The Chief Commissioner of the Railway Commission, Sir Frederick Peel,
delivered on Tuesday a most important judgment. The Midland Railway is bound, by agreements with many Com- panies, and especially with the Great Western, not to lower its fares between places where competition exists without the consent of its rivals. It has nevertheless lowered first-class fares from 2d. to 10. a mile, and the Great Wester* has tried the question. The Commission has decided that suth agreements. being in restriction of competition must be construed strictly, that general reductions cannot be held to be reductions between competing stations, and that the agreements do not bind except as to stations where there is actual competition. Thus, although the Midland could not charge id. a mile from London to
because the Great Western has stations at those places, it could charge it from Kentish Town to Birmingham, and could also charge it over its whole system. The application to restrain the Midland must, therefore, be dismissed. The effect of this judgment is, that agreements between Railway Companies to prevent low fares are worthless, unless they cover the entire extent of the territory served by those who agree, and that any railway with the courage to adopt low fares can compel its rivals to imitate its example. That is good for the public, but we had rather the benefit had been obtained without a decision, which, though of course correct, might under some circumstances involve a legal sanction to breach of faith.
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