The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-30 00:00:00

RAILWAY AM AbGANIATIONS.

From the Daily ews.) I
Notwithstawling the stroug expressions of public i
°Onion against such combinations, proposals for great 1
rit%lway anus'gemations go on, as if there were no
interests in the matter worth cooideration but those
of the particular companies concerned. On the 2nd
of November three important northern companies—
the York and North Midland, the York, Newcastle,
and Bztrwick, and the Leeds and Northern—meet
to ,-)asider the terms on which their directories pro-
v.-, to unite ; and next day the London and North
We tern and the Midland proprietaries assemble to
resolve (if they follow the advice given them by their
Boards) on effecting=what the motion to he proposed
modestly calls—" a permanent union of interests."
in the one case, the amalgamation of capital and loan
stock will involve some twenty-four millions, and
6G-1 miles of locomotion; and in the other, no less a
sum th a fifty millions sterling, and more than 1,030
miles. It is not a light matter, therefore, that is in
blmj, but one affecting the public interest and conve-
nience and economy quite as much, though not quite
as immediately, as it does those of shareholders ; and
trsough on former occasions the public and its concerns
been a good deal overlooked in legislation on
lese subjects, it will be the public's own fault if they
ra similarly treated now that a new opportunity

The ganeral welfare in this question of railways
not, h :wever, concerned in low rates of profits
the
and
poor dividends. On the contrary, setting aside
public in its capacity of railway proprietaries,and
regarding it only in the light of railway travellers
isnd customers, the public will, the chances are, be
much better provided for when railway profits shall
increase, and dividends be more substantial, than they
now are. The public has, consequantly, far more
real and permanent interest in the prosperity than in
the adversity of railway companies; and to legiti-
mate and reasonable plans for restoring prosperity it
ought to give every encouragement. So doubt these
proposed am
but
aim at the restoration o such
prosperity ; but the objections to them are two: first,
that the amalgamations are an alternative resorted to
because of the unreasonable and absurd competition
into which it has pleased railway boards and officials
to fall—and which it must be far better to correct;
and second, that their tendency is to deprive the public
of 'such competition as the legislature intended should
ezeist for the public benefit.
Take the case of this Northern Amalgamation.
Tue Leeds and Northern Railway is clearly and ob-
viously a line which Parliament intended should—
en I which in point of fact did—compete with the
Tork, Newcastle, and Berwick. Had the official
people of these two lines conducted their rivalry on
sound principles the country through which they ran
wculd have been permanently benefited, and the two
ce;apanies would, in all probability, have been fairly
remunerative. But, instead of reasonable competi-
tien—competition in moderation of fares, sufficiency
of rolling stock, punctuality of trains, cleanliness of
carriages, civility of attendants, and safety of locomo-
tion—instead of indulging the public in this proper
deaeription of rivalry, they choose to lower their
rates to points which would hardly defray grease to
the wheels of their engines and carriages. And, be-
cause neither party would first give way and come
to terms as to fares and rates, they both determine
that this sort of ruinous rivalry is unavoidable except
by amalgamation, and proceed to "effect a permanent
union of interests."
Now, this sort of rivalry is a mere abuse of power
by the officials who work railways ; an unreasonable,
absurd, discreditable indulgence in their passions and
prejudices ; carried on, first at the shareholders' ex-
pense, and now to be remedied at the public cost. A
teat of good management of any railway in these
matters i 3 the amity of its relations with competing
lines. Where all is wrangling and disputes, conten-
tion and litigation, scheming and planning, allaying
And leasing, there may be a great deal (perhaps far
too much) of cleverness in the managers concerned ;
but there is very little good administration. And
the great practical truth our railway administrators
have not yet realised is the worth and value of sim-
plicity in their external relations, and of good faith
and honour in their own bargains. It may be that
the present generation of railway officials are too far
gone in the present system of management to be
cured, but if so, than the time has come for pro-
prietaries to consider whether the very best thing to
be done is not to make a clean sweep of the principal
offenders.
It is obvious, on the very surface of things, that
railway amalgamations, as at present proposed, are
mere devices by railway managers to enable them
creditably to retreat from positions dangerous to their
constituencies into which they have rushed ; to cover
their past bad policy, and to save themselves the
trouble of reforming and amending it on sound prin-
ciples.
And at whose cost is this to he done ? Why, at
that of the public, to be sure. The Leeds and Nor-
thern, and the York, Newcastle, and Berwick male
gamated, there is, of course, an end of all competition
—either in fares, rates, speed, punctuality, cleanliness,
civility, or safety—in that district. And when these
two united lines north of York are joined to the York
acrd North Midland, then there will be a great and
powerful northern confederacy, prepared to operate
adversely to the public interests on the lines competing
fur the southern traffic.
As at Normanton, this northern amalgamation—
representing 24 millions sterling will meet the
eoethern amalgamation of the North Western and
Midland,—representing 50 millions—why should these
in their turn not unite, and so overpower and destroy
all competition for the traffic between London and
York, as they will previously have done between
Leeds and Newcastle-on-Tyne ? If the proposed
amalgamation be sanctioned by the legislature, there
is no possible reason why Parliament should not next
session go further and consign the whole traffic from
London to Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, the York-
shire and Lancashire towns, York, Newcastle, and
Edinburgh, to one huge, cumbrous, lumbersome cor-
poration :—all to avoid irrational rivalry and to save
railway managers the trouble of finding out a system
of civilised competition. Nay more ; when once
Parliament has sanctioned this principle of railway
ame!gamation the difficulty will be to show cause why
it e!rould not be fully carried out, and all the railways
of ti e kingdom placed under one control. And if so,
the whole tendency of these schemes is obviously to
plare the entire railway property of the empire in the
bawls of the executive government; when either the
shareholders would have to he content with smaller
dividends than they even now get, or the public would
Dave to consent to make up better dividends out of
the general taxation of the country.
In the proposed Amalgamation Bills there is a great
pee lic principle involved, and it must be discussed
and be settled by the legislature on public grounds.
It is impossible therefore that these measures can be
permitted to go through Parliament merely as private
bills. The general question of their policy should be
considered by a select committee composed of the
most eminent men of all parties unconnected with
rail.eraya, and committees of shareholders must bo pre-
pared to act vigorously on their own behalf for the
salvation of their property and the reformation of their
officials.
Wirheut some such examination of the great ques-
tion ievo.ved, neither shareholders nor the public can
Ba'k . Shareholders : because in assenting to the
atneigeeriation they are advised and urged on by those
very officials whose former recommendations have
only led their constituents and their companies into
deeper and deeper disasters. The public : because in
the very face of these schemes of unions, it is intended
to remedy those disasters at the expense of the general
community. In the long run, the interests ef
companies and the public must be identical ; and the
leading vice of the propositions now made is, that they
involve diversity and variety of interests. This—
shereholders may rely upon—is not the way to right
railway property, and the sooner they teach their
Directors that they must find out some other plan of
remedying their own past mismanagement, the sooner
sill higher dividends be realised.
Railway shareholders must take the matter in their
hands, and see that their officials do not ruin
tb -ir property. We want railway competition—we
meet have no close of
bit . re monopoly the iron highways—
the competition we want is one of safety, punc-
te.:lity, comfort, cleanliness of carriages and moderate
fares. It is no wholesome competition that brings
Iger and often death to the railway passenger and
reu to the nilwav shareholder.

DI4ASTERS IN THE IR CHANNEL.—In the storm
of Tuesday night, the followinglsudisasters took place on
this coast:—The brig Fidelity, Dublin, on her passage
from Troon, for this port, coalnoadir, was driven ashore
at aogher Head, ten miles
hands were :tat' of Drogheda, on the
L,)uth coast. All
dfornotemrtathinee(liaostf
acconots received, there was littlee'dobßuubrtitt
Bridget, of Liver-
pool,the vessel becoming a wreck, The
with a general cargo, and bound
from the Brazils,
encountered
rho for the former port, while off Holyhead
which raged with such violence at
tht. gale,
to oblige her to make for this port, where she went
as
ash',re near the Pigeon-house, but is likely to suffer no
damage before being got off. The captain and crew all
well. The Kent, from Malaga, with a cargo of fruit,
while running in here lost her cable and anchor in the
buy. and had her headsails split, but fortunately escaped
with little other damage, and is now lying in the Cus-
tom-house Docks. No injury to the captainor crew.
LIVICRPOOL LICENSED VICTUALLERS ASSOCIATION.
—Yesterday, at twelve o'clock, the foundation-stone of
thesLiverpool Licensed Victuallers Association, Asylum
and Schools, intended to be erected in the West Derby-
road, was laid by Thomas Liddledale, Esq., Mayor of
Liverpool, in presence of a large and respectable con-
so of persons. The M s accompanied by
Charles Turner, Ma was
a ..
Sir John Bent, V • " •
Ecl M P Wm. Brown, Esq., M.P.,
en. Archdeacon ' Brooks and the Ilev.
Rector Campbell. The proceedings created, great
interest, and were conducted in tha most satisfactory
manner.