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THE RAIL 1 li4 JY1T A-171 TIfE S T.4 TE. 381
tickets, which are seldom allowed abroad. It is also to be
noted that the low first-class rates are often found t~ bo
delusive, as long journeys must drnost of uccessity bo rnndo
in express trains for which the rates ltro higher.
We should also take into account the much great.or nverngo
speed of English trains, and the much better nccon~~nod~tion
(always excepting refreshments) offered in the Englieh railway
stations. Third-class pusseugers can now trtLvol in osprcss trnins
at fifty miles BD. hour for lcss than n penny a mile. In the comfort
of the carriages, however, the foreign rrlilmays two bcforu 11s.
Before we could really decide \~hcther tllc cost of trnvc~lling
in this country is excessive, wc rhuultl II:LVO to complr~: tho
general cost of living liere t~n(i clscwllcrc~. If rilillv\iy fares
are high, it is also easy to show, iuclccd it is n conltnon complaint,
that the wngcs of operatives are high, thrtt prices of provisions
are high, that the cost of land especiully is high. Escopt
possibly in thc case of the unfortunate agricultural labourers,
all classes in this country are Inore highly paid bnd lire at
a higher rate than in other European countries, uncl nnder
those circumstances it is quite to be expected that trttvclling
should be somowhnt more costly. Now, if the advocates
of State purchase wanted thoroughly to cstnbliuh tllcir case,
they ought to show that in spite of the lligllcr cost of tllillgs in
England, the English Government manages t,o carry out utller
branches of administration at a lower expeuse tturn c~tl~er
nations. But if inquiry were made into the c(JSt at which wo
maintain a soldier or a sailor, it mould bo found that our
Government pays a great deal morc than any othor ).:uropcan
State. The profuse and uneconomical expenditure upon our
. army and fleet is a perennial source of discontent, expressed
both in and out of Parliament. Some of this excess may be
explained as due to exceptional circumstances in our position,
but much is due to the essentially higher rates of salaries,
wages, and prices in this country. Thus the late Colonel
Sykes, in comparing the extent and expenditure of the English
and French navies in 1865, pointed out* the greatly higher
* “Journal of the Statisticd Society” for March, 1866, VO~. xxix.
p. 61.