The statement is often made by railroad managers that excesses in railroad competition are the result of the peculiar conditions of their business, which has heavy fixed charges on one hand and a fickle patronage on the other; that the uncertainty of through business compels them to rely upon the local business for such revenue as is necessary to meet these fixed charges; and that, inasmuch as their trains _must_ run, and any through freight hauled by them is so much business taken from the enemy, they can better afford to take it at any price than to have one of their competitors take it. It is difficult to see why this reasoning should not be applied to other branches of business; for instance, to milling. The mill-owner, like the railroad company, has heavy fixed charges. He has to earn the interest on his capital, he has to keep his mill in repair, he now and then has to meet the demands of the times and purchase improved appliances, and he has to keep a certain number of employes, whether business is brisk or slack. He might, therefore, if he saw fit to employ the logic of railroad managers, earn revenue enough to meet his fixed charges from the business which his regular customers give him, and then do any business coming from beyond this circle at any price rather than surrender it to a rival. It will readily be conceded that any enterprise conducted on such principles could, at the best, flourish only temporarily, for it would soon encounter difficulties from two sources. Its local customers, thus discriminated against, would withdraw their patronage, while its competitors, finding their territory encroached upon, would, in self-defense, offer still better terms to the public to regain their lost customers. Such ruinous competition, if long persisted in, must necessarily cripple, if it does not bankrupt, a majority of those who engage in it. It is fortunately as rare in industrial and commercial circles as it is common among public carriers.