But would it be possible for State railways to reduce the amount included in railway rates for interest and dividends? It cannot be denied that our present system does involve the needless duplication of railway accommodation--the inevitable waste of competition. There is the constant endeavor to divert traffic, the corresponding effort to keep it. Capital is wasted, but public facilities are increased. The public could certainly secure by monopoly the saving of waste, but only at the cost of losing the advantages, such as they are, of getting more than they pay for. I suspect that on a broad and comprehensive view these advantages are not worth to the community the waste of capital involved in providing them. But it is rather late in the day to adopt this view. Enormous waste has already been incurred, and it must be remembered that this drain on the resources of the nation is not likely to be so serious in the future as it has been in the past, even if the system of leaving railways to private enterprise is not abandoned. The private ownership of railways provides for the absorption of the wastage of capital in a manner which would be impossible under State ownership. Eighty-eight millions of the capital expenditure on railways goes without dividend, and 151 millions has to be content with a return less than 2 per cent per annum. Although this undoubtedly represents a loss to the community, the loss is distributed. It falls on those who voluntarily spent their money in the hope of gain, and lost it. The State cannot lose capital in this way. All expenditure incurred by the State would be represented by money borrowed on the public credit, and the interest would have to be paid in full, whether the expenditure proved remunerative or the reverse.