"The great fault of Mr. Kirkman's statements is that they are often so general in character as to be both true and false at the same time.... He does not seem to comprehend the nature of the railroad, or to perceive the danger of allowing a railroad to exercise its powers uncontrolled. He denies the State's right to interfere with any discriminations which a railway corporation chooses to adopt. He would allow railways to fix whatever charges they please for long hauls and short hauls.... Mr. Kirkman does not adduce a single fact in support of these remarkable views. He simply says: 'Railroads cannot, if they would, maintain any inequitable local tariff.' This is not argument, it is simply assertion. Every one who has learned the alphabet of this question knows that railways have been exceedingly unjust wherever competition or the law did not restrict their powers. If this were the proper place for it we would give the author instances of this injustice by the hundred, and almost any book on the subject refers to such cases by the thousand.... When confronted with the facts substantiating such charges the author answers the argument by exclaiming: 'But how absurd! But how untrue! Our commercial morals are equal to the highest in the world....' Scarcely an assertion can be taken without qualification. The author fairly revels in half-truths.... The book may have its merits, but they are too modest to reveal themselves."