ntirely practicable; but as they
were allowed to compete with other carriers in the transportation of
passengers and merchandise, they were soon able to demonstrate, at least
to the satisfaction of Parliament, that the use of the track by
different carriers was impracticable and unsafe. A number of
circumstances combined to aid the railroad companies in their efforts to
monopolize the trade on their lines. In the first place, when the early
railroad charters were granted, but few persons had any conception of
the enormous growth of commerce which was destined to follow everywhere
the introduction of railways. The tolls as fixed in the charters soon
yielded an income out of proportion to the cost of the construction and
maintenance of the roads. Their large margins of profit enabled the
owners of the roads to transport goods at lower rates than other
carriers and to thus compel the latter to abandon their business.
Another defect of the original charters worked greatly to the
disadvantage of independent carriers. They contained no provision as to
the use of terminal facilities. The railroad companies claimed that
these facilities were not affected by the public franchise and were
therefore their personal property. This placed independent carriers at a
great disadvantage and made in itself competition on a large scale
impossible. These carriers were thus at the mercy of the railroad
companies for the transportation of their cars, and the companies never
permitted their business to become lucrative enough to induce many to
engage in it. It soon became apparent that under the charters granted
to the railroad companies such competition as existed on turnpikes and
canals was out of the question on their roads. In England the great
abundance of water-ways exercised for many years a wholesome control
over the rates of railway companies, until these companies, greatly
annoyed by such restraint, absorbed many of the larger canals by
purchase and made them tributary to their systems. These companies have
also acquired complete control over many important harbors.

In the United States the people depended from the beginning of the
railroad era on free competition for the regulation of railroad charges.
This desire to maintain free competition led to the adoption of general
incorporation acts, it being quite generally believed that such
competition as obtains between merchants, manufacturers and mechanics
was possible among railroad