The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-11 00:00:00

any of tluf emergencies which can re fore',
to arise in the course of his employment.
4th. That he should be able to prodube an unina-
l'chable character for sobriety, steadiness, attention
to orders, and general good conduct'.
These may be looked upon as conditions which the
public has a right .to expect, and which ought to be
introdtieed generally at the earliest possible period ; at
the same time, however, it must be borne in mind, that
great discretioniiill be necesdry, in the first instance,
especially with regard to engine-drivers already in the
employment of railway companies.
With regard to the details of the system of license
and examination, we should recommend :-
1. That it should commence at a period of three
months from the passing of the Act, and apply to all
engine-drivers employed in the course of the public.
traffic.

2. That all candidates for licenses should be brought
forward by railway companies.
3. That the examination should be conducted by not
less than two persons nominated by the Board of Trader
one of whom, as a general rule, should be the engineer
of the company by whom the candidates are brought
forward ; the final decision of each case resting with the
Board of Trade.

4. That the license should be kept by the company,
by whom the engine-driver is employed, and a bacbc
given with the license to be worn conspicuously.
5. That the Board of Trade should keep a register
of licenses, and have power to cancel or suspend licenses .
6. That if an engine-driver leaves his situation, or is
dismissed, notice should be given by the company
to the Board of Trade, and the company should be
bound to keep the license and badge until instructed by
the Board of Trade whether to cancel, suspend, or give
them up to the engine-driver.
7. In cases of emergency the Board of Trade should
have the power of dispensing with the penalty of em-
ploying unlicensed persons as engine-drivers.

STATISTICAL.
We now come to the question of statistical infor-
mation. The committee on railways considered it in-
dispensable that the department intrusted with the super-
vision of railways should havejthe means el:obtaining full
information on all points connected with the warlfing of
the railway system, and they reported the following
resolution to the Huse :---
"That it is the opinion of the Committee that this
department should have the power to call for any re-
turns, financial or statistical, which in the judgment of
this department may be necessary for the performauee
of its duties."

By the 3d and • 4th of Victoria, cap. 97, sec. 3, the
power of calling for returns is limited to certain returns
therein enumerated, viz., " Returns of the aggretisto
traffic in passengers, according to the several classes,
and of the aggregate traffic in cattle and goods re•
spectively, as well as of all accidents attended with
personal injury ; and also a table of all tolls, rates,
and charges from time to time levied en each
class of passengers, and on cattle and goods conveyed
on the railway." And it is further provided, " that
such returns shall be required in like manner, and
at the same time, from all railway companies, unless
the Board shall specially exempt any company, and
shall enter the ground of such exemption in the minutes
of their proceedings."
The information which would be furnished by these
returns, if literally complied with, is extremely limited,
and comprises nothing which is not already voluntarily
given to newspapers, and published for the information
of shareholders at every half-yearly meeting.
Tile subjoined forms of returns which we have issued
contain several particulars, such as the average charge
per mile on passengers and goods of different classes,
distinguishing toll from charge for locomotive power,
which will furnish the groundwork of much valuable sta-
tistical information.

(The forms follow in the report.)
Independently of the doubt which may exist whether
all the particulars in the above forms are warranted by
a strict construction of the Act, it is evident that much
more is require:!. in order to make the railway depart-
ment of the Board of Trade such a register of statistical
information as was contemplated by the Select Com-
mittee on Railways.
Among the principal objects of statistical inquiry
may be enumerated :-
1. The methods of construction adopted upon differ-
ent railways. . _ _

2 'Filo. cost of construction, analysed into its differ.
ent elcruent!.

3. The cost of keeping the permanent works in
repair.

4. The methods of working adopted upon different
lines, especially with reference to the nature of the en-
gines, carriages, wheels, axles, and other important par-
ticul trs, respecting which difference of opinion exists
among practical men.
5. The cost of working analysed into its different
clement 3, r.nd especially every particular calculated to
throw Itght upon the cost of locomotive power. .

.• .
G. Tile amount and nature of the accommodation
afforded to the public, including, as an important item,
the rate of speed, the degree of regularity, and the ar-
rangements with other lines for forwarding passengers
and goods.
7. Tar result of experiments tried upon different lines. 't-)
It i:, for the Legislature to decide whether the ac-

quisijen of accurate information upon these and the
various other topics of statistical inquiry necessary in •
order to throw light upon the railway system consti-
tutes an olject of sufficient national importance to jus-
tify their adoption of the resolution of the Committee
above referred to. Our duty is discharged in
pointing out the limited nature of the powers confer-
red by the present Act, and the necessity of giving the
railway department the more extensive power recom-
ntended by the Committee, if it is wished to render it
efficient for the purpose of collecting and registering
statistical information.
PROTECTION OF THE PUBLIC INTERESTS.
The powers given to the Board of Trade by the Act
for regulating railways may be classed under two heads-
1. Enforcement of the provisions of Railway Acts.

2. Revision of by-labs.
For the former object the provisions of the present
Act (3 and 4 Victoria, c. 97, s. 11 and 12) appear
sufficient ; and although, from the ample and indefinite
nature of the powers given to railway companies, it does
not appear likely that the public interests will often
suffer from any attempt directly to infringe upon the
provisions of their Acts, there can be no question that
the power given to the Board of Trade is highly use-
ful as a check, and ought to be continued.
With regard to the remaining power of disallowing
by-laws, this is necessarily of a very limited nature, be-
ing confined to " by-laws, orders, rules, and regulations,
which impose penalties for the enforcement thereof
upon persons other than servants of the company."
In a majority of cases no such by-laws or regulations
exist. Of 77 railway companies to whom a circular was
addressed, calling upon them to make returns of their
by-laws, in terms of the Act, 43 have either made no
return, or made a return that they had no by-laws within
the meaning of the Act.
Of the remaining thirty-four the by-laws and regula-
tions relate almost exclusively either to matters of little
practical importance or of local detail. Most of those
which inflict penalties are proper in themselves, and
sanctioned by the precedent of provisions of a similar
nature contained in the Acts of other Railway Com-
panies ; as, for instance, by-laws imposing penalties
upon smoking, improper conduct, intoxication, wilful
damlge to tile Compeny's property, and attempts to
defraud.

In all these cases the mal-administration, if any
exists, must depend, not on the by-law itself, but on
the manner in which its provisions arc carried into
effect, over which the Board of Trade has no control.
In the same way with regard to the booking of places
and collection of tickets, the only subject of really
practical importance which is brought under the juris-
diction of the Board of Trade by the returns in ques-
tion, the regulations imposing penalties afford little in-
formation as to the system actually adopted ?ponattioy
particular railway. At the same time we feel bound.to
tion, and
.heorw that the
state that no complaints have been addresseda us
since the railway department came into op
that we have no evidence before us t
which have been re.
power
exercised.
eimrepisoesdin.
The by-laws and regulations imposing penalties by by-laws h°as" been oppres-
sivelyturned to the Board of Trade appear
ad of informality and
technical defects ; but in many instances
open to objections on the g
re
power of disallowance
asth
to US to be intended for the
protection of the pub
given by the Act appi?carsin
matters of practical im-
portance, and not as a means of indirectly taking the
enactment of
r 1?-y-
-15ws into our own bands, we have not
thought it advisable to exercise it where no more sub-
stantial objection :appeared than the want of uniformity
and correctness.
We arc fully aware that it is objectionable that the
public should be subjected to a different code of by-
laws upon every different railway, and that it is desira-
ble to introduce more uniformity into the form as well
as the substance of these regulations ; but we think it
better to attain this object gradually and by the co-
operation of the railway companies themselves, than by
straining the power of disallowance given by the Act.
Indeed, from what has been already stated, it is evi-
dent that the Board of Trade could do but little with
its present powers towards the enforcement of an uni-
form system of regulations upon all the railways of the
kingdom, since more than half the number are relieved
by the provisions of their several Acts from the neces-
sity of making by-laws at all, and therefore do not come,
in that respect, within the jurisdiction of the Board.
The first step towards the introduction of an nniform
system must be the enactment of a generalßailway
Act, consolidating the scattered provisions similar
e-
rent Acts of Incorporation which relate
to
of the ff
ob-
jects, and defining clearly the objects and nature of the
n
sub-legislative powers give to companies, and the ob-
ligationsr dtheir exercise:
regard to
imposed upon them in
In the meantime, unless
the Legislature should think
fit to extend the duties (and powers of the Board of
Ti ado with regard to the supervision of the arrange.
ments of railway companies by which the publie inte-
rests are affected, the power of disallowing