Sir Bernhard Samuelson observes that terminal charges are a necessary corollary of the Foreign mileage rates,[44] the scientific basis of which he so much approves; the equity of, and right to make terminal charges is equally a corollary to the system upon which the rates in this country have been fixed. The maximum charges for the user of the road, the user of the truck, and the provision of the engine are capable of being fairly measured by reference to the distance travelled. They are, therefore, properly the subject of a mileage rate. But the providing of station accommodation, and work which the Railway Companies perform as carriers--as distinguished from mere conveyance--have no relation to mileage. They must reasonably be--as it has been held in the case of “_Hall_ v. _The London Brighton and South Coast Railway Company_,” they legally are--the subject of an additional charge. We may here correct a common error. The opponents of terminal charges are in the habit of speaking and writing of them as if the companies claimed that they might at their own discretion demand such payments as they thought fit.[45] The railway companies have never contended that they were entitled to make arbitrary terminal charges. Indeed, such a contention would be a legal absurdity. On the contrary, they have always submitted that, while their right to make those charges was undoubted, the amount must not only be reasonable, but also be subject to review by the Railway Commissioners under the 15th Section of the Regulation of Railways Act, 1873. Sir Bernhard Samuelson is inaccurate in stating that the railway companies proposed by their Bills of last Session to make those charges subject only to their own discretion. While strongly relying both upon their legal right and the justice of their claim, the railway companies were willing to submit proposals to the consideration of Parliament for a re-settlement of their powers in this respect. But they expressly provided that the Railway Commissioners should have power to hear and determine any question or dispute which might arise with respect to the amount or reasonableness of any terminal charge made by the company, and that any decision of the Commissioners as to terminal charges should be binding and conclusive on all Courts and in all proceedings whatsoever;” words borrowed from s. 15 of the Regulation of Railways Act, 1873. [44] Report to Associated Chambers of Commerce. [45] “The claim of railways to charge terminals would have to be considered if mileage rates are adopted in principle. That charge could in no wise be left to the discretion of the railways themselves, as was proposed in the Bills of last Session.”--Sir B. SAMUELSON.