ABSTRACT
In the United States rich men still keep private cars for railway travelling. In England private waggons are still kept by manufacturers and contractors. When Parliament by private Act empowers a company to construct a railway line through a given district, it does not consider itself to be in any way debarred from authorising rival lines in the same area. It is often asserted, quite erroneously, that monopolies of traffic and transport were introduced by the invention of railways. An interesting case about the Grand Junction Railway Company, which was decided in the summer of 1844, shows how the positive action of the legislature may sometimes effectually discourage monopoly. A financial weapon which may be used with great effect, though its value has not yet been appreciated, is rating; and great developments may be looked for when a democratic statesman is brought face to face with the taxation of large estates and monopoly rents.
