The court first quoted from the opinion of Judge Andrew of the Court of Appeals of New York, as follows: "The opinion further said that the criticism to which the case of Munn vs. Illinois had been subjected proceeded mainly upon a limited and strict construction and definition of the police power; that there was little reason, under our system of government, for placing a close and narrow interpretation on the police power, or restricting its scope so as to hamper the legislative power in dealing with the varying necessities of society and the new circumstances as they arise calling for legislative intervention in the public interest; and that no serious invasion of constitutional guarantees by the legislature could withstand for a long time the searching influence of public opinion, which was sure to come sooner or later to the side of law, order and justice, however it might have been swayed for a time by passion or prejudice or whatever aberrations might have marked its course." Judge Blatchford then said: "We regard these views, which we have referred to as announced by the Court of Appeals of New York, so far as they support the validity of the statute in question, as sound and just.... We must regard the principle maintained in Munn vs. Illinois as firmly established." General Horace Porter has made a contribution to the railway rate literature by an article which appeared in the December, 1891, number of the _North American Review_. Unfortunately many of the General's statements are either false or misleading. Thus, in a table which he presents for the purpose of comparing the passenger rates of Europe with those of the United States, he gives the regular first-class schedule rates for the United Kingdom, France and Germany and the average earnings per passenger per mile for this country. That this is an unfair comparison needs no further argument, especially when it is remembered that in Europe from 85 to 90 per cent, of all passengers are carried in the third class at a regular rate averaging about 1-1/2 cents per mile, and that considerable reductions are made for excursion, commutation and return tickets. But General Porter says concerning American rates: "When we take into consideration the excursion and the commutation rates, we find first-class passengers carried as low as half a cent a mile."