For many reasons the failure to pass the Railway and Canal Traffic Bill ought not to be regretted even by those who are dissatisfied with railway companies, but who sincerely desire to benefit the trade of the country. In the discussion of that Bill, and in the debates on the subject of railway rates in recent sessions of Parliament, the existence of many misconceptions were disclosed. As to principles, there was little agreement; there was, if possible, still less as to details. Charges which had often been explained or refuted were repeated as if they were new, and as if they had never been answered. One of the greatest defects of the discussion was its fragmentary, one-sided character; it was carried on with far too little regard to the interests of many classes, districts, and ports which would have been seriously injured by some of the changes hastily proposed. Many of those who professed to represent traders ignored the interests of large sections of them; and what would benefit consumers was, to a remarkable degree, lost sight of. The delay may be useful; and it may be hoped that any future legislation will be shaped according to the interests of all traders, and not of a part of them only, and of the general public, to whom extended and not restricted trade, cheapness, and a wide area of supply are desirable. The following observations do not attempt to correct or remove all the misconceptions in circulation, or to answer all the charges against English railway companies. Many of such charges are so vague as to elude refutation; they appear formidable, but only formidable because they are indefinite. Nor is this an attempt to show that, with regard to railway working and rates, all is done for the best by the companies. Considering the fact that the rates are numbered by millions, and the variety of interests which they affect--considering, too, the fact that this is an island with numerous ports, companies and trading interests, all competing with each other--it would be amazing if there were no anomalies and defects. The present purpose is only to show that of the charges brought against railway companies some are erroneous; that some are exaggerated; that many are of a contradictory character; that some are complaints of evils which railway companies did not create and cannot alter; and that other supposed grievances could not be removed without injury to the community. It has recently been stated in Parliament that “this is the first time that traders have had an opportunity of going before a tribunal and putting their views fairly before it.”[1] This betrays forgetfulness of the fact that, as lately as 1881 and 1882, during two sessions, a Select Committee heard the complaints of all persons who believed that they had grievances to relate. The statement, too, inadvertently ignores the fact that, when the companies submitted in the session of 1885 Bills to Parliament, and thus offered a further opportunity