Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-02-04

broad scale. They evidently believe in the
existence of middle ground in regard to
railroad management, to be found somewhere
between the control of railroads by irrespon-
sible private corporations, on the one side,
and their ownership by the State on sthe
other "a ground which may beside described
as one of strict public supervision and cor
porate responsibility.
Every student of railroad problems now rec
ognizcs the fact that the laws of competition
do not apply to them. In the first place, COM
bination always WILL as it always has render.
ed effective competitor impossible. III rallToau
competition ever could exist between two
points, it would now exist between this city
and Chicago. What. however, are the facts
Within the last year the tariff of rates between
the two cities has ranged from 81 to nearly
$40 per tun. Such fluctuations are fairly
runou,; and yet they seem to be inevitable,
as laws of competition and combination alter
nate. This is the case between terminal
points. Meanwhile competition applies, and
can apply, only 10 one point out of twenty;
very few towns have. or can have, more
than IA single line If railway. All local bust
ness is thus taxed heavily to meet the loss
incurred through .ruinous competition on
through business.
Again, paradoxical as it may sound, compe-
tition is absolutely Incompatible with the
cheapest form of freight transportation.
Every railroad man knows perfectly well that
the cost, per tun, of transportation decreases
exactly as the number of tuns received in
creases. A road which moves five million
tuns a year can do so at less than half the cost
per tun of similar road which moves but one
million. There is no such thing as exceeding
the possible cap city of a road for moving
freight as long additional tracks can be
laid down. 1t accordingly follows as Il logical
consequence that, under Il proper public reg
uation, that community will enjoy the cheap
esttransportation which permits between given
points least competition.
The Commissioners ar" thus brought to a
conclusion dramatically opposed to the whole
railroad policy of Massachus ctts as developed
up to this time. They meet the issue very
fairly. and propose to abandon the ''tradi-
tional policy" and start atresh They fairly,
at last-;ind it is something new in this country
propose to inaugurate for Massachusetts
connected and complete railroad system.
They declare that no such system now exists,
but, in its place, are to be found only num-
Der of disconnected roads-more or less well
or i'll managed-which condition of affairs
the ycriticisc most severely. Their remark sin
this respect are of very general application.
for they are no less true of New York of Hi
nois. and of Ohio than of Massachusetts,.
They propose to remedy this difficulty in
very simple manner. They call upon the
railroad companies of the State, individually,
to aSsun. alag their several lines the whole
freighting. including the express business,
and then propose to the Legislature that all
the corporations be authorized to form them
selves into Il general association for dong all
of that business of every description which
has to pass over more than one road in the
State.
The change here suggested is certainly
sweeping one and tocrably startling. The
whole theory of competition is at once aban-
dontd. and the principle of regulated com
bination introduced in its place. The ire
spon>itility of numerous corporations is
avoided by creating IA responsible corporation
within Il corporation. Neither, II must be
added are general principles lost sight OF.
The end in view is 10 make an effective public
supervision possible; the means to that end Is
the concentration OF parts into one whole
over which strict supervision will be possible.
The necessity of corporate growth Is recognized
but Il division of responsibility is avoided and
a single objective point is erected upon which
public opinion may operate.
The railroad consolidation proposed in
this State is similar to that suggested by
the Commissioners of Massachusetts,
There, however. its greatest opponents
are the railroad corporations themselves,
which object to giving uptheir individuality
and the privileges necessary for consoiida-
ton. and prefer to adhere to the old order
of things, The arguments used against
consolidation here do not seem to apply
there, or at least they have no force.
Consolidation there is deemed to be n
public necessity, here tits held up as a
grasping, o vcrshadowing monopoly, OPP
posed to public interest and benettting no.
body but few railroad men. 1t is evident
that somebody is mistaken about the
ma