The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1881-04-19 00:00:00

RAILWAY RATES AND FARES.

The Railway Freighters' Protection Society publishes
the followin, on the question of railway rates and fares:
The rublic interest in this question is, sw. are glad to
say, fast increuing. The dense ignorance existing, even
among I .wyers, about railway law is the mule of much
tyrannical conduct on the pert of the tel way companies.
of which we oould give many illustrations were
space to do so. To take • single instanoe, some companies
have put a notice that if any person should be unable to
produce a ticket on arriving at his destination he will
he charged the full fare from the station whence the train
In which be travelled originally darted. The companies
know perfectly well that the threat is an idle one sad
the' no such power is given to them by the law of the
land. If a man should make a contract with the South-
Western Rainey to travel hoo. omst,therst to teed...
it is r as ,nab'e or legal. because he loess ins
pguruse Law central* for one cm:44Kr to assume that
he contracted to travel from Hastings! The contention is
too monstrous to be discussed. With regard to goods
traffic, we assert unhesitatingly that the railway
companies are, in countless instsnces, grossly exceeding
their Parliamentary maxima, wid in some cam they
demand excesses of M. 100, 200, and even In some mess
500 per cent. The follovring are a few instincts, and
there are many others equally flagrant :
Charged per Lil
Ton.
Birminthain and Watfor ...Hardware 35a. ...Lle. 100.
Man luster and Birmingham Glass 40s. ... 21s. 3d.
Grantham and London ... flardwarellOs. 17s. 0114.
Wimborne and London ... Furniture eos. lea id.
tp.th ,egard to preferential rates, the question has
been decisively settled by th- cases n " Eversheri a the
London and l!sorth.Western Railway" ant "Budd v. the
London and North-Western Railway." the..., or which
proves that the companies have no right to grant atri
such rates ; but this fact wants publishing --evetybody
should know and it act upon it. The railway companies
depend upon the ignorance of the pubic, and trade upon
the complicated nature of the su'iject. They know by
their immense wealth they have • treovindous advantage
over the individual trader who dares to bring them into
• court of law. It is true that the law does provide a
remedy for this, but it is one which, even A known,
could not well be used. The provision is that, "When
it shall appear to the Lords of the Committee (i.e., the
Board of Trade) that it would be for the public advantage
that the company should he restrained from" breaking
the law (self it were n t always to the public advantage
that the law should not be broken 11, the Board of Trade
is to npro.:.t.2 The same to the Attorney-General, and he is
to again•t the company. As a matter of fact,
however. the Board of Trade avoid this work, and in •
case which came under our own notice they actually
refused to put tits law la usotEoa."

LORD IMICONSPIELD'S ILLNESS.

LATEST.

The Progress made by the ex-Premier towards re-
covery, though naturally slew on account of his
advanced age, continues to be satisfactory. His great
vitality was shown early on Saturday morning, when
k the extent of nearly one metre. Sulphip.u.
After the renewed shock on Monday the cron
giVOll out in great quantity from the cn-vitZ
he rallied from serious difficulty .4 breathing with- slin.
is sinking,
to be heard. Whil, the
out experiencing any ill effecter. At about 10 the —"IT." are
mann dee. is. sinking, the laud between it and tf.
physicians having consulted, the following bulletin was '.s`,"l".n.!lner
issued :—"Lord Beaconsfield was restless during part
continent iv rising. The Stride which ,:ne en„nde.
of last night, but this morning his lordship's rxmffition
.atisfactcry, and his progress, though mlow, is not
ein'-r! 1.1.° Phee.'",leees. glee no.w only fifteen. Th.
interrupted." Later in the day the noble had slept infretion of the islander, to Smyrna eontießien
hi
well am! took more stolid nourishment. lie was alw,
able to converse w.th several of his friends, including - -
Lord ilowton, Lord Barrington, and Sir Philip Ken.
Early in the evening Prince Leopold called on his way
to Sandringham from Osborne. On Saturday night
at half-iiest ten o'clock the bulletin issued stated :
" Lord Beaconsfield passed the day favourably." A
consultation was again held by the physicians yester-
day morning, and at eleven o'clock the following
bulletin was published :—" Lord Beaconsfield has had
several hours sleep during the night and taken the
requisite nourishment. This morning his lordship',
condition remains very truth as yesterday."
During last evening Lord Beaconsfield had a con-
versation with Viscount Barrington, and his lordship
spoke freely with reference to public affairs. Although
his physiad condition was somewhat weak, his lord-
ship had lost no ground during the day, and his
physkians, after a consultation, which lasted more than
half-an-hour, published the following bulletin, dated
ten p.m. :—"Lord Beaconsfield has passed the day
without any material change. There has been no
."..k,ar-vress during the day and no unfavourable
change.'
The following bulletin was issued el, 10.15 1.1.6
(Monday) morning:—" During the last twenty-four
hours it may be said, that, on the whole, as compared
with the proceeding twenty-four hours, Lord Beacons-
field has been rather more restless, and taken rather
less nouris..ment. As a c-insequencc there has been
no material gain of strength."