Now let us look at the nature of the complaints made. Would State ownership remedy any of these complaints? I set aside the 510 cases of miscellaneous complaints about delay in transit and other minor matters, because it is obvious that complaints about such matters would not disappear under any conceivable system of railway management. Practically all other complaints group themselves under two heads: 1. Excessive rates. 2. Undue preference. The complaint that railway rates are excessive generally takes the shape of a comparison of the charges on some foreign railway. Now, I confess that it is very difficult to meet such allegations, because of the difficulty of presenting all the conditions of which account must be taken in order to make a fair and sound comparison, and also owing to the absence of adequate data or materials in the published statistics of English railways. A general allegation that English rates are higher than those charged in some countries cannot even be discussed, because the factors needed for the comparison are not available. Are they in fact higher is a question the answer to which must precede discussion as to reasons and explanations. The facts in regard to the average length of haul, the average rate per ton mile for different kinds of traffic, or the average charge per passenger mile, and general information as to the nature of commodities carried, speed of transit, and services rendered for the rates charged must be ascertained before any comparison is possible, and these facts are not ascertainable for English railways. My belief is that having regard to the capital expended on construction of railways, English railway rates are not excessive for the services rendered, and I greatly doubt whether, after making proper allowances for differences in capital cost of railway accommodation, and for other essentially different conditions, rates in any country are lower, comparing like with like, than railway rates in England. This is an issue of fact. It lies at the threshold of any inquiry into the subject of railway rates, and I confess I do not see how much progress can be made with any discussion which turns on assertions as to the relative dearness of English railway rates until adequate materials are available for a sound comparison.