The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1882-04-30
THE N1 YION1L Pd1LU1y BJJT.

TIE M 7IONIL ran WAY BILL.
Several gentlemen, claiming to command
abundant capital and to really intend to do
the work, have presented to Congress bill
to charter a company to build new railway
between Washington and New York. The
measure, which was evidently crude, has
been under consideration in committee, and
efforts are making to recast it so as to Oh.
viate the strongest objections. What sue.
cess has attended the exertions to improve
the bill can be seen after the amended draft
has been printed.
Almost anything that looks like an en-
tering wedge to burst the retters Of railway
monopoly and relieve the travelling public
from the eXtortion to which they are now
obliged to submit to pay dividends upon
watered stock will he welcomed Granting
the sincere intention OF the promoters of the
scheme to which we have alluded to con
struct competitive railway, and no one
would dare ask for charter without pro-
Tossing such an intention the difficulties in
the way of framing legislation to secure the
result desired and at the same time protect
private interests from invasion are not in
considerable. Indeed in some aspects they
are nearly insuperable. How, for example.
can Congress insure that the enewly-ohartered
company shall remain really independent of
the economic law which is constantly bring
ing about the practical consolidation of con
ilicting railway interests and steadily de-
stroying all real competition between paral-
lei railways Selling out the franchise, or
merging the new corporation with any other,
could lie prohibited, but would il be possible
to prevent the owners of the franchise
from leaving it in allegiance, while the old
lines continued to enjoy their MONOPOLY of
the traffic. The New York Central, Pennsyl.
vania, Erie, and Baltimore and Ohio roads
are rominally competitors, but do not their
freight pools and mutual agreements about
rates as etfectually prevent actual competition
| as ii they were all merged in single monster
| company Can legislation be so framed as
to prevent the projected National Railway
from agreeing, openly or secretly, with the
| existing lines to charge certain rates of fare
and freight! Would not the problem then
presented seem TO be that the public would
ultimately have 10 pay interest upon a mum
Der of millions more of railway plant
Another question of extreme difficulty is
the location of any new railway between the
Capital and the Metropolis. The multipli-
cation of railway tracks in cities is an ac-
knowledged evil. Here in Washington where,
owing to the sparseness of our population
and the breadth of our streets, it has not
yet become an acute evil, we have chronic
agitation for the removal of the railway
tracks and TO compel them to unite and use
| common station. BY what route, and un-
der what conditions and restrictions, the new
railway shall be allowed to enter our citv
is something that ought to he answered in
the bill itself. And so of the route which
must be taken TO get through Baltimore.
Philadelphia, and Jersey City. We are
not prepared to claim that solutions of these
difficulties cannot be. found. But no attempt
was made to solve them in the National
Railway bill as it was originally presented
| to Congress.