The Sun. — London, England, 1846-08-31 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 31, 1846 lines in operation extend to 1,000 kilometres (about 620 that in a given population the traffic of the small miles), and the whole number of kilometres to which the , towns and villages along a line is proportion railways will extend in six years is estimated at nearly ately greater than the traffic between two large 6,000 (about 3,760 miles). cities at the termini. New branches of industry All the lines of France, with one or two exceptions, are everywhere called into existence by the facility and before the introduction of this system, are conceded for cheapness of communication aff)rded by railways ; and terms of years varying from 99 to 25. land previously of little or no value is at once made In Germany, divided as it is into a number of inde- productive by cheap access to materials by which the pendent states, the adoption of a systematic plan of rail I soil may be improved, and to markets for disposing of ways was attended with greater difficulty. The nature • its produce. on the subject of this revolution in the of the country, however, especially of Prussia, for the value of land, some important evidence is given by Mr. most part level, suggested the construction of them at an Miller, and by Mr. Smith, of I)eanston. Mr. Miller early period. The choice of lines was at first the work states that manufactories of sulphuric acid, extensively of chance, but the different Governments soon became used for agricultural purposes, have been established in convinced of the necessity of regulating by treaties the suitable situations by the sides of railways in several direction of their lines, and proceeding according to a districts of Scotland, and that manures are conveyed on systematic plan. them at charges lower than the mer e toll s on t urnp ik e In Austria, Prussia, and the other German States, the i roads. Mr. Smith states that upon those lines which • construction of lines has generally been conceded to pri- have been in existence for some years, over which he vete companies. In Austria the concession is for fifty has had occasion to travel, a very great agricultural im years. and in Prussia until the capitals of the companies provement has taken place, chiefly in consequence of the have been extinguished by sinking funds, with a right of cheapness and facility of transport ; and by way of illus purchase, and revision of tolls and fares. The minor trating the amount of the benefit, he takes a farm of 200 German States generally concede the lines on lease. acres, on a six-course shift, with 15 miles of transport, In this country alone were companies allowed the and shows that by the old mode the charges of carriage possession of lines in perpetuity, subject to no available would amount to 1421. 6s. 3d., while by railway it would conditions. be only 401. Bs. 9d. Mr. Smith states also that land That France should have concluded arrangements for along the Glasgow and Edinburgh Railway, previously the construction of her railways on so much better terms not worth ss. an acre, is now worth between 30s. and than have been obtained in England, cannot fail to strike 40s. By way of illustrating the benefit of railroads, with astonishment those who reflect on the superiority when the charges are sufficiently low, this intelligent of this country in wealth, industry, density of popula- witness further states, that "a low rate would very tion, and number of great towns, and OR the readiness greatly tend to the increased consumption of manures, which has always been evinced to embark capital in un- and to the transport of earth for agricultural purposes ; dertakings promising a fair return, while France has no that this would give increased produce to the land, which superiority over England in the means of construction. would enable the agriculturist to furnish his commodity But not only were our advantages not turned to due at a lower rate ; that this cheapness again would increase account by the Government in the outset, for which the consumption in large towns ; and in manufacturing some excuse was perhaps to be found in our inexpe- populations it would also create a greater traffic upon rience ; the opportunity for imposing suitable conditions the railways, and enable them still further to reduce on railway companies was not seized when that excuse their rates ; and as the heavier articles are more con no longer existed. sumed by the working classes, it would add very much Year after year companies obtained Acts for the con- to their comfort ; and there are great tracts of country struction of lines through the most important districts which would be cultivated to much advantage, if of the country, characterised by the same disregard for favoured by railway communication, which are now al the interest of the public. Companies still obtained lines lowed to lie comparatively barren." in perpituity ; the maximums for fares were still fixed With regard to these views of Mr. Smith, as to the at far too high a rate ; and the conditions imposed were important change which railways might effect in agricul of so vague a character, and so utterly inapplicable to lure, by the transportation of manure and earths, your the subjects which they professed to regulate, that they Committee conceive that as the fertility of soils depends could hardly ever be enforced or made available to the on the proportion which certain earths bear to each other protection of the public. in their composition, it is.merely a question whether, by The first material attempt on the part of the Legisla- any mode of transport, the proportions of earths can be Lure to place the public in a more advantageous position so varied as to create fertility at an expense which would with regard to railways was not a very successful one. be remunerative. It has been demonstrated by an in- The 7 and 8 Vic., c. 85, provides that after a lapse of telligent gentleman, who has devoted much attention to twenty-one years, when the dividends shall equal or ex- this subject, that the cost of conveyance diminishes with coed 10 per cent., the Lords of the Treasury, on giving every increase of quantity. Taking fixed sums for the three months notice, may revise the scale of tolls, fares, interest on the capital and working the railway, the and charges. The hope of revision held nut by this charge (which with a traffic of 20,000 tons would only be clause, was, however, quite illusory, for no precautions remunerative at 100. a mile), with a traffic of 1,000,000 had been taken to settle the principle on which dividends tons, would be remunerative at about a halfpenny a mile. should be calculated. The capitals on which dividends It is impossible, therefore, to over-estimate the import were declared exceeded in many cases by large sums the ance of this new instrument placed at the command of the actual outlay ; and ,there existed no effisietit system of agriculturist. accountability by which Parliament could obtain any- Cheapness of fares may thus create a traffic which thing like an accurate knowledge of the net profits of otherwise could not possibly exist. It is. therefore, of railway companies. By the Companies Clauses Conan- the utmost importance to determine whether fares should lidation Act of 8 Victoria, certain rules were laid down be fixed according to a scale, which while it remunerates with respect to the aegnaentation of capital by the area- the railway, would allow of the existence of a valuable tion of new shires, but your Committee are given to traffic, or according to a scale which would prevent it. understand that this Act does not prevent companies These considerations ought not to be lost sight of in from allocating shares among the proprietors at par when determining how railways may be made most conducive actually at a premium, in order that they may pocket to the public benefit. The object to be effected by rail the premiums. ways ought to be, the affording, at the least expense, the It is established by the most satisfactory evidence, utmost facility of communication between different locali that in the case of many companies large additions have ties, and the utmost development of the national re been made to the nominal capitals, beyond what has sources. This object, which hitherto has been little been required by the actual outlay, through the creation attended to in this country, where the interests of the of shares, not at the current market price, but at par. public have too often been sacrificed to the supposed lute- To take one of the most common operations of the suc• rests ofrailvvay companies, was much better understood by restful companies, if fir instance, shares being at cent. the Belgian Government. Havingdetermined to carry lines per cent. premium, a million were required for an un- through the kingdom, on a principle which should im dertalsing, asid to raise that million shares for a million part to every locality the benefit of this improv e d means were created in order to enable the proprietors to divide of communication, they saw that the railways them among themselves another million in the shape of pre- selves would aid them in giving effect to their intentions. mimes, it is clear that the nominal capital exceeds by The excess of receipts beyond the expenditure on some 500,0001. that of which the actual outlay required the lines, instead of being transferred, as in this country, to creation, and. consequently. that a dividend i s ma d e o n the pockets of individuals, was applied towards the con s sum exceeding by so much Oat outlay. In this way struetlon of other lines through districts less advan • the °aka of Parliament, in subjecting companies to a tageously circumstanced. The Belgian Government revision of fares w h en th e dividends should equal or ex- traced a general plan of railways, embracing as a net ceed ten per cent., could always be defeated. Mr. work the whole country. The State lines were corn- Hudson, a Member of your Committee, specified several [Bence(' on the sth of May, 1835, and completed in Oc instances, in companies with which he was connected, tober, 184.3. The fares for passengers, extremely low where large additions were made to the nominal capitals from the first, have been occasionally reduced when in by these and ocher means. For instance, he states, that crease of traffic enabled the Government to make the by an arrangement between the Great Northern and reduction. the Great North of England Railway, it was stipulated In Prussia, a comprehensive system of lines, em that the latter should receive 10 per cent- on every 501. bracing the whole kingdom as with a network, and ex share till 1851, when they had a claim to be paid off in tending to upwards of 3,200 English miles, was traced four per cent. stock at 2501. a share ; thus creating a several years ago. Of these lines nearly 700 miles are new nominal capital of 2501. for every 50!. He states completed; about the same number of miles are in the also that, to meet a purchase by the Newcastle and course of construction; upwards of 800 miles finally Darlington Company, new 251. shares were issued to the adopted, and upwards of 900 remain merely as pro proprietors at par, when they were at a premium of 20/. jeers. Though the undertakings were committed to It is obvious that the money required could have been private companies, the necessity of Government inter obtained by a much smaller issue of shares, had the 20/. Terence was soon felt. The fundamental law of the premiums, as well as the 25/. shares, been applied to the Prussian Government respecting railways is dated the purposes cf the company, and not divided as a bonus 3d of November, 1838. Three years are allowed to among the proprietors. companies to fix definitely, from experience, what rates This practice of swelling the nominal amount of ought to be charged; but the tariff, at the commence stocks beyond the actual outlay on the lines, which has meat, and in case of an increase of fares, six weeks he extensively prevailed, was recently noticed in reports fore the alteration, must be communicated to the Go presented by Mr. Ellice from the Select Committee on vernment. At the end of three years the companies are Group (58) of Railway Bills, in which it is stated that to receive a concession of the fares and charges in the in the Hull and Selby Purchase Bill the actual outlay and tariff agreed on between them and the Ministry. In estimates for further works is 955,363/., while the money fixing the tariffs, the rates are in no case to exceed to be raised by the Bill is two millions, extending the what corresponds with the receipts, after deducting outlay and engagements of the Hull and Selby proprie- the expense of maintaining and working the lines, tors by the large sum of nearly a million, and that in and a dividend in no case higher than ten per cent. or the Great North of England Purchase Bill, the actual lower than six per cent. The fares to be subject to re outlay and estimate for additional works is 1,496,796/. vision after periods of not less than three years, and not 18s. 4d., the proposed capital 4,000,000/., exceeding the exceeding ten years ; but the companies, though they actual outlay and engagements of the Great North of cannot increase, may dimiili the prescribed rates ; and England proprietors by the sum of 2,503,0031. Is. Bd. exact accounts of everything relating to the concerns The Committee in question add the observation that, in must be submitted yearly to the Ministry. A sinking their opinion, "It would be greatly for the public inte- fund, corresponding with the capitals to be fixed after rest that some fixed and uniform rule should be clearly the second Prussian railway has been opened three years, laid down by the House for the guidance of their Co al- and the necessary experience has b een o bt a i ne d, t o b e mittens with respct to the whoe system of raising ca- applied in extinction of the capitals ; and the tolls, on pital, loans, the conversion of loans into capital, the pay- the completion of the extinction, not to exceed the ex ment of rents and profits on separate lines and branches, pense of maintaining and working the lines. The post not from the a.ctual traffic on such separate branches and its servants to be conveyed free. Lines may be and lines, but from the surplus receipts of old corn- purchased after thirty years, at twenty-five years of the panics, in all cases where new powers for raising money net profits, on an average of the five preceding years. are applied (or, of extension, purchase, or amalgamation In this country no comprehensive system has ever Bills." 'These illustrations of a system extensively pre- been traced. The lines promising the most ample re valent, which are taken from numerous instances brought turns were, as a matter of course, first selected by corn before the notice of your Committee, are sufficient to panics ; but the best mode of communicating the benefit prove that so long as it is suffered to continue, the in- of railways to the kingdom, considered as a whole, was tentions of Parliament in passing the 7th and Bth Vice only incidentally considered by Committees in deciding must be defeated. between rival projects. The Committee of the Board of This practice of issuing new shares to the present Trade, in some of its reports, first attempted to lay dow n shareholders at par has not been allowed in any other principles more worthy of the Legislature of a great country. Mr. William Reed, a director of the Paris and country, by which it should be governed in regard to its Rotten Railway, states, that when the exigencies of the railways. company rendered it necessary for them to raise money, Your Committee conceive that the advantages of sys they applied to the Government to he allowed to issue to tern in determine- on railways are sufficiently obvious. the then shareholders new shares at par, in the proeor- The best system is that which, at the least expense, and that of one new share for every five shares they hell. with the least sacrifice of soil, affords the greenest facili- This application was rejected by the Ministry, and they ti es to intercourse, and the greatest encouragement to borrowed the money required, for which no authorisa. industry. By selectmg an injudicious line, the capital tioa was necessary. The French Government c ettendsd of the country may be unnecessarily wasted, and the that the righta of the future proprietor would be eons- population of a district may not derive all the benefits promised by the issue of shares at par when at a pre from it to which they are entitled. By constructing two rwurn, but it has been maintained by torn of the railroad lines where one would suffice, there is not only an ur.ne proprietors in this country, that it is immaterial whether cessary outlay of capital, but a waste of a portion of our the money required by companies be raised by the crea- territory. Besides, as the cost of conveyance diminishes tion of new stock or by loans ; and whether the share- with every increase of traffic, competing lines, by holders receivt d increased dividends on smaller capitals, dividing the traffic, add to the cost of conveyance on the or smaller dividends on larger capitals. But if the rate separate lines. In private concerns, no sensible man of dividend is to determine whether the scale of fares employs more mechanical power than he conceives shall be subjected to revision by the Government on necessary for Isis purpose ; but it is ROW almost univer behalf of the public, it, is of the very first consequence sally admitted that not a few of our lines have been inju that the capitals should correspond with the original diciously traced, both with reference to expenditure of outlay. It may be the same thin g to proprietors whether capital and local accommodation ; and that, in the fruit they pocket large bonuses, and increase their capitals by less hope of competition, rival lines have been sanctioned sums exceeding the money laid out on the roads by the where they were not wanted. But the sanction by Parlia amount of such bonuses, and receive proportionately ment of injudicious and unnecessary lines is not the only smaller dividends ; but it is a very different thing to the evil. 'rho mere entertainment of wild schemes, which public, if the scales of fares are to be governed by the may never go farther than Committees of the House of rate of dividend, whether they pay high fares or low Ceeimons, keeps owners of property in a constant state fares. of alarm, and often subjects them to much trouble and - - But by another section of this Act, the second, the Lords of the Treasury are empowered, after the expira tion of twenty-five years, to purchase the railways, whatever the rate of divisible profits may be, upon giving three calendar months' notice in writing of their inten tion, on payment of a sum equal to twenty -live years' purchase of their profits, estimated on the average of the three preceding years. This power to purchase on such extravagant terms, and under such limitations, held out small hopes of relief ; so that, upon the whole, the position of the pub lic with regard to railways was not thereby materially improved. Whilst your Committee thus express their regret that the public interests were so little consulted in the ar rangements with railways for so long a period, they have seen with satisfaction the commencement of a better system. In consequence of sessional orders of the House, both in this and the previous session, clauses have been introduced into all Acts relative to railways, either for the construction of new lines or the extension of old lines by branches, reserving the power, whenever it should be deemed necessary, to revise and regulate the scales of fares i and charges ; and as nearly all the great com panies have either obtained or applied for Acts for the construction of branch lines, and the extension of old lines, they have thereby enabled Parliament to place them under such control or supervision as it may be deemed expedient to adopt ; and thus the hope may at length be entertained, that means for securing the public against oppressive and extravagant charges will yet be adopted. Your Committee wish here to dwell a little on the irn• mense importance to the community of a judicious sys tem of railways, both with reference to the selection of lines, and the rates at which the fares and charges are I ; i s hardy possible, indeed, to exaggsrate the imp rtan of a rit'lway, nOt on ly to the great cities , which are connected by it, but to the districts through which it runs. It has been generaily assumed that rail ways are better suited for the seats of commerce and manufacturing industry than for agricultural districts; but a highly respectable and intelligent witness, Mr. Samuel Morton l'eto,_ who has had considerable experi ence in the construction of railways in manufacturing districts, and is deeply interested in the Norfolk lines as a proprietor, states, as the result of his experience, that, " the people in manufacturing districts do not travel any thing like so much as as agricultural population;" and that ,` he would rather, if he c lul,l get a moderately priced line, have it in an assricultural district than in a manufacturing district, as far as the population of the district is csneerner . !." Mr. Pete adds, that the experi ence of Belgium fnruishery a striking corroboration of the soundness of these views, as it has been proved by the report of M. Desart, in whose hands the Belgian Government placed the whole of its railway statistics, expense in watching and resisting them. It is stated by • several of the witnesses as matter of notoriety that more , than half the schemes lately brought forward, and which occupied the time of Parliament, were utterly uncalled fer. Mr. Robert Stephenson, by way of illustrating the inconvenience of the present system, stated in his evidence that he could " quote a case at Wisbeach, where within half a mile of that town, there were actually fourteen different schemes, intersecting the land in every possible direction, hedges cut do w n, a nd crops interfered with. Now, all the legal expenses, and the expenses of engineers and surveyors, have been thrown away, be cause only one Act had been obtained. When they come before Parliament it is impossible to convey to the members of this Committee a correct notion of the diffi culties which the Committee must have to wade through in coming to anything like a true decision." It is stated by Mr. Peto that many lines have been very injudiciously laid out; and he gives, among other instances, the Trent Valley line, promoted and purchased by the London and Birmingham, in order to get the most direct course to Manchester; and the lines of the South .Eastern Company, who are obliged to incur great expense in constructing the Mid-Kent line, to remedy the defects of that first adopted. Economy in the outlay of capital, and in the applica tion of the surface of the country to its railways, ought always to be aimed at. In the opinion of nearly all the witnesses practically acquainted with railway affairs examined by your Committee the public can never bene fit by the competition of companies. Mr. Robert Ste phenson, when asked whether the lowering the fares might not be influenced by competing lines and compet ing canals, gave this decided answer:—" I have had so many eases of that kind brought before me, that I have come to the conclusion, that wherever combination is practi.table competition is impracticable. Therefore I say, l =t the Government he as stringent as they like with existing companies, but, never excite co m p et i t i on; be cause by exciting competition you increase the capital invested for diving the same convenience which would be otherwise obtained with less capital." Your Committee find in the scond report of the Select Committee appointed this session to consider the princi ple of amalgamation, as applied to the Railway and Canal Bills under the consideration of Parliament, and in the report of a Select Committee of the House of Lords, also appointed this session, to take into consider ation the best means of enforcing one uniform system of management on railroads in operation or to be con structed, abundant confirmation of their views as to the hopelessness of looking to competition for the means of securing the public interests. The more powerful com panies have, it appears, not only succeeded to a great extent in obtaining the control of railway lines, from which competition might be apprehended, but also succeeded, by various means in obtaining a cvntrQl , over the canals, which, for a time, maintained a com petition with them is the carriage of heavy goods, and have thus deprived the public of all the protection at one time anticipated from this source. It would appear from evidence received by your Committee that railways may also be expected to encroach materially on the coasting trade of the country. Mr. Peto states, that a great deal of the produce of Suffolk and Norfolk, which hitherto has been carried by coasting vessels is now con veyed to town by railways; and that much more will, no doubt, be carried hereafter. Norfolk and Suffolk are great counties for malt, much of which, formerly carried by coasters, now reaches town by railway, cheaper and more rapidly than by water ; and Mr. Peto states, also, that as rates will be still further reduced with increase of traffic, they must take away more and more of the coasting trade, and that the only reason why more pro duce is not now carried, is the inability to procure at once the requisite number of engines. Your Committee, therefore, conceive that experience warrants them in viewing railways in the light of mono polies. As expectations of relief from competiiion can not possibly be realised, they ought not to be longer entertained. But the very circumstance of railways being monopolies only renders it the more necessary to subject them to proper regulation. The past cannot, of course, be remedied, but the future is more in our power, and an endeavour should be made to discover the best means of securing to the community all the advantages which, under a proper system, may be derived from railways. A monopoly, from its very nature, can only be exer cised with safety to the community under effective con trol. One of the abuses of railway management from which the public have most suffered in this country is the fixing the fares and charges at too high rates. By extravagant charges, in some cases imposed with the highly objectionable view of limiting the benefit of railways to particular classes, in others with the view of driving certain descriptions of animals and produce from the lines, the railway companies were long open to severe animadversion. A feature in the English practice which very early attracted the no tice of foreigners, and is severely censured in continental publications on railways, was the absence for a long time of third and fourth-classes on nearly all our lines. And even after third-class carriages were supplied, they were for the most part so constructed as to affect health, and did not proceed with the usual trains, but were dragged at a pace which seemed chosen to disgust those who took places in them. In short, it appeared as if it had been determined to exclude the great body of the nation, un able of course to pay first and second-class fares, from the benefit communicated to the more wealthy orders. When the Belgian Minister proposed his last tariff, he introduced a modification of the third-class fares with the express intention of encouraging third-class pas sengers and inducing them to travel, by which he ex peered to swell the treasury receipts. The offensive conduct of English directors, betrayed, no doubt, an ig norance of their true interest , , but that forms no valid excuse for them. Many intelligent persons who saw how much better the convenience of the public and the encouragement of industry was secured abroad than in this country, where at one time fares, according to Mr. Laing, ranged at 80 per cent. higiser than on the cond.- Rent, were in serious apprehension for our trade and com merce, from the disadvantages to which they were thus ex i tosed. Your Committee perceive with satisfaction that this evil has of late considerably abated. Several of the railway companies, of their own accord, under the influence of public opinion and more correct views of their interests, have lowered their scales of fares and charges. It is admitted by most of the wit nesses connected with railways, examined by your Com mittee, that in keeping the scale extravagantly high, and in excluding the mass of the people from the benefit of railway conveyance, the companies took a most errone ous view of their own interest ; and with hardly an ex ception it has been found that every reduction of fares has been at:ended with an increase of revenue. Mr. Creed states that the difference between the prices charged originally on the Birmingham Railway and the present price is exactly one-third. The reductions on the first class in the half-year ending 30th of June, 1844, were 17-i per cent., and they caused an increase of pas. sengers of DI per cent. ; on the second class the reduc tion in the hires was 26'1 per cent., and the increase - in the cnrnher of passengers GI 1-5 per cent. ; on the third class the reductiens in the fares was 33 1-3 per cent., and the increase of passengers 259 per cent. ; and the reduc tions have in most cases increased the revenue of the company. But were there to have been no immediate increase of the revenue, still a regard to the welfare and convenience of the community, which ought to be the object of all legislation, would have demanded the reduction. Your Committee wish to observe, in passing, that they regret to perceive in the evidence of this witness an at tempt to justify the limitation of carriages for third-class passengers to four out of sixteen trains, not on sound commercial principles, but by the statement, that if there were third-class passengers with each train, it would be considered objectionable to the other passengers, and he refers in confirmation to what had taken place on the North Midland line. Your Committee carnot understand how third-class passengers in separate carriages can interfere with the convenience of first-class passengers, where due provi sion is made for the preservation of order at stations. In Belgium, France, and Germany, carriages for all classes proceed with every train ; and it appears, from the evidence of Mr. M`Gregor, the Chairman of the South-Eastern Company, that on their lines the conduct of the third-class passengers has been uniformity inoffen sive, and that first-class passengers have never objected to travel in the same train with them. The fares of the South-Eastern Company have experienced a-greater re duction than those on the Birmingham line. The fares by the express train are 2 45-100 d. per mile ; and, day tickets, PB4-1004. per mile ; by the ordinary trains for the first-class, 2.053., and day ticket, 1 53-100 d. per mile; for the second-class, P 363., and day ticket, 1-02 d. ; for the third-class, 82-100ths of a penny, and day ticket, 61 100ths of a penny. On the Scotch lines the fares from the first have been generally lower than on any of the English lines. On the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, Mr. Miller states, that several trains a day are run, on which fourth-class passengers pay about -d. a mile, and third-class passengers Id. ; and he thinks that still lower fares would be more profitable in many dis tricts. The fares for third-class passengers on the Glas gow and Greenock line are so low as J. a mile. According to Mr. Peto, the char ges on th e N orfolk lines are very ow. "We have," he says, " paid great atten tion to the fares there. It was a subject of deliberation before we fixed them, and we decided that the lowest scale of fares, lower in fact than upon any other hoe, would be that which would bring us the largest amount of profit ; that it would bring the greatest number of people, and therefore would be most bene ficial to ourselves." The third-class passengers pay much less on the Norwich and Brandon line than ld. per mile ; from Norwich to Yarmouth, 22 miles, only Is. 6d. Notwithstanding the reductions on several of our lines ttie fares are almost always higher, and in some cases considerably so, than on the Belgian lines. On the State lines, the first-class fares, which from 1835 to 1838 were I'l3l per mile, were, on the 3d of February, 1839, raised to 1 373. per mile ; on the 10th of April, 1841, lowered to 1.29 d. per mile ; on the 17th of August, 1841, still further lowered to 1•221. per mile, at which they remain by the existing tariff. The second class fares were sue ces-ively at the above periole o . Bod. 0.90 d., 0-801 0.901., and 0 933. ; the third class fares, 040 d., 0•481, 0.551, and 0.581 It will be seen that by the existing tariff first-class passengers are carried for something more than Id. a mile ; second-class passengers for con siderably less than 13. ; and third-class passengers for little more than a halfpenny a mile. The last tariff laid before the Chambers by the Belgian Minister made a reduction of 10 per cent, for third-class passengers, for all distances short of 25 kilometres (15i miles), in order, he said, to attract travellers for short distances, to favour the working population, and at the same time increase the Treasury receipts. It is more difficult to institute any satisfactory com parison between the charges for goods in Belgium and England, from the difference in the mode of rating. In Belgium a distinction is made with respect to coal and pig iron when destined for exportation, and when des tined for home consumption. In the former case the charge is P 1273. per ton per mile ; in the latter it is charged like other heavy goods, 1 . 6 Id. per ton. The charges on twelve English railways for iron and coal have been averaged at somewhat less than 21d. a mile, ranging from Id. to 53. On the Hull and Selby line the maximum for coals and coke carried 30 miles and upwards is Id. per ton per mile ; for 20 miles, and less than 30 miles, lid. per ton per mile ; for less than 20 miles lid. In the Great North of England Purchase Bill the maximum for iron for 40 miles and upwards is lid. per ton per mile; for less than 40 miles 2d. per ton per mile; for coals, upwards of 40 miles, Id. per ton per mile; less than 40, but upwards of 30, lid. per ton per mile; for 20 miles, but less than 30, lid. per ton per mile; for 10 miles, and less than 20, lid. per ton per mile; for less than 10 miles, 2d. These maxi mum charges are, according to the distance, higher or lower than the Belgian charges. In Belgium the charge for a horse on all the lines is 6 . 443.; on the Hull and Selby line the maximum is 51 per mile; in the Great North of England Purchase Bill, sd. per mile. I n Bel gium on all the lines the ch arge for five or six oxen, or one waggon of small cattle, is 7.25 d.; for three or four oxen, five or ten pigs or calves, or eleven to twenty sheep, it is 6.44 d.; for one or two oxen, or one to five pigs or calves, or one to ten sheep, it is 4 . 83 d. per mile. (.)n the last-mentioned English line the maximum for horses and other beasts of draught or burden, if con veyed more than fifteen miles, sd. per mile; for less than fifteen miles, ss. the whole distance; for neat cattle, if more than fifteen miles, 3d. per head per mile; if one, at 2d. per mile; if more than one, if conveyed fifteen miles only or less, 2s. for the whole distance. These last instances are taken from one of the latest Bills, and are much lower than the average rates in this country; but, as has been stated, not only is there the utmost diversity in the charges on different lines, but also in the classification and mode of charging, so that it is almost impossible, in goods traffic, to institute a comparison either between the charges of different com panies, or between the charges of any one company and these in foreign countries. In 13:nlgiurn the charges for the carriage of goods are it is understood, in many cases below the water carriage rates; and it is stated, in the Comptc Rendu by the Minister of Public Works of the service of the year 1844, that the goods traffic of 1844 was about 52,000 tons, while it was only 33,000 tons in 1843, and that it was to the goods and cattle traffic that the very remarkable increase of the revenue for that year, which exceeded the estimates by 630,000 francs, had been chiefly owing. The increase of the passenger traffic of 1844 above that of '1843 was nine per cent., while the increase on horses was 26 per cent., and on heavy goods 56 per cent. It is principally, therefore, to the carriage of heavy goods, which wa k sc a r ce ly th oug ht o f a f ew years ago, that the very considerable increase ill the revenue is due. The Belgian Government would seem anxious to ob tain the goods traffic; fur it is stated in this Compte liendu, that it is to the extension of it that the State must look for any fresh increase in the net profits of its railways. It has ben observed, however, that the rail ways do net maintain a very successful eoniptiLion with the canals; for while in 1844 the goods carried by rail way amounted only to 52,000 tons, those carried by canals amounted for that year to 400,000 tons. The canal traffic of 1845 still showed an increase, and the freights exceeded those of 1844 by'18,9451. It has been inferred that the Belgian Government have not yet sufficiently lowered their charges for heavy goods. In France, by the law of 1845, the fares and charges are in pence and decimals : Passengers, per head per mile.--First class If 19 1, Second ,/ „ ,1 Third ditto Cattle per head per mile.—Bullocks, &c. /f , , „ Calves, &c. .. 0'66 ~ ~ Sheep, &c. Fish, per ton per mile Goods, per ton per mile.—First class 92 97 ft Second ditto I, /7 „ Third ditto 235 VI „ And Carriages, per mile.—Single bodied 4 .18 Double ditto The French charges are about 20 per cent. higher than the Belgian for passengers, and considerably more so for cattle and goods. The fares on the lines of Austria and Prussia, and the States of the German Confederation, are in some cases even lower than those of Belgium. On the lines of Austria and Baden, which were executed by the State, they are the lowest. On the Austrian lines of Budweis and Linz the fares aro only three silver groichen per German mile, or 0.73 d. per English mile, for second class passengers, and two silver groschen per German mile, or 0 . 40 d. per English mile, tor third-class passengers. In Prussia the fare 3 differ very little from those of Belgium. On the Berlin and Potsdam line, for instance, the fares for first-class passengers are 1-4 d. per English mile ; for second-class passengers, 1.06 d. per English mile ; for third-class pas sengers, 0 6d. per mile. On the Berlin and Anhalt road the fares fur first-class passengers are 1 . 47 d. per English mile; for second-class passengers, 0.98 d. per mile ; for third-class passengers, 0.61 d. per m it e. The following comparison is instituted in the Rapport on the Proj et de Loi:on the Northern line, to the Cham ber of Deputies in France, in 1845, between the passen ger fares in England, France, Germany, and Belgium, in centimes per kilometre, in 1844:• First Class. Second Class. Third Class, England France Germany Belgium 19 12 101 ; 71 9 1 6f 71 i 5 4-5 5 f- 10 3 7-10 These rates may still be near the truth with respect to France, Germany, and Belgium ; but they are nu longer applicable to England, where considerable reduc tions have taken place on most of the lines. But though the difference between English and Foreign fares and charges is not so great as it formerly was, it is still suf ficient to constitute a strong reason for control and in terference ; the fares on nearly all the lines are still too high, and evidence has been given that railway com panies, when they have driven rivals out of the field, have not hesitated to raise their charges, especially for the conveyance of goods, on principles not perhaps strictly in accordance with their own true interests, but still less in accordance with those of the public. Yonr Committee conceive this is far too important a matter to be left to the arbitrary will of companies. The greater cheapness of coal and coke in this coun try enables companies to convey heavy goods by railway at a much lower rate than Continental railways can pos sibly do ; and the ability to lower fares increases in the ratio of the amount of goods carried. A line with a traffic of 750,000 tens per annum, could carry goods with as much profit at Id. per ton per mile as the Paris and Orleans line with a traffic of 150,000 tons at 3d. per ton per mile. The maximum rates fixed by Parliament in the dif ferent Acts are in all cases above, and in some greatly above, what ought to be taken from the public ; and thus, were no other check interposed, the community would be entirely at the mercy of the companies. Be sides, as has been already observed, there is at present the greatest diversity both in the scale and the mode of charging on different lines. For these high fares no justification can be found, either in the original outlay on the lines or the expense of maintaining and working them. Mr. Reed, intimately acquainted with the work ing of English and French lines, who is confirmed by Mr. Brassey, extensively employed as a Contractor in the two countries, states that the cost of earthwork is much the same in England and in France ; that the rails and chairs, which on the Soutnampton line cost 2,790/. per mile, cost 4,6351. per mile on the Paris and Rouen line ; that the working of the former line costs about Is. a mile, while it is about Is. 4d. on the Paris and Rouen line ; that the locomotive power and the carriages cost about 141 per cent. on the former, and 16 1.3 on the latter ; that the general expenses, including officers, police, SGC., are about 12 percent. on the South-Western, and about 16 per cent. on the Paris and Rouen ; so that, in all these respects, England, it would appear, has a considerable advantage over France. On ,some of the English lines the balance of advantage is still more in favour of England. The cost of construction of the Belgian State lines appears to have been very unequ it. According to the report of the Minister of Public Works, the three cheapest State lines were those from Ghent to Courtray, from Ghent to Bruges, and from Landen to St. Trond. The line from Ghent to Courtray cost per mile 6,6201.; from Ghent to Bruges, 7,675/. ; from Landen to St. Trond, 8,9901. The three dearest State lines were those from Louvain to Tirlemont, from Liege to the Prussian frontiers. and from Ans to Liege. The line from Lou vain to Tirlemont cost per mile 19,957/. ; from Liege to the Prussian frontiers, 40,797/. ; from Ans to Liege, 62,3251. The average cost of the State line was 17,1321. per mile. The items of this average cost are, per mile, land and compensation, 2,9191. ; e a rth wor k, b r id ges, . tunnels, &c., 7,1631. ; &c., 3,1461.; stations and buildings, 1,1531. ; working stock, 2,2011. ; miscella neous, 5501. The following is the cost of some of the French lines executed and in the course of construction : Per mile. The Paris and Orleans .... £24,390 The Paris and Rouen The Strasbourg and Basle 18,485 The Amiens and Boulogne 20,000 The Ronen and Havre 28,300 The Avignon and Marseilles 28,600 The Orleans and Bordeaux .... The Centre The North, with Calais Branch 19,900 The Paris and Lyons . 24,840 The Lyons and Avignon, w ith branch to Grenoble 25,800 The Austrian line from Olcciitz to Prague, 152 English miles, cost 11,657/. per mile ; that from Braun to Bohmisch-Thibtli, 55 English mi?ei, cost 16,360/. per nii'e. The cost of construction of the Prussian lines appears to have been generally lower than that of the Belgian lines. Accordirg to the elaborate work of Baron Von Ryden, the cost of the Berlin and Potsdam line was 12,323/. ; of the Manlgeburg and Leipsic was 10,1791. ; but the Rhenish line from Cologne to the Belgian fron tiers was to cost 28,33 IL per English mile. This last line, though lower than most of the English lines, is higher than that between Edinburgh and Glasgow by a trifle, and considerably higher than most of the Scotch lines. Mr. Legoyt, a respectable authority, estimates the average cost of the German lines at 170,0001. per kilometre, or 10,9401. per English mile. The Prussian and other German lines pay less fur land and law charges then the English lines. The following is the cost per mile of some of the principal lines in this couutry:— - Average cost per mile. Arbroath and Forfar £ 9,214 Chester and Birkenhead 34,198 Dublin and Drogheda 15,652 Dublin and Kingstown Dundee and Arbroath 8,570 Durham and Sunderland 14,281 Edinburgh and Glasgow 35,024 Eastern Counties and North Eastern 46,355 Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr •... 20,607 Glasgow and Greenock Gravesend and Rochester . Great Western 43,885 Hartlepool London and Birmingham London and Blackwall London and Brighton 56,981 London and Croydon London and South-Western Manchester, Bolton, and Bury Manchester and Birmingham Manchester and Leeds Midland 30,949 Newcastle, Darlington, and Brandling Newcastle and Carlisle Newcastle and North Shields Norfolk North Union and Bolton and Preston Preston and Wyre Sheffield and Manchester South-Eastern Taff Vale 21,610 Ulster York and North Midland, &c. The extravagant expenditure in England in buying off powerful landowners, from whom opposition was an ticipated, and in the proceedings before obtain'ng Acts, no doubt swelled very much the outlay on many of the English lines. In the mere purchase of land the outlay was often as great in France, if not greater than in England. Mr. Legoyt averages the purchases and com pensation on the three lines of Orleans, Rouen, and Nistnes, at 40,000 francs per kilometre, or 2,5721. per mile. Mr. Reed states that on the Paris and Rouen line, the land damage and law charges cost 3,1321. per mile (the law charges being very trifling), while on the South-Western they cost 3,6231. per mile. But if the outlay has been unnecessarily great on some of the English lines, and they run through districts of which the traffic does not, as is alleged, yield the usual returns on capital, that can surely form no reason why an ex travagant scale of fares should be adhered to. The pro prietors of a bridge would not be allowed to charge high tolls because moderate tolls would not yield such a re turn as they might wish to obtain for the capital ex pended by them. Mr. Peto says, he has several times stated to the directors of lines in agricultural districts, that if the fares be low they will have a larger traffic, but not otherwise, because the people in such districts cannot atford to pay largely for their travelling; that unless you bring it within their means they will not come to you; and that if low fares will Rot pay, high fares never can, Mr. Robert Stephenson states it as his belief, that re ductions of fares are not carried to the extent that rail way companies, as they go on and gain experience, will carry them. It is possible that ultimately the conviction may gain ground that farther reductions to a great ex tent are indispensable; but your Committee cannot shut their eyes to the danger of placing the community at the mercy of companie‹, who may or may not take views of their interests in accordance with the interests of the public. The railway companies have either driven, or must ultimately drive all competition from other quar• ters out of the field. Even the canals, which it was thought with proper management might maintain a suc cessful competition with railways in the case of heavy goods, in many instances, as has already been observed, hew been beaten by them, and the report of the Com mittee on Railway and Canal Amalgamation Bills shows but too clearly that we must prepare ourselves for seeing the canal interest come still more extensively under the influence and control of railway companies. This has resulted not merely from the power which the passenger traffic gives the railways of conveying goods at rates at which the canals cannot afford to carry them, but from their obtaining the command of portions of the lines of canals, and raising the tolls of that portion to the utmost limit allowed by law, so that the com panies in possession of the remainder of the lines are thereby disabled from maintaining a successful competi tion. On no subject is there a more general agreement among all the intelligent witnesses r e ce n tly exam i ne d by Committees of th Houses of the * Legislature than that railways either now are, or from the nature of things must soon be, in possession of a complete mo nopoly of all the internal traffic of the country. The system, which has been carried to so great an extent by some companies, of creating nominal capitals, amounting to twice and even three times the actual outlay, had no doubt mainly for its object to enable them to exclude the interference of Parliament, and maintain extravagant fares. Under such circumstances, it becomes of para mount importance that a vigilant superintendence should be exercised over the different railway companies, in order to defeat any attempts on the part of those com panies, from whatever motives, whether mistaken views of their interest, or the supposed necessity of their posi sition, from exacting higher fares, either for goods or passengers, than the interests of the community will al. low. Without interfering with the details of the ma nagement on railways farther than the necessity of the case may occasionally demand, they ought, as in every other country, to be compelled to furnish all the informa tion necessary to the thorough understanding of what ever relates to the working of the lines, and in particu lar to furnish:complete and intslligible accounts of re ceipts and expenditure from time to time. By the exercise of such a control alone can a hope be entertained that the interests of the public will he safe tinder the existing railway system. The general rule may be exceedingly good, that the utmost scope should be given to private enterprise, but in the case of railways the most important interests of the country are at stake, and a monopoly, embracing all its communications, and consequently possessing power in the absence of control, of inflicting irreparable injury on its trade and industry, from the very nature of things, ought to be exercised under proper regulation and supervision. Most of the witnesses representing railway interests, examined by your Committee, deprecate all attempts to regulate with exactness the scale of fares, and contend that the Legis lature should content itself with fixing a minimum. It is proper, no doubt, that maximum fares should be fixed in Railway Acts ; but though they may be fixed with care, and may sometimes approximate to fair rates at a given time, they can never meet all future exigencies. Continual improvements are made, both in the modes of constructing and maintaining lines, and in the mechanical means by which they are worked, and the public ought not to be excluded from participation in these ad vantages. The maximum rates are, however, almost always extravagantly high. In the Acts passed so late as the session of 1845, the maximum rates for passengers are almost always thrice as much as on the Belgian lines, and the charges for goods usu illy exceed those in Belgium in nearly the same proportion, though sometimes in a much greater. Thus, while in Belgium twenty sheep may be carried a mile for less than 611, and in France ants sheep for 0.34 d., the maximum rate for sheep in not a few of the English Acts of 1845 is 2d. per head per mile, more than six times the Belgian and French rates. Such is the extent of the arbitrary power possessed by companies. Bat because the Legislature was at first taken by surprise, and from inability to foresee the results to which railways have led, omitted to take suit able precautions against the übuse of the powers entrusted to companies, that can be no reason why we should not avail ourselves of subsequent experience to turn to due account such opportunities for protecting the public as are afforded under the Acts passed during the last two years, and as will be afforded under future Acts. Your Committee conceive that though the occasion, which was carefully seized by the Belgian and some other Governments, of placing the management of railways in accordance with the interests of the community, has been neglected, yet that we should never lose sight of the fact that railways aro a public concern, and that the most perfect system in the abstract is that which regulates the fares by such scales as will produce the utmost amount of convenience to individuals and give the utmost possible development to the trade and interest of the country. We cannot, as in Belgium, ob tain all the benefit which an increased traffic on railway lines might give, because the first adventurers in the great lines, which were undertaken before the practica bility and profitableness of railways were established, are entitled to large profits as the legitimate rewards of their enterprise and sagacity, but there is a point beyond which the sacrifice or the public interests ought not to be carried, and, therefore, every available occasion should be seized for reducing fares. Your Committee, enter. taining such views of the legitimate demands of the pub lic on railway companies, cannot admit that we should be content with the maximum fares imposed in the Acts, and leave the reduction of them exclusively to the dis cretion of companies. Much of the evidence received by your Committee bears upon the defects of the existing system of legis lation in the so-called private Bills, which are often private only in name, and in which class Railway Bills arc comprehended. The objections to the mode of pro ceeding in these Bills are of extensive application ; and your Committee have seen with satisfaction the report of a Select Committee on the subject of Private Bills, recommending a decided alteration with regard to them. Of one of the suggestions in that report, your Committee cordially approve—the appointment of a public board or department to which all applications for Private Bills affecting public interests should be re ferred. Such a board, if properly constituted might re lieve Committees of the House from much waste of time and companies applying for lines, as well as the public at large, from much needless trouble and expense. The example of foreign countries has shown that many in quiries with regard to railways can best be conducted on the spot. But, besi les the advantage from substituting a cheap and natural mode of conducting inquiries for the present cumbrous and most expensive mode before Committees, under which, too, the y are entirely de pendent for information on interested parties, the public might hope that a properly qualified board, entrusted obtain t h e m b o e r s e t m knowledge u p o . f thewit h warl railwayt, of tahffea icountry,rs, would and o plying them, than committees under the p resen t system, can possibly possess. Your Committee, are, therefore, of opinion, that the functions of the board may, with safety, be extended to the supervision of ex isting railways, awl the determining, in the first instance, subject, of course, to the con trol of the Legislature, where lines should be con structed, and what projects should be entertained. It so happens that existing companies have an interest, in common with the public, in preventing wild and unne cessary projects for the construction of new lines from being put forward; and your Committee therefore anti cipate from them no opposition to the confiding such powers to the board as may be necessary to enable it to interpose with effect in defeating foolish or fraudulent schemes in the outset. The receipts of those companies are always diminished by the construction of rival lines; and they arc often put to heavy expense in purchasing them, and in buying off threatened opposition. Mr. Robert Stephenson thinks the fact of the pre liminary steps in railway schemes being subject to no control, is the root of all the mischief now existing in the railway world, and is of opinion that no project for the construction of a now railway should be allowed to be brought forsvard till it has been taken into con sideration by a Government board. Mr. William Reed, who acted for about five years in the capacity of secre tary to the South-Western Railway, and who is now a director of two French railways, the Paris and Rouen and the Rouen and Havre, is of opinion, from his ex perience in both countries, that the greatest benefit would result from the appointment of a Government board, to which should be committed the examination of all projects for the construction of railways, with power to veto them if disapproved. In France all schemes must first be submitted to and approved of by a Government board; but, notwithstand ing their having obtained the sanction of such a board, they are still, as in England, referred to a Parliamentary Committee; but that Committee does not, as in England, hear counsel and receive evidence on all manner of de tails, but merely decides on the materials submitted to it; and it is only when any difficulty occurs, or explana tion is required, that a member of the Government Board is called before it, or some superior person in the confidence of the promote! s of the project, who supplies the additional information required, in order to enable i to arrive at a correct decision. This part of Mr. Reed's evidence is not materially contradicted by another wit ness, Mr. D. - Salomons, who states that the Cammission of the Chambers may alter and modify a project, and that " it does hear evidence in one way or other." What Mr. Reed wished more particularly to convey was merely that the inquiries, which are conducted at so much ex pense, and occupy so much time before Committees of the Houses of Parliament in this couctry, are unknown in France; and that the Commission of the Government Board of that country, though it does not decide finally whether a particular project shall be adopted or re jected, is invested with the power of determining, after due inquiry, whether or not it shall be submitted at all to the Chambers. In the one case the State wishes only to understand the merits of a project before allow ing it to be brought forward, and adopts the means believed to be most conducive to the attainment of that end ; in the other a project is at once suffered to be brought forward, without having been subjected to the ordeal of an examination before a department of the Executive entrusted with the cart) of the public interests, which, shr old no opposition be off..red on the part of existing companies, the owners of property, or the pro moters of rival projects, are here but little regarded ; while, on the other hand, parties can only hope to suc ceed in their opposition by the employment of counsel of eminence, and by bringing forward witnesses, often from a distance, and maintained in London for weeks at a heavy expense. Some idea may be formed of the magnitude of' the sums absolutely wasted in this country, before Bills can pass through Committees, fryin a return just made by the Eastern Counties Railway to an order of the House. The line, which is 51 miles in length, cost 45,1991. in Parliamentary expenses. The other prelimi nary expenses, such as cost of engineering, &c., amount ing to 48,6501., are separately stated, The Parliament ary expenses of the London and Birmingham have been stated at 6501. per mile ; of the Great Western at 1,0001. per mile. No wonder that foreigners hold up their hands in astonishment when they hear of this enormous waste. The sums paid for land by the Eastern Counties amounted to 809,950/, or about 12,0001. per mile, alone, exceeding the whole cost per mile on most of the German lines, and on several of the Belgian. The London and Birmingham and the Great Western paid 6,300/ each per mile for lands. In the case of the Rouen and Havre line, Mr. Reed states that 6,000/. was paid to three gentlemen who made considerable ex ertions to obtain the Act, but that the expenses incurred in the inquiry before the board, and up to the time the Act was obtained, amounted in all only to 700/. The allowing, as an affair of course, the projectors of a railway, on giving the prescribed notices to drag ex isting companies or owners of property on the proposed line before a Committee of the House of Commons, is an evil the magnitude of which can hardly be over-rated. Many of the schemes lately brought forward were, on the face of them, quite unworthy of being entertained ; some were started for gambling purposes, and not a few with the object of compelling existing companies to come to terms in order to avoid a troublesome and expensive contest. Mr. Peto mentions one instance within his own knowledge, where, thou g h th e li ne was utterly i mprac ticable, and the Bill never went beyond the -Standing Orders' Committee of the House of Commons, the solici• tor's account, which did not include the expenses of engineers and various other outlays, amounted to no less a sum than 82,000/. Your Committee are happy to perceive that the causes of the failure of the Committee of the Board of Trade to answer the ends for which it was appointed, are satis factorily explained by many of the witnesses whom they have examined. Mr. Robert Stephenson attributes the failure not to any incompet‘ncy on the part of that Com mittee, but to the faulty system pursued by them in re ceiving evidence in private. Without entering on the question whether, if that Committee had been properly supported by the Government, a different result might have been expected, it is sufficient to state that no con clusion against the placing railways under the super vision of a department of the Executive can be fairly drawn from that failure. The Cemmittee of the Board of Trade took more enlarged views of the object for which they were appointed than the Legislature and the public in general were then prepared for; but after the experience of the last two years, the conviction has be come general that something more is required than merely to decide between the conflicting claims of con tending parties, and that railways are of too much im portance to the community to allow of their being any longer viewed as subordinate to the interests of individuals. Objectionable as the mode of proceeding before Committees confessedly is, and erroneous as their decisions may sometimes have been, this evil, great as it is, sinks into insignificance in comparison with that to which the country has been exposed from the want of a board of high character connected with the Executive Government to watch over the public interests in railway affairs. Such a board, pursuing an enlightened system in sanctioning or rejecting proposed lines, keeping constantly in view the necessities of the country and the protection of the public from excessive exactions for the conveyance of goods and passengers,!and taking due advantage of every suitable opportunity that may present itself for obtaining a reduction of fares and charges, and uniformity both with reference to prices and classifica tion, would soon obtain the confidence of the public, and command the respect of the Legislature. Though Par liament would still have the power of deciding in the last resort, it would no longer be forced to encumber itself with preliminary inquiries which might be so much more advantae,eausly conducted before a tribunal proceeding according to a more judicious system, thoroughly acquainted with railway affairs, and there fore peculiarly qualified for the task confided to it. The hopelessness of shaking the confidence of Parliament in the Beard, which would result from unsuccessful at tempts could not fail to induce a. disposition to acquiesce in its decisions, and thus the spirit of gambling which is so much fostered by decisions varying with each other in principle, would experience a serious check. That part of the functions of the proposed Govern ment Board which relates to the supervision or existing railways, in order to secure the public against a capri cious exercise of their powers, and unreasonable fares and charges, might not be so palatable to companies as the power to interfere in the origination of new schemes. Your Committee are, therefore, thoroughly persuaded that a due regard to the public interests essentially re quires that companies, in the exercise of their powers. should be placed under a vigilant supervision. A board of high character and influence, possessing an extensive knowledge of the wants of the different parts of the kingdom, might resolve on doing so of their own accord. Mr. Smith, of Deanston, for instance, states that the greatest benefit may be expected from the conveyance of fat cattle on railways, as they can only be driven for a very short distance. Now on many of the railways the directors have from the first maintained, and still maintain, a scale of charges for cattle which utterly excludes them from railways. Captain Laws, a direc• tor on two or three railways, and who has the manage ment of the traffic on the Manchester and Leeds Railway, recently stated before another Committee that railway companies, by fixing their fares for cattle and sheep too high, deprived the public of the benefit of the conveyance by railways ; that though the pr esen t ra t es are only about a third of those with which they started, and though the reduction has greatly increased the traffic, the majority of the cattle and sheep are still driven, to their great detriment. An intelligent su pervision would have led to the correction of this evil long before this, and prevented the ignorance or obsti nacy of directors from inflicting so serious an injury on the public. A pretext has been set up by companies, that the great outlay by them on their lines ought to secure them from all interference with a view to a reduction of fares, so long as the profits of the undertakings do not allow such dividends as would constitute a fair return on their capital. Though fares so high as to interfere with the interests of the country ought in no case to be allowed, and the principle of determining fares by the returns which capital ought to obtain is not to be recognised, yet it may not be irrelevant to observe that even if the amount of capital sunk in a line were to be taken as a criterion, it would be necessary to distinguish between the original outlay on a line, and the amount to which the capital of the company has been swelled by the mode adopted in purchasing and amalgamating with other lines, and in providing for extension and branch lines. It is quite clear that the original outlay on lines, including all the extravagant purchases of land, and the wasteful expenses incurred in surveys, and the proceedings before the Parliamentary Committees, falls far short of the amount of stock which has been created. Your Committee are unable to state with exactness the amount of money divided, or to be divided, in this country, among proprietors, as premiums on new shares, but they conceive it cannot tall much short of fifty millions. The payment of large sums to obtain the consent of competing lines to amalgamations, which at one time excited so much sensation, was not so objectionable in itself as in the use that was made of such amalgamations, and of the power to raise money for the extension of old, and the construction of branch lines. By issuing shares representing capital to an amount far beyond that of the money required, in order to enable proprietors to divide among themselves large premiums, sums were pocketed by proprietors, which, if applied to the purposes of the lines, would have rendered a corresponding issue of shares unneces sary, and in so far diminished the amount of stock created. Of these practices a striking illustration has already been given by your Committee from the report from the Select Committee on Group (58) of Railway Bills, relating to the Hull and Selby Railway Purelia.e Bill. Were an account taken of the sums already divided and to be hereafter divided among proprietors in this objectionable way, and of the expenditure incurred in bu ving off parties supposed to possess powerful interest, and in proceedings belbre Committees, which at a low estimate alone must have exceeded twenty-five millions, they would have been found sufficient for the construction of trunk lines for the whole country. The whole of the State lines of Belgium, of which 145 miles were double, and 202 miles single, cost only 5,945,148/. The whole of the capital required for the magnificent system of railways executed and in the course of execu tion, and projected in France, down to the autumn of 1845, by which the commercial wants and military de fence of that great kingdom were provided for, does not exceed the sums divided and to be divided by a few English companies among the proprietors in the shape of premiums. The capital for the lines conceded and executed in France, down to the 31st of July, 1835, amounted to 8,576,0001.; and among these lines are those from An dr( zieux to Roanne, from Bordeaux to La Teste, from Montpellier to Cette, from Mulhausen to Thann, from Paris to Orleans, from Paris to Rouen, foom Paris to St. Germain, from Paris to Versailles, from St. Etienne to Lyons, from Strasbourg to Basle, the line of the Gard ar.d the mines of La Grande Combe. The capital for the lines in the course of execution at the above period amounted to 14,000,0001. The capital for the lines and branches to be conceded in 1845-6, voted in the session of 1845, amounted to 32,360,0001. The capital required for the lines remaining in the state of report at the close of the session- of 1845, excluding a few branches not finally decided on, amounted to 9,520,0001. All these sums taken together amount only to 64,566,000/. This was the estimated amount of the capital necessary to cDmplete the French railways at the period alluded to, though, indeed, additions have been subsequently made. Such is the manner in la hich sums have been withdrawn from the purposes of the public deemed suffi cient for the construction of railways, on a magnificent scale, for the greatest continental kingdom, where local difficulties are often formidable, and where the outlay for earthwork, masonry, and iron work is as high as in England, and which, if applied to their legitimate purposes, would have left no part of Great Britain with out the benefit of railways. If we assume the average cost of the construction of railways in Prussia to be 12,000/. per mile, which, judging from those already executed, is rather above than below the mark, the whole expenditure on 3,200 miles of railway by which the surface of a kingdom con taining a population nearly equal to that of England will be covered as with a network, will not exceed 36,000,000/., a fraction only of the money withdrawn here from its legitimate purposes. Part of the evidence taken by your Committee has reference to consequences with which the establishment of railways has been attended, to a branch of the public revenue intimately connected with the convenience and welfare of the great body of the people. Before the .establishment of railways the Post-office, according to Mr. Stow, paid for the carriage of the mails, including the coaches, something under 2d. a mile, but the charges ?, • !emended by the railways are much higher ; and t in the case of one railway, the North Union, they • amount to no less than 2s. 9 13-64 d. per mile. Th e . • aggregate charge for carrying th e mails in Gre a , b , tiritein was, in :1836-7, b e f ore ra il wa y s w ere adopte d, :53,2931. 18s. 4(1., or 1 30.32 d. per mile per day, for 18,090 miles ; but partly i n consequence o f the increa se _ of letters and parc e l s th roug h th e i n t ro d u ction of d i ee penny post, and partly in consequence of the high goa charged by some railways, the aggregate charge is no" much higher. In 1846, as appear s by a re t urn f rom th e rost•offic e c i the number of mil es t rave ll e d d a il y by ma il coaches b e t been reduced to 11,47 a, w hil e the amount paid P e r annum was 45,729/. 10s. 6d., or 2 19-32 d. per mile Pe day. But besides this sum, there is paid yearly to rei ways no less than 102,1851. 6 s . 10 d . • , the two eln°, llllt. „ ing together t o 147,914/. 17 s . 4 d . M r. R o b er t Stepne "' son, who has been extensively employed in arbitratilel between the Post-offic e an d ra il way com p a nies, *ga t I , that the principal diff erence b etween C apta i n Harness° the part of the Post-office, was this, that Captain 11 , se i ; • hess contended that if a line run six trains a day, and! seventh were wished by the Post-office, it should oel, pay the bars cost of that seventh train; but that he sa id e No; we ought to negotiate with the Post-office as with other parties; there is no law that exempts them froth the ordinary exile of transacting business;" therefore he I f invariably maintained that the total, establishme ot ha the railway ought to be taken, and a portion of t" b , charges placed to the account of that one train; O da serving, significantly, that if the Legislature had Me d e law that they should be treated differently, we ll - a : n ee good; but that h e t oo k t h e l aw as i t stan d s. Mr. e' states that in France they are obliged by every train res.( rve a compartment of a carriage, coevenient for °f person to ride in for a po s t- o ffi ce guar d, w i t h his bag ° letters, without any remunerat i on; an d a s i m il a r syo al a seems to prevail on all continental railways. Wb ell te separate train is r equ i re d, i t i s pa id f or b y the Ste In this country the mail proceeds along some lines at hour of the night when there are no passengers; ;li e there are, therefore, reasons •,•,hy a difference should made between such lines and the Great North of ge t s; land, where the train f or t h e ma il runs at a reasc°B,to rime and carries numero us p a . s engrrs. Your Conol"—be c eiceive that in all ca ses w h ere th e ma il i s c arried A passenger trains, no charge whatever should be O r against the Post-office; and that when the mail is ec t d,' veyed at times when there a r e no p assenger trains, se charge should in no case exceed the additional exPe n to which railways may be put by running such traine' es In France and other continental countries, railw a y are also obliged to convey soldiers, sailors, and p° ll „ c g and their baggage, either gratis, or at rates dispcoqi, tionately low. It might, perhaps, be advisable in L ;re country, in the case of all bodies of men in the ser v ' to of the public, to fix scales of fares merely su fficient cover the additional exp enses t o w hi c h t h e i r co nveYl" might subject railway companies. Your Committee will now b r i e fly reca pitulate O ti : points which they conceive ought to be aimed at in ° future railway system:- 1. No future lines, either for main trunks or bronc hi* should be ceded, except for terms of years, s of 2. Full and accurate a ccounts o f th e proc eeding a d railway companies, emb rac i ng th e i r w h o l e receipts fate expenditure, should b e l a id f rom t i me to time bel e Parliament. her 3. As all idea of the con s t ruc ti on o f new lines We der e they are not called for by th e wants o f di str i c t s , in °r , be to give the public the b ene fit o f compet i t i on , rot' s " bt ab indoned, in return for their monopoly, companies into to submit to an efficient system of control, with a 1 1 ,4 to the security of th e p u bli c aga i nst extrava gant 14 4 . and charges, and the ad o pti on o f un if orm i ty o n the c" ferent lines in the scales and the mode of charging:' . „ o f 4. An end sh ou ld a t once b e put to t h e systc": o - issuing more n ew s h ares th an are required to colter " ro .• cessary outlays, i n or d er t o divide premiums among P r !, prietors and thereby swell the amount of nominal st ° beyond the actual outlay. 5. In order to provide efficiently for the superillten:f deuce of railways, an d i n or d er t h at the fritenti°l3'dor Parliament may not be defeated by the directors ()flea, panics, and in ord er a l so th a t a j u di c i ous railway sYsrele may be ensured, and a cheaper and more effective to ote of conducting preli m i nar y i nqu i r i es t h an that which:be takes place before Parliamentary Committees I:t o ld adopted, a board or d e p ar t men t o f th e E xecut ive sit' r. be appointed, with p owe r t o em pl oy i nspec tors, t h e ir veyors, and other offic e r s , t o a id th em i n con d uc ting t,bs inquiries. Such a board, to which railway affairs I° ,lo be entrusted, woulrl, fr o m th e k now l e d ge i t cou ld o °P iar y to acquire, be enabled to judge what lines are nec es pe A for the supply of the wants of the country, how .s ur given project may be conduci ve t o th a t en d, a nd t ° , use ply Parliament with su c h i n f orma ti on as may be 0 . 1 1 to in enabling it to legislate i n th e way most beneficl s tee 6 . publi ß c. Railway companies should b e obliged to carr y the es; Post-office mails by passenger trai ns f ree of all ch ar ' be and at times when there ar e n o p assenger t ra ins, - f ° io us additional expense ther e by occasione d. Th e altert4 i which may be ad v i sa bl e i n th e case o r soldiers, sat and other bodies of men in the public service hav e been considered by your Committee. August 25, 1846. RAILWAY SUARE MARKET S. MANC HESTER, AUGUST 29. Son 14 4 STOCK E KCIIANO E.—The sales are—Blackb urn , Clitheroe , , dls. —Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolt on 14 dis.—Boston, Stalnly",AV. Birmingham, 11s. dis.—Buckin g h am and Bletchley Junction, Eastern Counties, New, y4—Ditt o , Y or k E xtension , lye —Ea v_.,d catthire, 9 p.--East Lincolnshire, % dic—Fleetwood, West Riding, 14s. cis.— Iludderstield. Halifax, and Bradford, 21;0 Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal, 2 PqAcer and Thirsk,.234 —Leeds, Dewsbury, al d Manchester, 4! , 1 2 ',....00 04 ter, Birmingham, and Trent Valley Junction, 14 dis.—L l /`, 2 06- - Ormskirk, and Preston, 4 p.—London and North-Western, London and York, dis.—ManclL ster and Leeds, Fifths, 8 1 , ..„01( 1 ' Manchester and Sonthatnpton, 19s. dis.--North Western, % 1 ,1 %,40S ham, Birkenhead, Ecc., 3 4 dis.—Shellield and Manchester, Qu'",;ol, Preston:, No. 1, 4 1 4 p.—Ditto, No. 3, . p.—Shrewsbury and Birmittion p. Shropshire Union Railway and Canal, I7s. 6d. dis•Na Eastern and Dover, Consolidated, No. 3,5% p.—Ditto, , „JO 4, 15-16 p. South Staffordshire Jun c ti on , 7-16 p.— Trent Valla:_lo4 land, p.—West Riding Union, 3 5-16 p.—Whitehav Furness, 2 dis. LEEDS, AUGUT 9. rt o f ti" 9 STOCK EXCHANGE.—Prices were decli S nin 2 g in the early P a har vefi! week, and a general dulness pervaded the trade, but fine m oss' weather on Wednesday and Thursday cause d a little ne!ter 11C Pr for shares, which was materally increased on the receipt of t t pe telligence of the reduction of the minimum rate of discoun t v i ", cs' e Bank of England to three p er cent. This measure has Pr petted for some time, and v ar i ous rumours have b een circula te tha specting It ; but the decl ara ti on, at th i s time, by t h e dircctorstate o f Bank, Is considered t o evince " a confldenee in the presen t ',OKI' the money market, and a belief that the monetary crisis,_ o for many have anticipated, is not now at band." Higher I l r u „,. tar shares have been generally realised, and a favourable feeling a ti loion titer advances is entertained ; yet there is not so much s P ec o derl i afloat as during the late fluctuations. The advances are in Lila ,„,acet and steady, and therefore wear a more healthy aPP e— . -- ,,arfS' when sudden variations of considerable extent occur in „to f lis continuance of favourable weather would give additional for c i o "Atal; other causes of improvement. The annexed list shoWs in ete; closing prices, all shares b e i ng more or l ess improving'. f ield a,g/. class small stocks, Ea s t L ancas hi res, D ews b urys, Huddelp_ v oe. t . p._iludder s o ld V l , Sheffields, and Huddersfield and Manchesters are in favour , ,, i , nrce s d Great Norths are well worth attention for safe and prol ita- aeld and merit. The sales are—East Lancashire, Manchester, 2% c. p.—Ditto, Extensions, 9s. p.—lludd er : o ,l P.,/ c c• Sheffield, 7Y, c. p.—Leeds and Bradford, 43% t.—Leeds an c p.—Ditto, Branches, 1% p.—Leeds and ttn"wor• dis.—Manchester and Leeds Extensions, 2% p.—Newes"f o rd, ; ves t wick, 14 p.—North British,:earlisle Branch, 653.—t - sna n g. tester, and Wolverhampton, 635. Gd. s. p.—York, do. -- ":" d - i s . Riding, 2 p.—Amberirate, Nottingham, and Boston, 1 3 s' ". is aire,' ton, Stamford, and Birmin;hain,lls. dis.—lluckinginr, - , 2 8g " - ad. —Clitheroe Junction, 15s. dis.—East and West Yorkshire' —Grand Union, 13s. dis. —Lancashire and North Yorksn","_,..lce"" dis.—Lancashire, Yorkshire, and North Eastern, I'4 d ' e c ;rth, Co' Wakefield, and Midland, I4s. 6d. dis.—Leicester, Tarnr p,'"" ventry, &c., ss. dis. —Liverpool, Ormskirk, Junctiollr 7 °.„"a London and York Cs. dis. s.—Maltjn and Driftle P* --- ` • s.—Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland, 11 16 615. Goole, s. Western, 7s. Gd. p. —Sheffield, Rotherham, Shropshire Union, 83. dis.—West Riding Union, 5 % S. and Presto! n., HULL. Au ,- sr '.1.4- -J3I:7AT ,• U- tom STOCK EXCEANGE.—The sales are— Hull and Selby, Halve.% —North British, Half Shares, 17% —Ditto, Carlisle, 4y i gate, Nottingham, Boston, &e., 2—East Lincolnshire, s .--r 'l O O wood, Preston, and West Riding, ls. 6d —Glasgow, DurnfriiN Carlisle. 33—Great Northern, 2 —Leicester and Tatnworth , North Western, Bs. p.—Arsnagh, Coleraine, and l'ortrush, Grand Union, 14s. 9d. SHEFFIELD, AUGUST 29. 1 „.V &rocs Excite.Not.—The sales are—E ast L ancashire, - Grimsby - and Sheffield, 2X, dls.—Ditto, Extension, 13s. die. — 'pet Quarter Shares, 7s. 6d. dis.—Ditto, Railway and Dock, IN tif'* - ; dcrsfield and Sheffield, 7% p.—Leeds, Wakefield, and Midhly.'o- dis.—Manchester, Midl an d , and Great Grimsby, 20s. clit,c;teri" Chester and Lincol n U n i on and Canal, 16s. dis.—North OP Gs. Gd p. —Sheffield and Lincolnshire, die.—Ditto, Extor i dis.—Sheffield, Buxton, Leek Potteries, and Crewe, N. Ga dis" N E IVCASTLE-UPON-T YNE, AUGUST 29. _„, STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Caledonian, New , I cashire and North Yorkshire, 13s. dis.—Liverpool, Ormssoo eat Preston, 3 5.16 p.—N ewcas tl e an d Carlisle 105 h, —New c : . ....11 Darlington, Extensions, 10% p.—South Midland, 14s. 3 d• Riding Ution, 3 p. YORK, AUGUST 29. 16S• 6d. STocia it xcrusraz.-The sales are Junction, •-• '. Direct Northern, I/. 18s. 6d.-Eastern Counties, York E ,ctell ;d -Grand Union (Nottingham and Lynn), 135.-Leicaster a gstlo c es ford, 135.-London and York, 214-Manchester, Buxton, •'0050,4 and Midland, 3!. 9s. Gd.-Newcastle an d Berwick, '2B \ on. e ft and .Darlington, New, 1114 -North British, Carlisle Exte n t orlO o d -North Western, 11. N.-Sheffield, Rotherham, Wakefield , „ i rk Huddersfield, and Goole, 1%-West Riding Union, 5 4 -3 North Midland (East and West Riding Extension), 134 • ber - EDINBURGH, Aueusx 28. A STOCK EXCUANGE.-The sales are-Aberdeen, 81. 12s. 6 ": t . deen, Banff, and Elgin, Irdrie and Bathgate, 31 ;;It0;il Arbroath and Forfar, 281.-Ditto, Half Shares, 15/. 10s.---slot r e ," Portrush, 14s. 6d.-Ayr and Galloway, 11. 7s. 6d.- 13 „ e ; etlen,r, County Down, W.-British and Irish Union, 2/. 2s. 6d.-'-'ll. P s * 151. 7s. 6d.-Ditto, New, 11. 103.-Caledonian Extension, cot!: Caledonian and Dumbarton, 11.2x.-Clydesdale Junction , 24 7 5 . 61• a, wall and Devon Central, 1/. 75.-Deeside Railway, ?`'cs Direct Northern, 1/. 13s. 6d.-Dublin and Enniskillen, ",-; dee and Arbroath, 371.-Ditto, New, 231. 10s.-Dundee and PT O , - 7s. 6d.-East Indian Railway, 158.-East of Fife, 1/.;"1... -- 0;,, - ; burgh and Bathgate, 21. 14e.- -Edinburgh and Glasgow , Halt Shares, 171. Quarters, 17:. 10s.-Ditto, ditto, rice, 18 1.-Edinburgh, Leith, and ,Ira i r o n, Prefe re 9 ,, 9.4 0 , 155.-Edinburgh and Nort'tern, 101.- -D!tte w i ort, 11. Edinburgh and Perth, 21. 10s.- Forth an d Clyd e .1 ii nctiV s. , ....pitt o . , -Glasgow and Ayrshire, 731.-Ditt o , N ew Stock, 371. Quarter Shares, 18/. 10s.-Gl asgow an d B e lf ast U n ion, 21 * L e .1 11 '.4.. gow, Dumfries, and Carlisle, 11. 14 5 . -Gl asgow and Dunn,.iii tion, 1/. 135.-Glasgow and Garnkirk, 40/asgow sto n ' ci minus, Si. 10s-Glasgow and Greenock, 16/. 10s.-Ditto , 2 _ o o, bs. St. 155.-Ditto, Preference, 1/. 155.-Glasgow, Kilinar" 2i. Ardrossan, 11. 10q.- Glasgow, 6 T Strathaven, and Lesmit ll3o --Inl e i. -Granton Junction, 10s.- Great North of Scotland, 1 43. C ar o, Po. ness and Elgin, 17s. 6d.-Lanark and Lothians, 2/. s s. wales , l as fast, and Ballymena, 95.-London, B r i s tol, and South 3s. 6d. -London and York, V.-Ditto, Half Shares, ll._ 9 7/. 1 55 " o land and Eastern Counties. 155.-N ewca stle and Berwic%,„ i siorl r _.. North British, 38i. 155.-Ditto, Halves, Carlisle, 41. 7s. 6d.-Ditto, Fifths, 71. 15s.- North St ,s fr 173 6d. 145.-North Wales Mineral, 161 153.-Ditto, New , r% 70. „ion, Perth and Inverness, 11. Its. &1.-Scottish Central, June- Ditto, New, 9/. 2s. 6d.-Scottish Central and Caledonl ii . 10. 5 •,„ revio U. 10s.-Scottish Grand Junction, 12s.- Scottish 3 16/. Ditto;:!-; Scottish Southern, 1/. 17a.-Shrewsbury and Hereford, 7 5' 1 58 Gil bury, Oswestry,:and Chester, 5!. IN.-South Midland, 26. 1• 16 Stirling and Dunfermline, I/. 6s. 6d.-Stirling and 311d1 Strathern Junction, 2/.-Wishaw and Coltness, 47/. 53 lei - l BTUS. A On the 25th of August, il at Banbury, the 4 of Ge°r la Hamilton, Esq., 55 - th Regiment, of a daughter. , ire , the On the 24th of Auguq, at Caonby Hall, Lincolnshire' lady of J. Golden Esti:, of a daughter On the 25th of A ugust, at Newbold-on - Av on, shire, the wife of the Rev. Edward Smy'thics MARRIED. On the 27th of Aug us t, a t Leamington, lien r da ughte r Y sll2rcl, of Pembroke-squ are , K ens i ng t on , to Anna,younger of B. M. Roberts, EA., of Hackney. DIEDOn the 24th o Agst, at Pa . y, ter, Lcor ld , e c s ' o pd 0,1 the 26th f of u Aug u u st, a'tisCaroline, 5` daughter of the Rev. John Allen London: Printed and Published by Att7ltl)oioUN. rreC 4lc " Strand, Printer, at The Sun O ffi ce, N 0.1 1 2, strand, In ttio Aug ge6 °f thy. Savoy, in the County ct Middlesex, MO.11(16)71 M I 1946!