I recognize that it is impracticable to secure unification or any very extensive or far-reaching combinations of railways under our system of private ownership. The public would not tolerate uncontrolled railways under private management, and I doubt whether any form of control which has yet been devised, or is likely to be devised, combined with partial competition, can give entirely satisfactory results. That there are grave dangers and risks in the public ownership of railways I fully admit; indeed, so grave are they, that I think he would be a very bold minister who would venture to bring forward, under Government sanction, a proposal for the nationalization of our railways. The existence of such a huge amount of Government patronage would open the door to political corruption. The existence of such an enormous body of Government servants possessing the franchise--and I confess it seems to me impracticable to hope that any measure could be carried subject to disfranchisement of Government servants--would imperil the financial stability of the railway system, and introduce new and very serious sources of weakness and danger into the body politic. The risk of loss from the charging of unduly low rates under pressure from the influential body of traders seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the general community seems to me a risk which no thoughtful man can ignore. No expedients for checking and restraining political influence so that it could not reach or sway the decision of the officers of State responsible for railway management seem to me practicable under our democratic constitution. If the nation owns the railways, the nation must take all the risks of State ownership, and we could only trust that the existing purity of our politics and the common sense, honorable character, and long experience in self-government of the English people would suffice to protect the commonwealth from these perils resulting in serious harm. But whatever may be the issue of the consideration of the question of State purchase of railways, I am prepared to believe that English railways will continue, whether under State management or under private management, to deserve the praise which Mr. W. M. Acworth expressed in his recent address as President of the Economic Section of the British Association in Dublin, by saying that in his judgment--after, I may remind you, a fuller study of railway conditions in all countries of the world than has been given to the subject of many men in England--that "English railways are, on the whole, among the best, if not actually the best, in the world." CONCERNING ADVANCES IN RAILWAY RATES FEBRUARY 8, 1909.--Ordered to be printed. Mr. ELKINS, from the Committee on Interstate Commerce, submitted the following ADVERSE REPORT. [To accompany S. 423.]