Incidentally  the  labors  of  the  Interstate  Commerce
Commission  are  likely  to  be  multiplied  almost  in-
calculably. For  it  must  be  accepted  as  a  fact  that
free  competition  is  no  longer  a  complete  regulator
of  freight  rates  whether  by  rail  or  by  water.  Any
one  can  charter  a  ship  and  send  it  through  the  Canal
with  the  same  rights  and  privileges  that  a  long  estab-
lished line  will  enjoy.  But  not  every  independent
ship  can  find  dockage  facilities  at  both  ends  of  its
voyage,  although  it  is  true  that  the  enterprising
cities  of  the  Pacific  coast  are  warding  off  monopoly
by  building  municipal  docks.  -Moreover,  the  owner
of  the  independent  ship  will  have  his  troubles  in


442         PANAMA  AND  THE  CANAL

getting  the  railroads  at  either  end  to  handle  his
cargoes  and  distribute  them  at  such  charges  as  will
leave  him  any  profit.  Indeed  the  independent  ship
will  be  but  little  of  a  factor  in  fixing  rates.  That
will  be  done  by  the  regular  lines.  Normally  there
should  be  keen  competition  between  the  railroads
and  the  steamships  with  a  very  marked  drop  in
rates.  But  it  will  not  be  well  to  base  too  great  hopes
on  this  possibility.  Transportation  rates,  even
where  there  is  nominally  free  competition,  are  not
often  based  wholly  on  the  cost  of  the  service.
What  the  traffic  will  bear  is  more  often  the  chief
factor  in  rate  making.  Because  ships  can  carry
freight  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  for  three
dollars  a  traffic-ton  less  than  the  railroads  does  not
imply  that  they  will  do  so.  Nor  does  it  ensure  that
railroad  rates  will  drop  spasmodically  in  a  vain
effort  to  keep  all  the  business  away  from  the  ships.
