k on or discharged freight, and shippers did
not have to pay wharfage charges or pilot fees, for everyone took his
ship into port and out without a pilot. The department also had charge
of all Government warehouses, wharves and docks and appointed all
consuls to foreign countries and received their reports, which were
published in the National Gazette.

The business of the Department was run on the principle of the greatest
good to the whole people, so that whenever the profits any year
exceeded the expenses and the sinking fund, freight rates were reduced.

CHAPTER X.

DEPARTMENT OF RAILWAYS.

I went from there to the Department of Railroads and was given a copy
of freight and passenger rates which on examination proved to be very
simple and that required no great lawyers with legal cunning to draw up
as they did in my country in making tariff schedules to fool the people
and open a wider door for graft rebates and special privileges. The
passenger rate was five mills per mile for any and every distance, with
children under seven years of age free, with but one exception-all
children attending the District High School were carried free to and
from school.

Sleeping cars were provided for all persons traveling over one thousand
miles on the train, but no person under that distance was permitted to
occupy one. There were no Pullman or Palace Coaches and no special
train was allowed save only to the President or member of his Cabinet
on official business. The railway lines were run through the country so
as to bring the produce of the people to market and to bring all the
people in touch with one another. Hundreds of short lines were in
operation that by themselves did not pay operating expenses, but as
they formed a part of the whole railway system of the Republic under
one management, they were beneficial to the people. The rate for all
kinds of freight, except grain and vegetables, was five mills per ton
per mile for all distances, and for grain, fruit and vegetables two
mills per ton per mile.

All Government freight and employees were carried free, but a strict
account was kept so as to prevent fraud. No discrimination between
persons or places was allowed. Everyone was placed on the same footing,
but to prevent conspiracies in restraint of trade if a person in any
district shipped goods into another district and offered them for sale
for a less price, with the freight added, than he sold them for in his