Reports upon railway commissions, railway rate grievances and regulative legislation Volume 36, no. 8

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 Excerpt: ...entire attention. Then again the shifting conditions of political life preclude that continuity which is essential if the results of experience and the advantage of fixed policy are to be obtained. A further consideration of the general problems facing Canada and of the way in which the Committee has met them will strengthen the argument. The rate question is the central fact in the discussion of the transportation problem. It is through the changes in rates and their equitable or inequitable pressure that people are brought in contact with the problem. The generally accepted base of rate-making is what lhe traffic will bear; care has to be taken that the railway does not charge what the traffic will not bear. There should be stability of rates and there should be as between individuals and localities, similar rates for similar services under similar circumstances. The geographical position of Canada, and its lateral extent of territory make the rate question take on a peculiar significance. Dependence on railroad transportation is essential. With the exception of that portion of the railway system which is situated in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec there is no such regulative water competition as exists in the Central Western States. The necessity for regulation presents itself all the more strongly. Stability, reasonableness and uniformity of rates are, under such circumstances, primarily essential. The consideration of the rate question brings up that phase which most concerns Canada, the preference question. The grievances complained of under preference may be found operative owing to a system of rebates or secret rates, or they may affect localities through the operation of competitive and non-competitive rates. The extent to which the evils conne...