"6. That lines built by the Government would cost much more than if built by corporations. Possibly this would be true, but they would be much better built and cost far less for maintenance and betterments, and would represent no more than actual cost; and such lines as the Kansas Midland, costing but $10,200 per mile, would not, as now, be capitalized at $53,024 per mile, nor would the president of the Union Pacific (as does Sidney Dillon, in the _North American Review_ for April) say that "a citizen, simply as a citizen, commits an impertinence when he questions the right of a corporation to capitalize its properties at any sum whatever," as then there would be no Sidney Dillons who would be presidents of corporations, pretending to own railways built wholly from Government moneys and lands, and who have never invested a dollar in the construction of a property which they have now capitalized at the modest sum of $106,000 per mile.... "7. That they are incapable of as progressive improvement as are corporate-owned ones, and will not keep pace with the progress of the nation in other respects; and in his _Forum_ article Mr. Acworth lays great stress upon this phase of the question and argues that as a result the service would be far less satisfactory. "There may be force in this objection, but the evidence points to an opposite conclusion. When the nation owns the railways trains will run into union depots, the equipment will become uniform and of the best character, and so sufficient that the traffic in no part of the country would have to wait while the worthless locomotives of some bankrupt corporation were being patched up, nor would there be the present difficulties in obtaining freight cars growing out of the poverty of corporations which have been plundered by the manipulators, and improvements would not be hindered by the diverse ideas of the managers of various lines in relation to the adoption of devices intended to render life more secure or to add to the public convenience.... Existing evidence all negatives Mr. Acworth's postulate that "state railway systems are incapable of vigorous life." "8. An objection to national ownership which the writer has not seen advanced is that States, counties, cities, townships and school districts would lose some $27,000,000 of revenue derived from taxes upon railways. While this would be a serious loss to some communities, there would be compensating advantages for the public, as the cost of transportation could be lessened in like measure.