Such facts are familiar to foreign merchants and traders; and it might be well in future discussions of the comparative merits and efficiency of English and Continental railways, to gather information as to the latter from persons who are conversant with their working, and not from those who can know them only imperfectly and indirectly, and who may have an interest in praising them to the disadvantage of the former. If high rates impede the progress of trade it must be by raising the prices of commodities, and so diminishing the demand for them, or by seriously reducing the profits of producers. Have those who complain of the effect of rates on prices established the existence of either of these results? They have had before them, as a rule, only a few special instances of unfavourable rates. They have ignored the mass of cases in which the charge for conveyance is a trifling element in price. They have not, as would be but fair, taken a large group of articles, and noted how insignificant is the cost of transport as compared with other charges, how small is the rate of profit of the railways as compared with the charges of the manufacturers and distributors. Here it is not right to stand merely on the defensive; we are well warranted in saying that if, fortunately, trade is not more depressed than it is, we owe this in no small degree to the efficiency of the railway system which has aided the manufacturer and producer in their difficulties. Economists are agreed that wages and salaries must bear some relation to cost of living, and must eventually rise if that becomes permanently dearer. Everywhere, but in great towns especially, railways have prevented the rise in the cost of provisions. They have made it possible for people to obtain food from great distances at low prices, and thus for employers to obtain labour at prices which might not have been possible but for the cheapness of provisions. The few figures given in the following table may be instructive:-- FRESH MEAT is carried to London from:-- Distance. Rate per Rate per Rate per Miles. ton. stone of 8 lbs. lb. d. d. Aylesbury 42 20/- C. & D. 0·857 ·107 Grimsby 154 40/- 1·714 ·214 Castle Cary 120 40/- 1·714 ·214 Norwich 115 40/- 1·714 ·214 Ipswich 70 29/2 1·250 ·156 York 188 55/- 2·357 ·295 Aberdeen 516 67/6 2·893 ·362 Stromness 776 90/- 3·857 ·482 POTATOES (Old), CARROTS, PARSNIPS, TURNIPS, are carried to London from:--