions  thereof  in 
virtue  of  certain  “ special  circumstances” 
which  have  received  statutory  recognition, 
(.hu'stions  of  the’  claissilication  of  freight  come 
within  its  jnri.sdictioii  ; and  it  has  power  to  order 
such  “ reasonable  facilities”  for  trallic  as  the 
interests  of  the  public  may  reijuire.  .Similar  func- 
tions are  discharged  in  the  United  States  by 
the  Inter-State  Commerce  Commission.  In  several 
of  English  (,’olonies  where  the  railways  arc  in 
the  hands  of  Covernment  no  important 
I'lMIvT.MJUi  01;  T,\KIFF-CIl.\Nt;i;S 
are  made  without  )»rior  reference  to  the  Cham- 
bers of  CommeiTe,  whicb  are  thus  invested,  and 
to  the  common  good,  with  a (juasi-otlicial  status 
in  the  RaiHvay  Department.  Says  the  (leneral 
Manager  of  the  Cape  Covernment  Railways  in 
his  .A(iministration  Report  for  18!i;i.^“  The  plan  1 
luive  ado)(ted  in  concert  with  the  Chief  Tratlic 
Manager  of  consulting  in  greater  detail  with 
Chambers  of  Commerce,  and  of  meeting  other 
public  bodies  interested  in  railway  management 
will,  1 trust,  remove  some  of  the  causis  of 
complaint  to  which  attention  has  been  called. 
I think  the  Department  is  now  more  in  touch 
with  the  public  ; and  while  I cannot  expect  total 
excm|ition  from  compbaint  or  criticisim  I trust 
the  public  is  satislied  that  as  much  as  jiossible  is 
being  done  to  meet  its  rc(|uircmcnts.  After  all 
the  wlnde  object  of  the  Dejiartment  should  be 
to  meet  the  reasjnable  wishes  of  the  public.’’ 
So  far  we  ha\e  discu.ssed  our  subject  without 
sp('citic  reference  to  local  needs  and  circumstances; 
lo  tlu'se  w('  now  turn.  .\ud  lirst:  tbe  pi'obable  en- 
listment of 
l■l.•l\  .vi  t;  F.NTKltntl.SF. 
for  r.ailway  purposes  in  C(‘ylon  luas  (*xciled  .a 
..;ood  di'.'il  ol  i‘ni|niry  as  to  how  the  public  is  lo 
be  pKilecled  av.ainst  (>\ lorlionale  adminislnition, 
an. I (Nilh  this  in  vi('w  it  ha.s  Imhui  sucgestial  that 
with  ri'spect  to  rates  (iovernment  should  at  the 
outset  lix  a maximum  taritr.  Rut  we  submit  that 
such  a provision  would  fall  ludicrously  short  of 
ellicient  nrotectioii.  As  the  facts  to  which  in 
this  article  we  haie  sought  to  draw  attention 
clearly  .show,  it  would  liarcly  touch  the  uioro 
bctiouQ  bourceb  ol  Aud  isu^pusing 
