In the case of goods under the present system there is a further principle acted upon, which is still more obviously a wrong one, _viz._, what is known as charging =according to “what the traffic will bear.”= This term is well known to all railway experts, and is a convenient way of explaining the reasons governing the various rates under the present system. For instance, if too high a rate is charged for goods of comparatively small value, traders prefer to send by the cheaper modes, namely, by sea or by road, and in many cases it would not be worth while to send at all, whereas in the case of an article like silk or bullion of considerable value the extra cost of carriage even at a high rate would not add appreciably to the price. Therefore, the railway companies are compelled to make lower charges for low-priced goods, otherwise they would lose the traffic altogether. Accordingly there are such anomalies as a higher rate for the carriage of manufactured iron than of iron-ore for the same distance, although the cost of trucks, of haulage, and of handling may be identical. Again, the rate for carriage of meat from the Midlands to London is greater than that from Liverpool to London, partly on account of the competition of the sea, and partly on account of the large consignments of foreign meat. Again, the rate for the carriage of bricks from one part of London to another is greater than from Peterborough to London, because Peterborough is in a brick-producing district. These inconsistencies and anomalies are intensified by the necessity of the goods having to be carried over the lines of several different railway companies, all of whom must receive some profit out of the carriage of the goods, in addition to the actual cost. It is quite clear that the actual cost of haulage for the same distance of say a ton of coal is no more than that of a ton of bricks or of manufactured iron, or of sand, or of a pantechnicon full of furniture, all of which can be carried in open trucks, yet the rates for all these various goods, even for the same distance, differ widely from each other under the present system, and differ again not only according to distance but actually according to the different towns between which the service is rendered. Many examples of the present anomalies are strikingly shown by Mr. Emil Davies in his book, “The Case for Railway Nationalisation,”[5] which should be read by all interested in the subject.