The Portland daily press., 1867-05-13

The cessation of the short, sharp and decisive
struggle between the two railroads which serve
to conduct our surplus business to Boston has
defeated many pleasant projects. During
those few blissful days of competition, it was
economy to go Boston and return for the saw
ing of the round trip amounted to four or five
dollars, and fifteen dollars week ought to paw
a mans board. Families which had been long
separated began to talk of a reunion, and
business men made all sorts of excuses for a
short and exceedingly cheap journey. The
number of passengers ON each road was treb-
led, and If we are correctly informed, the cur
rent receipts of the rival companies showed no
falling off. 1t may be said to have been proved
by actual experiment that three hundred pas
sengers at a dollar apiece pay as much as a
hundred passengers at three dollars apiece.
The cost of conveying thousand passen-
gers is not much more than the cost of car
rying five hundred, but the trouble is consider
ably increased. There is more trouble Tor the
ticket agent and for the conductor, the baggage
master, and all concerned. Without q mo-
tive this extra trouble will not be taken; and
why should it? If the receipts from five hun
dred passengers at high tariff are as great as
the receipts from thousand passengers at
lower rates, why should the railroads be bur
dened with the additional trouble of the extra
five hundred?
What the conflict really decided is, that the
public has, in the long run, nothing to expect
from the competition of railroads. If a rail-
road could be built with small capital and
at short notice, free competition would soon
give us the lowest practicable fares. The con-
ditons do not admit of competition as a settled
policy. There are two competing railroads
from Waterville to Portland, and the people of
Waterville selected their representative last
fall expressly to defeat rumored project of
consolidating the two roads. But does Water
vile really gain anything by their compet;-
ton? Not at all. The managers of those roads
find it very easy to agree upon tariff of prices
which would not be materially altered if the
two lines were united. The Eastern and Bos-
ton & Maine roads have been satisfied with
very brief trial of strength. They lind it more
comfortable and pleasant to confer than to
conpete and the old rates are as firmly estab-
lished as ever.
The brief experiment shows indeed that
lower rates DflilS iuCIcIst vi business.
That is universal law of trade. But there is
no inducement for railroad CO companies to seek
an increase of business ON such terms. The
duty of the managers is primarily to the stock
holders; lis their business to make their roads
pay, to make them pay as much as possible
: with the least outlay. The convenience of
OF the public is of course to be consulted, be-
cause the public are customers, but the
advantage of the stockholders is para
mount A larger traffic with only the
same or but slightly increased returns is not
desirable to the companies, though it is pre-
cisely what the public needs Neither party
is to blame for this conflict of interests. 1t ex-
lists as a fact in the development oof raiiroad
enterprise, and competition is not an ehec'l'e
remedy. Cheap and rapid transportation we
must have in some way-and the cheapest pos
sible; it is something gained to see clearly 'na'
we cannot rely upon competition for 1t.