Railways cannot pay proper wages and render proper service unless they make money.

The investors must get a reasonable profit or they will not invest, and the public cannot be well served unless the investors are making reasonable profits.

There is every reason why rates should not be too high, but they must be sufficiently high to allow the railways to pay good wages.

Moreover, when laws like workmen's compensation laws, and the like are passed, it must always be kept in mind by the Legislature that the purpose is to distribute over the whole community a burden that should not be borne only by those least able to bear it--that is, by the injured man or the widow and orphans of the dead man.

If the railway is already receiving a disproportionate return from the public, then the burden may, with propriety, bear purely on the railway; but if it is not earning a disproportionate return, then the public must bear its share of the burden of the increased service the railway is rendering.