egislatures and, as it seemed at times, even the courts themselves,
alarmed the people. The stock-jobbing that had formed so large a part
of their history added nothing to their popularity. Yet, when all these
charges against the railroads are admitted, the fundamental difficulty
was one which, at that stage of public enlightenment, was beyond the
power of individuals to control. Nearly all the deep-seated evils arose
from the fact that the railroads were attempting to do something which,
in the nature of the case, they were entirely unfitted to do--that
is, compete against one another. When the great trunk lines were
constructed, the idea that competition was the life of trade held sway
in America, and the popular impression prevailed that this rule would
apply to railroads as well as to other forms of business. To the few
farseeing prophets who predicted the difficulties which subsequently
materialized, the answer was always made that competition would protect
the public from extortion and other abuses. But competition between
railroads is well-nigh impossible. Only in case different companies
operated their cars upon the same roadbed--something which, in the
earliest days, they actually did on certain lines--could they compete,
and any such system as a general practice is clearly impracticable. One
railroad which paralleled another in all its details might compete with
it, but there are almost no routes that can furnish business enough for
two such lines, and the carrying out of such an idea involves a waste
of capital on an enormous scale. Probably the country received its most
striking illustration of this when the West Shore Railroad in New York
State was built almost completely duplicating the New York Central, with
the result that both roads were nearly bankrupted.

While no one railroad can completely duplicate another line, two or more
may compete at particular points. By 1870 this contingency had produced
what was regarded as the greatest abuse of the time--the familiar
problem of "long and short haul." Two or more railroads, starting at an
identical point, would each pursue a separate course for several hundred
miles and then suddenly come together again at another large city. The
result was that they competed at terminals, but that each existed as an
independent monopoly at intermediate points. The scramble for business
would thus cause the roads to cut rates furiously at terminals; but
since there was no co