The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-06 00:00:00

RAIL WA

TO TIIE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—Elm log for many years t.bnerved the independen t
and impartial tone which your paper has always evineel
upon matters, whether political or not, and recol-
lecting the immense amount of information which

you furnished at the time when railway projects

and property were so constantly before the numerous
Committees of both Houses of Parliament a few years

ago, I propose, if you will, to lay a few remarks before

,he public, through your columns, on the important

subject of Railway Amalgamation which is just now
engrossing so much of general attention.
The time for doing so is the more appropriate, apart
from the reason just assigned; for we are at length or-

rived at a definite position in oar railway system. The
great body of the country is furnished with the main

sunk lines which form the avenues of commerce, and
he chief moans of minor social intercourse. The sub-

sidiary branches which were necessary to c minact
secondary but yet highly important places and districts
with the arteries of the country, have, in a vast number
of instances, been constructed, and are in daily admirable
working order. A network of railways is a term that is
no longer an hyperbole in England. A single glance at the
map will prove its correctness and astonish us with the
amount of the skill and capital that has been expended
for its completion, and the magnitude of the advantages
which have been enjoyed by-every class of the community

_
from its constitution.
The benefits derived from railways have been incalcu-
lable. To say nothing at present of the immensity of
those operations which have put 200,000 labourers into
constant employment during the last ten years,—thus
relieving the poor rate and the labour market to an in-
calculable extent—which have brought into play an
amount of artistic and mechanical skill which was Lever
equalled, and which never could have been suspected—
which have elicited an amount of business-talent, and a
depth, variety, magnitude, and adaptedness of scientific
attainment which has so wonderfully advanced the great-
' ness and the wealth of the country, and placed her

prosperity on the surest and most enduring basis: to say
nothing of all this, we have only to look at this grand
network of railways, to beer the daily accounts of how
time has been almost annihilated, how convenience has
been furthered, and how the country has progressed in
solid wealth at the present moment, and how its pro-
gress has been provided for the future, to become in some
degree aware of the importance of our great railway
system of communication.
And yet railways do not pay, or least they do not re-
turn such dividends as ought to be paid for the immense
amount of skill, labour, and attainment as are represented
by the investments of the shareholders, and the energy,
thought, and power, by which these investments are, or
ought to be, turned to account for the benefit of the deposi-
tors, through the use of whose capital the several lines have
been formed. It is generally supposed, so generally in-
deed that it has become an axiom, that all adventures
entered upon by private individuals, however numerous,
however wealthy, however combined, are to a certain
extent hazardous, decidedly more so than any that ore
promulgated by the authority of a state, however tem-
porary or insecure in character it may be. This notion
has prevailed from time immemorial, and with the repu-
diation of the United States before their eyes, the griev-
ous malversations of the Mexican bonds, the hollow de-
ficiency of the Austrian loan, and the miserable short-
comings of the Spanish and Portuguese Governments,
patent to their senses, Englishmen have rather trusted
to state credit than to the security proffered by pub-
lie faith, through the instrumentality and sound organi-
zation of a number of private individuals.
Such being the case, the principle is evidently esta-
blished that private enterprize ought to reap a higher
reward than any that can be obtained from investments
in a state fund. All experience is in favour of such a
view. Just in proportion to the risk, so ought to be the
the risk in railways he but small, it is at any
croabtgain.ahactastteneeepd.rrciaisonffitiatg:eenrsffctmdtotti affirmed that no state countenance secures the divi-
dends. Yet why should not this be at least virtually the
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pupil-
lage, and standing on the groundwork of their own merits,
ought to be able to put forth the hand to pluck the fruit
of that perseverance and wisdom by which its maturity
has been at length completed.
But it is not so. In innumerable instances the share-
holders are unable to taste that for which they have
wrought. It is not because they are too small in their
number, for numerically they are of more importance than
the creditors of the national debt itself. The amount of
property which they hold now reaches to more than
300,000,0001. sterling, an amount that has never been
subscribed by private enterprize before since the world
began.
Looking at the matter, in its relative as well as its direct
bearings, it would appear that it becomes of national con-
cern. It may not indeed be too much to assert that there is
hardly a town or a hamlet in the kingdom in which
there is not some one immediately interested in our rail-
way system.
Being of the nature of freehold property—for though
the shares are mere personality, the basis of their value
is unquestionably freehold—a lower rate of return has
been put up with than would under any other circum-
stances have been endured. Bat yet, though of
freehold nature, it is not more so than is funded pro-
perty, but partakes of its character—the only difference
being that the whole property of the state is pledged to
reimburse and secure the fundbolder, while the share-
holder has only his own line and the security of his fel-
low-shareholders to fall back upon. He ought, therefore,
to receive the greater reward, especially as he has not
only to rest upon the security of the property, but also
upon the good faith of those with whom he acts, and
with whom, it should be remembered, ho is a partner,
and upon whose credit, to a certain extent at least, its
value depends.
But, Sir, I must remember that your space is valuable,
I will, therefore, conclude for to-day; and, in my next,
show how this immense mass of property has been
affected by its past management, and how it is likely to
be affected, and how the public is likely to be affected
by the proposed fusion of interests among several of the
great companies now in progress, and who, in their
constituents, comprise nearly the whole of the moneyed
population of the country, remaining, Sir, your very
obedient servant,

BEra