The Express.
London, England, 1863-10-23 00:00:00

RAT (AMT.

Tap EVICITNO, THE 11 V. 11,97 11-asers Chimes&le, Back-
Wee. limes Koren. Barren, Clark and P.nld : Mesdames
Snowden, Angel, and Mitswillosaa. —THE BENGAL Malt Mr.
and Mrs. A. WlmuL —And MY HUSBAND% GHOST.

LYCZUM.

os eatranar, Ocr. Sl, BBL DIVONIO. a Love Story.
Messrs. Yeager. Brougham, lawn Bat Be, sod Guiles ;
Misses Terry, Lavenue, and ileworthy, mkt Mrs. Lee.

Ting ammo. TH. 7.11173 iii Loris XV. Mn. S. Lane
—THg ORKAT GHOBT EVYRCT. Mourn Reynolds and cooks
Messlamea Crautord and Yanrold. —Staging by Sam Colbaa,
Mr. Randall, and Haw Plea a.—And HILT O'CONNOR.

MOH WATXI AT LONDON 311D011.
1231 DAT —MorninA 1111 Afteresse.llh. unL
TuigallOir Marilast, Os. 02 Aftorro" OA. 611.

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23.

Tan Railway Excursion Season may be consi-
dered at an end. The hundreds of thousands of
people released from the burden of their daily
occupations, not only in this great metropolis, but
in our manufacturing and other hives of industry,
are returning from their various jaunts to the
lakes, to the watering places, to the coast, to the
Scottish moors, or the far-western Galway. The
public are, in no small degree, indebted to our
railway companies for opening out such opportu-
nities of locomotion as have been provided for
them during the past season. We have not all
spent our holidays in the same districts, but let
us just consider where we have had the opportu-
nity of spending them. The London and North
Western Railway offered facilities for silting
Scotland, Ireland, North Wales, and the Lake
districts, upou most liberal terms to tourists. Five
guineas or thereabouts franked a man for •
month all the way from London to Killarney and
back again, permitting him to stop at various
plaCes on his route, and to enjoy all the luxuries
of tint class accommodation. The Great Western
afforded facilities for visiting the Land's End and
places on the coast of Cornwall and of Devonshire,
not, perhaps, on terms so absolutely cheap, but
still on conditions that were advantageous to fami-
lies. Ibis company declined to issue excursion
tickets to single persons, but they gave them to
parties of not less than three persons, at • rate of
3/. ss. to any West Cornwall station. Their rates
to South Wales (Milford Haven and Tenby) cor-
responded very much with these. To Guernsey and
Jersey, the Great Western made return fares, by the
Weymouth packets, at the rate of 45a. for the
monthly ticket ; and these tickets were issued
singly. They made cheap rates, also, to the Isle
of Man, franking any person from London there
and back, rid Liverpool, for 31. 10s. These rates,
however, were, no doubt, regulated by competition
with the South Western in the one case, and the
North Western in the other, and therefore scarcely
represented this company's arrangements for
excursion traffic. The Great Eastern, on
the other side of England, opened out
its district this year with remarkable liberality. It
can scarcely compete with the Great Western dis-
trict in the attraction of its sea-coast places of
resort, but still Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Aldborough,
Harwich, and other places in Norfolk, Suffolk,
and Ems; are by no means without their attrac-
tions, and proximity to London gives them great
advantages in the eyes of many. The rates which
were made by this company for excursion traffic
were extremely reasonable ; and they offered •
great additional inducement to tourists by im-
proving their train service, not merely in the num-
ber of the trains, but in the increase of their
speed. The Great Northern Railway made liberal
rates for tourists to the east coast of Scotland, to
Scarborough and Harrogate, and to the Lincoln-
shire sea coast. The well-skilled manager of this
line especially sought to open out those points of
resort to the inhabitants of the larger Midland
towns touched by the Great Northern, such as Not-
tingham, Lincoln, Retford, Hull, Sheffield,Bredford,
Huddersfield, and Manchester. Through rates
were, moreover, made by this company with the
South Western, so as to enable tourists from the
Midland districts to visit the Isle of Wight, the
coast of Dorset, and the Channel Islands at very
moderate rates. The Midland Railway Company,
acting on the same principle and in combination
with other companies, made cheap rates from the
interior to almost every part of the anat. Their
excursion ticket arrangements afforded facilities
for visiting not only their own district proper, each
as the Peak of Derbyshire, Matlock, Morecambe
Bay, and Ingleton, but the west of England (rid
Bristol), the east of England (rid Peterborough),
North and South Wales, the Lake district, Ireland
and Scotland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands,
and even the south coast from Hustings to Bourne-
mouth. This company, in fact, ramifying through all
the Midland districts, crossing from nun to west, and
uniting great lines both at north and south, was able
to offer peculiar facilities to excursionists from the
Midland districts. But none of the lines, perhaps,
afforded more facilities than the South Western.
By its arrangements with the North Devon, it was
enabled this year greatly to extend its facilities for
excursionists, and the cheapness of its rates and
the expedition of its trains enabled it, despite
many disadvantages, to open out the northern
coast of Devon to • multitude who flooded it to
such an extent as often, during the season, to
overflow the accommodation which such compara-
tively small places as Ilfracombe, Lynmoutb, Lyn-
ton, and Clovelly were able to provide.
This development of excursion traffic in Great
Britain cannot but be regarded as a very
striking and interesting feature as well in
railway affairs as in the national progress
of our country. Its effect upon locality
is very remarkable. Contrast the condition
of some places on our coast which rail-
ways have not touched with the condition of
places to which they have afforded access. Bangor,
• few years ago, was a miserable village—it can now
boast of some of the handsomest hotels in England,
and all of them thronged during the mum by 'whi-
ter* to the Britannia Bridge, and tourists to North
Wales. On the other hand, Aberystwith, with which
Bangor can bear no comparison as • bathing place,
is not only unprogressive, but is comparatively do-
wned. Its population are sighing for the railway
facilities which are promised, but not yet afforded
to it. On the east roast, in like manner,
Lowestoft, through the enterprise and energy of
Sir Morrow Pero, has risen, in connexion with
the railway system, from • paltry fishing town to
• moat elegant watering.place; its pier, its shore,
its hotels, its lodging-houses, its baths, and libra-
ries, aad general amusement+, challenging comparison
with those of any place of the same class. Cromer,

on the other hand, not yet reached by rail, al-
though possessing in many respects far superior
attractions to Lowestoft, ia, by comparison, a very
mean and miserable village--ill-supplied with the
net necessaries of life, and ill provided with ac-

commodation for visitors. In the Lake district we
see, in the same way, the effect of railway facilities
at Furness Abbey, Coniston, Grasmere, Winder-
mere, and other places, where hotels have sprung
up and villas have been erected, which afford
accommodation both to passing travellers, and
visitors who prolong their stay. On the south
and west coasts aloo, we are all familiar with what
railways have done for Hastings, St. Leonardo,
Eastbourne, Brighton, Worthing, the Isle of Wight,
and other places, even to Torquay. And here still
more remains to be done. The Isles of
Purbeck and of Portland have yet to be
opened. The lovely coast from Lyme Regis
t 3 Exmouth is at present but little frequented.
The magnificent scenery of Kingabridge, Salcombe,
and the Start Point, was said by a popular writer,
not long ago, to be as unknown as Kamschatka,
and it still remains to be opened by the access which
the new railway to Dartmouth will partially afford
to it.

The effect of excursion traffic upon the face of the
country is not, however, more remarkable than the
effect upon the population. Both those who visit
and those who are visited are improved by it.
Amongst the best in their effects are those occa-
sional excursion trains, such u "MARCUS'S"
or. the London and North Western, and
the South Wales and West of England Ex-
cursions on the Great Western, which for
less than 20s. carry the working population and
servants of the metropolis to visit their friends in
different parts of England, giving them a week or
a fortnight, as they may have time to spare, to go
and to return. These trains have not always been
so well managed as they might be, mainly, per-
haps, because they are overcrowded. But this
very fact illustrates how much they are sought
after, and what benefits they afford. Probably
there are few families in this metropolis who do
not know of some poor person who has desired to
take advantage of the " cheap excursion train " to
visit relatives in the country, or scenes of early
life rendered more dear and hallowed by recol-
lections of departed friends. The opportunity of
getting to these distant points ouce a year, for •
sum within the compass of almost the poorest, is
a boon for which we have to thank the railway
system.
And this leads to the observation that this ex-
cursion traffic prove' a principle very important to
be obeervedin railway affairs—namely, that tt e

interests of the public and of the railway com•
panies are identical, and not antagonistic. The
great object of railway companies must be to in-
duce passengers to travel ; and the great induce-
ment to travel is a low scale of fares. Now, a low
scale of fares is precisely what is wanted by that
portion of the public who travel as excursionist' ;
and accordingly, whilst the public who seek this
sore of accommodation look for low rate; that
which directorates and railway managers have to
look for is the maximum amount of gross
revenue they can obtain by affording the
fullest facilities and temptations to travel
to excursionists. In some cases (as in
that of the Great Western, already referred to),
it may be doubted whether this principle has been
sufficiently regarded, and whether the line may not
have suffered in consequence. It might be worth
ascertaining what were the relative excursion
traffics carried by the Great Western and the
South Western during the past season ; and it
may be still more worthy the consideration of rail-
way managers whether, now that excursion traffic
in Great Britain is being so fully developed, new
opportunities and facilities might not be afforded,
even at reduced rates. It is to be borne in mind
that excursion traffic costs nothing beyond the cost
of running the trains. There is little or no
" handling," as in the case of goods conveyed by
railway ; the weight of the passengers is small, and '
consequently the cost for engine power less ; and
if passengers require a superior description of car-
riage, that expense is compensated for by tie
greater durability of passenger vehicles.
In this view of the case excursion traffic
might be conducted as cheaply as goods
traffic or coal traffic, provided a relative
amount was obtainable. And the question for
railway managers is, whether such an amount as
would pay could not be obtained at even lower
rates than those now adopted. We submit this
especially to the consideration of the enterprising
managers of new lines. For what minimum sum
could the London, Chatham, and Dover, for instance,
carry excursion passengers from London to the sea-
coast and back with profit 1 Such questions are
rot unworthy deliberate consideration by the
companies which they concern.

MR.. JOHN STUART MILL AND THE
EMANCIPATION MEETING AT EXETER-HALL

.
Mr. Jobn Stuart Mill was invited to take part
in the great meeting at Exeter-hall on Tuesday
evening, but was unable to do so in consequence of
his absence from England. His reply is as
follows:

Avigeoe, October 19,1863.

Dear Sir,—Your note ommening the meeting to be held
to-morrow reached me to-day. I regret my inability to
►tteod the meeting, and also that I was unable to give you
the immediate answer you requested. The meetings which
haws bees held for the rupees of hearing Mr. Beecher have
been very intialactory, and his addressee num bays done
much good.—l am, tic.,
(Biped) J. S. Wu.
F. W. Chamois, Esq., Hon. Secretary of the
Emancipation Society.