The Canadian railroad question.

the Sault river.Shall this be closed ?Must that section and the entire northwest be sacrificed to accommodate American trunk line routes south of Lake Erie?New England, too, is interested largely in this question. Millions of money have been invested in American rail-ways in New England and the west, which have been con- structed with express reference to connection with the Cana- dian railways, as routes for through traffic between the States.Are these, too, to be sacrificed for the benefit and at the beck of the American trunk line roads ?The build- ing of these connecting roads in the United States has been induced, in part, by the established policy of the govern- ment of theUnitedStates, as expressed in its laws and in treaty with Great Britain, favorable to transportation through Canada.In addition to the shipping interests of the United States, immediately on the line of of these roads connecting with the Canadian roads, which would be seriously prejudiced by any obstruction to the Canadian route, there is the interest of the general public by all routes.There can be no doubt in the minds of intelligent people of the value of the Canadian roads as moderators of both freight and passenger rates for traffic between the east and the west.It is idle to say, as has been said by some of the American trunk line gentlemen, that the closing of the Canadian routes would not result inhigherrates.Competition does its work in the carrying business, as in all other business.We have only to observe what the effect is, on railroad rates, of the opening of navigation each year, to get an idea of the result that would follow the shutting out of the Canadian routes from competition with American roads.The nominal reason urged for Congressional interference with this Canadian railway transportation is the alleged necessity for more thoroughly subjecting the Canadian roads to the Interstate Commerce law.There are two distinct grounds of this supposed necessity : 1st, that the Canadian companies have an advantage over their American competitors in not being bound by the long and short haul clause of the act ; and 2d, that being foreign corporations, the Canadian companies are not amenable to process, etc., issued from our courts or from the Commission.As to the first point : In respect of all United States traf- fic through Canada, and all traffic between the United States and Canada, and all ocean traffic to and from the United subject to inspection, not only of the Commissioners, but of the public.No complaint is heard that these schedule rates are not made in strict regard of the long and short haul pro- vision of the law.And no specific charge is made against the Canadian roads of making rates at variance with the schedules filed.Is it unreasonable to ask, in these circumstances, that this ground of complaint be treated as frivolous ?General charges of this character are easy to make against the Canadian routes, and they have been poured into the ears of members of Congress and of the public continually for three years past, but no fact in support of them has been stated.We have the right to demand that those who have been so persistently making and publishing the charges now produce some evidence in support of their truth, or hence- forth refrain from this cheap method of warfare against these railroad routes.But it has been said, in connection with this charge, that the Canadian roads are exempt from this clause of the act, in respect to their local Canadian traffic-that is, traffic between points in Canada-and that they have an advantage over the American roads in this.The Interstate Commerce law, of course, does not affect the purely internal traffic of the Canadian roads.Neither does it affect the internal State traffic of the American trunk line roads.In this respect the Canadian and American roads stand on equal footing.For instance, the New York Central Railroad, with its several hundred miles of road within the State of New York, and an exceptionally valuable local State traffic, is, in respect of this traffic, entirely independent of the act of Congress.Neither the long and short haul clause of the law, nor any other provision of it, applies to this traffic : and the Congress has no power to make it apply.The State of New York alone can legislate concerning this traffic.And this is true of the purely single State traffic of all American railroads.

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