West-Jersey pioneer., 1873-05-30
THE RAILWAY QUESTION.

of the restrictive kind. 1t has no
been deemed wise or proper to accor(
the same free privileges to railroad en-
terprises which has been accorded te
other branches of investment, and IL
one form or another, the entire rail
roading of the state has been. carried
on upon the principle of monopoly
Not simply the Camden & Amboy mo-
nopoly, but all the other railways prao-
ticallv went upon the same principle
It was true that Camden q Amboy
bore the odium, but equally true that
all the rest were practically protected
in the same way There was no exact
legal provision protecting them in this
manner, but the fact of their possessing
a CHAPTER was deemed an equivalent by
the legislature, and no other roads
were allowed to compete with those
already in operation. The arguments
in favor of the monopoly system were
supposed to be unanswerable at the
time, and it is matter of more than
ordinary curiosity to review them now
that they are null and void. Among
the principal reasons influencing our
previous legislation WAS the TACT that
in this way the state possessed thor
ough, clearly defined, and legally ex-
pressed control over the roads. 1t was
evident, that when free from such con
troll large advantages could be taken of
the travelling public, and that such ad-
yantaees would be taken wherever the
interest or convenience Of a company
favored it. Without chartered law,
it was impossible to fix the rates of
fare, and those rates would always be
as highas the public possibilities would
endure The charters fixed the maxi
mum, and the people so far We're Sc
cure In addition to this, it was be-
lieved that capital would bemore readily
invested, and in this way more railroads
built than if the whole matter were left
open to competition. Railroad prop
erty, was not like any either property
which could be transported for purposes
of trade, Ii the project did not pay,
the whole investment was practically
sunk. 4 road from Philadelphia to
New York would be a paying road
The almost regular ten per cent dlvl-
dends of the past proves that Two
roads to New York might possibly pay
legal dividend, but it was doubtful
Business men who could get seven per
cent for their money, would more than
hesitate before embarking IN an enter
prise where the ceEtainties were that
the legal per centage would not be
over1un, ana Tie probabilities, that
there would not be even that Where
roads were not SO remunerative as this
one, the chances would be less for
profit, and it was not deemed hkeli-
hood that men would invest money IN
this way, when they could invest it
proftably without fear Of risk in other
directions. The fact thai railway prop
erty if not successfully employed where
it was located, could not be proftably
removed elsewhere, always stood in the
way of cautious business men, was in
tensifed beyond comparison when any
body of men who chose might render
their investment valueless. Under
these conceptions, we have managed
the business hitherto, supposing them
to be the best, and finding that men
were willing to invest their money even
when it did not Immediately pay re
turn; because they were protected in
what they did receive, and accepted
the probabilities of future growth along
their line, as the time when the increased
profits NCrld compensate them for the
losses the sustained just now.
There V as one other feature gathered
from the experience of otlaer states
where free railroading had become a
law, which was, that where two COM
peting roads had come into ezistance,
after few months of ruin ors competi-
ton they usually combined and doubled
the previous rates Of fare. This was
substantially the case With tho Hudson
and New York Central roads, and the
public were the sufferers, and it was
easy to see that would naturally be the
case everywhere. But the free railroad
bill changes all this. Whether these
arguments were founded well or ILL., the
free roads closes them, and inaugurates
state of things which it is supposed
viii load the state with blessings
Under the past regime, ,srailroads have
been built everywhere that was pcssi-
BILE, and in very many places where re-
muneration was out of the question,
now it is proposed to build them every
where else besides. The whole bust
ness is open to whoever chooses to
enter it. There is shade Of suspicion
attaching to it, in tie fact that themen
who pressed it so persistentiy when
there seemed no prospect of its passage,
were more than lukewarm when that
passage became probability; and that
it was voted for by them with i'll con
cealed disgust. 1t was evident that
the votes were cast at last, not because
they wanted to, but because they were
SO fully committed that they could not
holm themselves AIDED To this was