principle maintained in Munn vs. Illinois as
firmly established."

General Horace Porter has made a contribution to the railway rate
literature by an article which appeared in the December, 1891, number
of the _North American Review_. Unfortunately many of the General's
statements are either false or misleading. Thus, in a table which he
presents for the purpose of comparing the passenger rates of Europe with
those of the United States, he gives the regular first-class schedule
rates for the United Kingdom, France and Germany and the average
earnings per passenger per mile for this country. That this is an unfair
comparison needs no further argument, especially when it is remembered
that in Europe from 85 to 90 per cent, of all passengers are carried in
the third class at a regular rate averaging about 1-1/2 cents per mile,
and that considerable reductions are made for excursion, commutation and
return tickets.

But General Porter says concerning American rates:

"When we take into consideration the excursion and the
commutation rates, we find first-class passengers carried as
low as half a cent a mile."

Now the question arises whether American railway companies carry
passengers at such rates with or without loss to themselves. If they are
carried at a loss, an injustice is done to the regular passengers, whose
fare must not only make up the loss, but yield a larger profit than
would otherwise be necessary. If, on the other hand, a rate of half a
cent a mile can be made remunerative, there is certainly no justice in
maintaining rates five and six times as large on well-patronized lines.
General Porter places stress upon our superior accommodations in the way
of lighting, ventilation, ice-water, lavatories, and free carriage of
baggage, etc., and then adds:

"In this connection we must also recollect that the cost of
fuel, wages and all construction materials is considerably
higher here than in Europe, while the population from which
the railways derive their support is much more sparse; the
United States having 166,000 miles of railway with a
population of 63,000,000, while Europe has only 135,000
miles with a population of 335,000,000."

We grant the point which the General makes on ventilation, ice-water,
etc.; but, to make the comparison a fair one, he should also have
referred to the much greater cost of European roads, to their much
greater numbe