patronize any road, that if it would not withdraw its patronage from the old line, the new line would soon become bankrupt, and that in such an event its owners, and not the public, would be the sufferers. This argument may be met by the statement that, aside from the fact that concerted action among a large number of people can never be secured, few roads rely for their support solely upon local business, and that any loss which the older road sustains from encroachments by its rival upon its through traffic it is compelled to make up by raising its rates upon its local business. It is the almost inevitable consequence when one road is paralleled by another that the business which was previously done by one road will be nearly equally divided between the two, and under the rule laid down by Judge Brewer the public will be called upon to pay the operating expenses and the interest on the bonds of both, together with such dividends on the stock as the financiering ability of their managers may secure. The better judgment seems to be that to determine what are reasonable rates is not a question for judicial adjudication. The Interstate Commerce Commission, in their fourth annual report, assert that "there can be no standard of expense which the courts can act upon and apply, but that the whole field is one of judgment in the exercise of a reasonable discretion by the managing powers, or by the public authorities in reviewing their action." Their views upon this subject are still more definitely stated in the following words contained in the same report: "An attempt is made to give authority to the courts to interfere by the suggestion that property or charter contract rights, or both, are involved in the matter of fixing rates, and therefore that it is not possible the conclusions of administrative boards should be final. This is an endeavor, by the mere use of words, to confer jurisdiction upon the courts where the substance is altogether wanting. Property or contract rights are involved in these cases precisely as they are in numerous other cases of the exercise of power under the police authority of the State, either by the State itself or by its municipalities." These views cannot fail to commend themselves to any unprejudiced mind. It is a well-established fact that all officials will, if permitted, extend their jurisdiction, and judges are no exception to the rule. It was therefore but natural that the courts should attempt to solve the problem of railroad rates.