ABSTRACT
Following, probably, the example of the coach proprietors, who provided for both outside and inside passengers, the railway companies which undertook the conveyance of passengers provided two, and often three, different kinds of accommodation, at different prices 1 . The first-class were covered carriages, intended only for the well-to-do; the third-class carriages were at first open and exposed to all the changes of the atmosphere, and were for the poor; while the second-class accommodation was intermediate in quality and cost, and was for the great middle class. The people who were expected to travel third-class were those who belonged to the working group; and it was thought that by providing this cheap means of conveyance the poor would be able to live out in the country where they could have agriculture or gardening as a by-employment, and have also better sanitary conditions, while they could go to and from their work every day. In making any comparison, therefore, between railway and stage coach charges, we must keep in mind this difference between first, second, and third-class rates on the railway, and must draw our analogies between first-class rate and inside coach fare, and between second and third-class rates and outside coach fare.
