nature, to a simpler and less artificial kind of living; and also in the shadow of sentiment is an industrial situation which is steadily losing its antagonism to this instinct.
Furthermore, at the very moment when the forces of decentralization begin to make themselves manifest to the keen observer, a determined demand for governmental regulation of railroad rates appears. Railroads, as everybody understands, have played an important role in assisting the enormous growth of population at certain geographical points; they have undoubtedly wielded the power to build up towns and cities, or of retarding their development. Railroad companies have often exhibited a disposition to punish the small town, particularly if its location is such that there is little or no competition in regard to transportation. While electric lines offer indeed a partial remedy for this unfortunate situation, measures directly affecting the steam lines are needed, if this discrimination is to be entirely removed. If the United States government is in the future to take an active part in the control of railroads and the regulation of railroad rates, the people must decide whether centralizing or decentralizing forces shall be aided by the railroads, whether the large city shall be favored over the smaller one or the town, and whether the large shipper shall be permitted to receive special privileges in the shape of reduced rates on large or frequent shipments or for goods shipped under peculiar conditions, as, for example, in private cars. In the discussion of railroad-rate regulation the question of the treatment of small towns as compared with that accorded to cities ought not to be ignored. If railroad rates are to be determined or modified by governmental action with a view of benefiting the general public, we must decide whether the suburban type is desirable in the immediate future. We must, knowingly or unknowingly, stand for or against centralization of population and manufacture. Shall we use the power to regulate freight and passenger rates so as to accelerate or retard the growth of the suburbs? What is to be our attitude on this question? Shall we use the forces of legislation so as to act with or contrary to those economic and physical forces which are building up the suburbs, and which work unceasingly to mold our civilization into the suburban type?
As mankind becomes more highly civilized, wants become more numerous and varied. In a century, the civilized world has been advanced from a condition of penury to one of plenty; life is now more complex. The luxury of yesterday is the simple life of to-day. Requisitions for food, clothing and shelter are supplemented by demands for intellectual, social and esthetic enjoyment. Since machine production is employed chiefly in satisfying the demand for the common necessities of life, and because skilled and artistic work is necessary to create those articles and to furnish the services which partic-
