All the immediate effects of more rapid transit are
not necessarily good. It would be difficult to say, for example, that
the railroad system of France, so highly centralized upon Paris, has
been an unmixed blessing to the French people.
It is certainly true that problems arising out of the means of
communication are of the utmost importance, and one of the most
constructive features of the program of the League of Nations has been
the study given to railroad transit and access to the sea. The
monopolizing of cables, [Footnote: Hence the wisdom of taking Yap
seriously.] of ports, fuel stations, mountain passes, canals, straits,
river courses, terminals, market places means a good deal more than
the enrichment of a group of business men, or the prestige of a
government. It means a barrier upon the exchange of news and opinion.
But monopoly is not the only barrier. Cost and available supply are
even greater ones, for if the cost of travelling or trading is
prohibitive, if the demand for facilities exceeds the supply, the
barriers exist even without monopoly.
2
The size of a man's income has considerable effect on his access to
the world beyond his neighborhood. With money he can overcome almost
every tangible obstacle of communication, he can travel, buy books and
periodicals, and bring within the range of his attention almost any
known fact of the world. The income of the individual, and the income
of the community determine the amount of communication that is
possible.
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