The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-07 00:00:00

THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT.

One of the inconveniences of the American Constitu-
tion is that no sooner does one President get nicely
settled in office than public opinion is disturbed
by speculating for another. Governor lloffman, of
New York, will, it is thought, be the Democratic
candidate at the next election. The prospect, if he
wins, will not be a cheery one for Englishmen. It
was he who, in his capacity as Governor of the State
of New York, placed the control of the Erie Railway
in the hands f Fisk, Gould, and Co., refusing to veto

the measure to that end, notwithstanding the remon-
strances from the respectable portion of the com-
munity.

THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL

ENGINEERS.

At the ordinary meeting of this body—Mr Chas.
B. Vignoles, F.R.S, the president, in the chair—a
paper was read "On the statistics of railway ex-
penditure and income, and their bearing on future
railway policy and management," by Mr. J. T.
Harrison, M. Inst. C.E. In reviewing the past
progress of the system advantage was taken of the
half-yearly returns made to the Board of Trade
under the Act of 1867-68, by 20 of the principal
railway companies in England and Scotland, which
represented about 85 per cent. of the entire capital
expended in the United Kingdom. These com-
panies, arranged according to the preponderance of
income derived from passengers, were the Metropo-
litan, Chatham and Dover, Brighton, South Eastern,
South Devon, Cornwall, South Western, North
London, Bristol and Exeter, Great Eastern, Great
Western, North Western, Great Northern, North
British, Lancashire and Yorkshire, Midland, Cale-
donian, North Eastern, Manchestar, Sheffield, and
Lincolnshire, and Taff Vale. The most striking
feature of this traffic was the large numerical pro-
portion of third-class passengers, and, with few
exceptions, they yielded the largest amount of
revenue. The author was, however, of opinion
that where low fares filled the trains a moderate
difference in them effectually sorted the passengers,
and tended to increase the demand for first and
second class tickets for long journeys. Attention
was next drawn to the goods traffic, to the great
importance of favourable gradients where the mine-
ral traffic was in excess, and to the probable ad-
vantage of improved communication between the
Northern and the Welsh coal-fields and the metro-
polis. It was shown that the train mirage receipts
depended upon the character of the traffic, that
when the receipts from passengers and merchandise
predominated they were high, but lowest when
minerals formed a proportion of it, which was ac-
counted for by waggons generally run empty in one
direction. As regards the expenditure, it was stated
this averaged about 48-1 per cent. of the gross re-
ceipts on nearly all the lines ; that the maintenance
of works, rolling stock, and locomotive power gene-
rally exceeded 50 per cent. of the total expenditure,
the other heavy item being about 30 per cent. for
traffic expenses. Omitting the -Metropolitan and
the Cornwall lines, the maintenance of way for
twelvemonths varied from 611. to 93. per train
mile, or, deducting £56 per mile for constants, the
cost ranged from 41d. to 61d., averaging about
old. per train mile. Carriage repairs toss from
lid. to 21d. per train mile with few exceptions.
The total locomotive charges were generally from
Bd. to 93. per train mile. The repairs amounted
to about 313. per train mile when the mineral
traffic was heavy, and to from 21d. to
3d on the passenger lines south of Loudon.
Under the head of " running expenseP the item
of wages was strikingly similar on all lines,
being about 213. per train mile. The cost of
fuel per train mile was very variable and was de-
pendent quite as much on its value per ton as on
the quantity consume I. On the southern lines,
where the consumption was small, the cost was 3d.
or 43. per train mile, while on the northern lines,
where the consumption was high, but the price was
low, it was only about 23. TIF.3 actual consump-
tion on the Great Western, North-Western, and
Great Northern might be taken at 401 b., on other
lines havi!ig a mired traffic at 5.01 b., while on mine-
ral lines where there was much shunting and pilot-
ing it rose to 601 b. per train mile. The percen-
tage of net revenue on the total capital expended
exceeded 5 per cent. per annum on eight lines,
was between 4 and 5 per cent. on fo'ir, 31 to 4 per
cent. on other four, 3 to 31 per cent. on two, and
on'y in two cases was it under 3 per cent. Two
large funds for the investment of capital were con-
sidered, and it was stated that whereas the Na-
tional Debt, amounting to 750 millions sterling,
realised a return of 261 millions per annum, or 31
per cent., the capitalexpended on railways, amount-
ing to 500 millions sterling, gave a return of 20
millions, or 4 per cent. per annum, while a sum
nearly equal to the interest on the National Debt
was annually expended in labour and materials.
Iu ex2lanatiou of the large outlay which had
been incurred on account of railways during the
last 20 years, it was observed that the general
traffic had in that period increased 240 per
cent., and the goods traffic 400 per cent., while the
capital expenditure had only increased 120 per cent.
This augmented traffic had demanded an extensive
increase in the rolling stock, sidings, and station
accommodation, and as the traffic was still on the
increase the closing of capital accounts, however
desirable, must be delayed. Other points affecting
the value of railway property were then considered,
including excessive first cost and the burden of a
high rate of interest on borrowed and guaranteed
capital, for which two remedies had been suggested
—one that the Government should take upon itself
the responsibility of the loan capital, at a market
price ; the other, an association among the leading
railway companies for the same purpose. The
means for increasing the income were then dwelt
upon, the large field open for retrenchment in the
annual expenditure, and the circumstances under
which branch lines, inexpensively constructed, were
likely to prove a remunerative investment for
capital. It was announced that the discussion
would be taken at the meeting of Tuesday, the Bth
instant.

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