The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-31 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 31, 1846

lines in operation extend to 1,000 kilometres (about 620 that in a given population the traffic of the small
miles), and the whole number of kilometres to which the , towns and villages along a line is proportion-
railways will extend in six years is estimated at nearly ately greater than the traffic between two large
6,000 (about 3,760 miles). cities at the termini. New branches of industry
All the lines of France, with one or two exceptions, are everywhere called into existence by the facility and
before the introduction of this system, are conceded for cheapness of communication aff)rded by railways ; and
terms of years varying from 99 to 25. land previously of little or no value is at once made
In Germany, divided as it is into a number of inde- productive by cheap access to materials by which the
pendent states, the adoption of a systematic plan of rail I soil may be improved, and to markets for disposing of
ways was attended with greater difficulty. The nature • its produce. on the subject of this revolution in the
of the country, however, especially of Prussia, for the value of land, some important evidence is given by Mr.
most part level, suggested the construction of them at an Miller, and by Mr. Smith, of I)eanston. Mr. Miller
early period. The choice of lines was at first the work states that manufactories of sulphuric acid, extensively
of chance, but the different Governments soon became used for agricultural purposes, have been established in
convinced of the necessity of regulating by treaties the suitable situations by the sides of railways in several
direction of their lines, and proceeding according to a districts of Scotland, and that manures are conveyed on
systematic plan. them at charges lower than the mere tolls on turnpike
In Austria, Prussia, and the other German States, the i roads. Mr. Smith states that upon those lines which
•
construction of lines has generally been conceded to pri- have been in existence for some years, over which he
vete companies. In Austria the concession is for fifty has had occasion to travel, a very great agricultural im-
years. and in Prussia until the capitals of the companies provement has taken place, chiefly in consequence of the
have been extinguished by sinking funds, with a right of cheapness and facility of transport ; and by way of illus-
purchase, and revision of tolls and fares. The minor trating the amount of the benefit, he takes a farm of 200
German States generally concede the lines on lease. acres, on a six-course shift, with 15 miles of transport,
In this country alone were companies allowed the and shows that by the old mode the charges of carriage
possession of lines in perpetuity, subject to no available would amount to 1421. 6s. 3d., while by railway it would
conditions. be only 401. Bs. 9d. Mr. Smith states also that land
That France should have concluded arrangements for along the Glasgow and Edinburgh Railway, previously
the construction of her railways on so much better terms not worth ss. an acre, is now worth between 30s. and
than have been obtained in England, cannot fail to strike 40s. By way of illustrating the benefit of railroads,
with astonishment those who reflect on the superiority when the charges are sufficiently low, this intelligent
of this country in wealth, industry, density of popula- witness further states, that "a low rate would very
tion, and number of great towns, and OR the readiness greatly tend to the increased consumption of manures,
which has always been evinced to embark capital in un- and to the transport of earth for agricultural purposes ;
dertakings promising a fair return, while France has no that this would give increased produce to the land, which
superiority over England in the means of construction. would enable the agriculturist to furnish his commodity
But not only were our advantages not turned to due at a lower rate ; that this cheapness again would increase
account by the Government in the outset, for which the consumption in large towns ; and in manufacturing
some excuse was perhaps to be found in our inexpe- populations it would also create a greater traffic upon
rience ; the opportunity for imposing suitable conditions the railways, and enable them still further to reduce
on railway companies was not seized when that excuse their rates ; and as the heavier articles are more con-
no longer existed. sumed by the working classes, it would add very much
Year after year companies obtained Acts for the con- to their comfort ; and there are great tracts of country
struction of lines through the most important districts which would be cultivated to much advantage, if
of the country, characterised by the same disregard for favoured by railway communication, which are now al-
the interest of the public. Companies still obtained lines lowed to lie comparatively barren."
in perpituity ; the maximums for fares were still fixed With regard to these views of Mr. Smith, as to the
at far too high a rate ; and the conditions imposed were important change which railways might effect in agricul-
of so vague a character, and so utterly inapplicable to lure, by the transportation of manure and earths, your
the subjects which they professed to regulate, that they Committee conceive that as the fertility of soils depends
could hardly ever be enforced or made available to the on the proportion which certain earths bear to each other
protection of the public. in their composition, it is.merely a question whether, by
The first material attempt on the part of the Legisla- any mode of transport, the proportions of earths can be
Lure to place the public in a more advantageous position so varied as to create fertility at an expense which would
with regard to railways was not a very successful one. be remunerative. It has been demonstrated by an in-
The 7 and 8 Vic., c. 85, provides that after a lapse of telligent gentleman, who has devoted much attention to
twenty-one years, when the dividends shall equal or ex- this subject, that the cost of conveyance diminishes with
coed 10 per cent., the Lords of the Treasury, on giving every increase of quantity. Taking fixed sums for the
three months notice, may revise the scale of tolls, fares, interest on the capital and working the railway, the
and charges. The hope of revision held nut by this charge (which with a traffic of 20,000 tons would only be
clause, was, however, quite illusory, for no precautions remunerative at 100. a mile), with a traffic of 1,000,000
had been taken to settle the principle on which dividends tons, would be remunerative at about a halfpenny a mile.
should be calculated. The capitals on which dividends It is impossible, therefore, to over-estimate the import-
were declared exceeded in many cases by large sums the ance of this new instrument placed at the command of the
actual outlay ; and
,there existed no effisietit system of agriculturist.
accountability by which Parliament could obtain any- Cheapness of fares may thus create a traffic which
thing like an accurate knowledge of the net profits of otherwise could not possibly exist. It is. therefore, of
railway companies. By the Companies Clauses Conan- the utmost importance to determine whether fares should
lidation Act of 8 Victoria, certain rules were laid down be fixed according to a scale, which while it remunerates
with respect to the aegnaentation of capital by the area- the railway, would allow of the existence of a valuable
tion of new shires, but your Committee are given to traffic, or according to a scale which would prevent it.
understand that this Act does not prevent companies These considerations ought not to be lost sight of in
from allocating shares among the proprietors at par when determining how railways may be made most conducive
actually at a premium, in order that they may pocket to the public benefit. The object to be effected by rail-
the premiums. ways ought to be, the affording, at the least expense, the
It is established by the most satisfactory evidence, utmost facility of communication between different locali-
that in the case of many companies large additions have ties, and the utmost development of the national re-
been made to the nominal capitals, beyond what has sources. This object, which hitherto has been little
been required by the actual outlay, through the creation attended to in this country, where the interests of the
of shares, not at the current market price, but at par. public have too often been sacrificed to the supposed lute-
To take one of the most common operations of the suc• rests ofrailvvay companies, was much better understood by
restful companies, if fir instance, shares being at cent. the Belgian Government. Havingdetermined to carry lines
per cent. premium, a million were required for an un- through the kingdom, on a principle which should im-
dertalsing, asid to raise that million shares for a million part to every locality the benefit of this improved means
were created in order to enable the proprietors to divide of communication, they saw that the railways them-
among themselves another million in the shape of pre- selves would aid them in giving effect to their intentions.
mimes, it is clear that the nominal capital exceeds by The excess of receipts beyond the expenditure on some
500,0001. that of which the actual outlay required the lines, instead of being transferred, as in this country, to
creation, and. consequently. that a dividend is made on the pockets of individuals, was applied towards the con-
s sum exceeding by so much Oat outlay. In this way struetlon of other lines through districts less advan •
the °aka of Parliament, in subjecting companies to a tageously circumstanced. The Belgian Government
revision of fares when the dividends should equal or ex- traced a general plan of railways, embracing as a net-
ceed ten per cent., could always be defeated. Mr. work the whole country. The State lines were corn-
Hudson, a Member of your Committee, specified several [Bence(' on the sth of May, 1835, and completed in Oc-
instances, in companies with which he was connected, tober, 184.3. The fares for passengers, extremely low
where large additions were made to the nominal capitals from the first, have been occasionally reduced when in-
by these and ocher means. For instance, he states, that crease of traffic enabled the Government to make the
by an arrangement between the Great Northern and reduction.
the Great North of England Railway, it was stipulated In Prussia, a comprehensive system of lines, em-
that the latter should receive 10 per cent- on every 501. bracing the whole kingdom as with a network, and ex-
share till 1851, when they had a claim to be paid off in tending to upwards of 3,200 English miles, was traced
four per cent. stock at 2501. a share ; thus creating a several years ago. Of these lines nearly 700 miles are
new nominal capital of 2501. for every 50!. He states completed; about the same number of miles are in the
also that, to meet a purchase by the Newcastle and course of construction; upwards of 800 miles finally
Darlington Company, new 251. shares were issued to the adopted, and upwards of 900 remain merely as pro-
proprietors at par, when they were at a premium of 20/. jeers. Though the undertakings were committed to
It is obvious that the money required could have been private companies, the necessity of Government inter-
obtained by a much smaller issue of shares, had the 20/. Terence was soon felt. The fundamental law of the
premiums, as well as the 25/. shares, been applied to the Prussian Government respecting railways is dated the
purposes cf the company, and not divided as a bonus 3d of November, 1838. Three years are allowed to
among the proprietors. companies to fix definitely, from experience, what rates
This practice of swelling the nominal amount of ought to be charged; but the tariff, at the commence-
stocks beyond the actual outlay on the lines, which has meat, and in case of an increase of fares, six weeks he-
extensively prevailed, was recently noticed in reports fore the alteration, must be communicated to the Go-
presented by Mr. Ellice from the Select Committee on vernment. At the end of three years the companies are
Group (58) of Railway Bills, in which it is stated that to receive a concession of the fares and charges in the
in the Hull and Selby Purchase Bill the actual outlay and tariff agreed on between them and the Ministry. In
estimates for further works is 955,363/., while the money fixing the tariffs, the rates are in no case to exceed
to be raised by the Bill is two millions, extending the what corresponds with the receipts, after deducting
outlay and engagements of the Hull and Selby proprie- the expense of maintaining and working the lines,
tors by the large sum of nearly a million, and that in and a dividend in no case higher than ten per cent. or
the Great North of England Purchase Bill, the actual lower than six per cent. The fares to be subject to re-
outlay and estimate for additional works is 1,496,796/. vision after periods of not less than three years, and not
18s. 4d., the proposed capital 4,000,000/., exceeding the exceeding ten years ; but the companies, though they
actual outlay and engagements of the Great North of cannot increase, may dimiili the prescribed rates ; and
England proprietors by the sum of 2,503,0031. Is. Bd. exact accounts of everything relating to the concerns
The Committee in question add the observation that, in must be submitted yearly to the Ministry. A sinking
their opinion, "It would be greatly for the public inte- fund, corresponding with the capitals to be fixed after
rest that some fixed and uniform rule should be clearly the second Prussian railway has been opened three years,
laid down by the House for the guidance of their Co al- and the necessary experience has been obtained, to be
mittens with respct to the whoe system of raising ca- applied in extinction of the capitals ; and the tolls, on
pital, loans, the conversion of loans into capital, the pay- the completion of the extinction, not to exceed the ex-
ment of rents and profits on separate lines and branches, pense of maintaining and working the lines. The post
not from the a.ctual traffic on such separate branches and its servants to be conveyed free. Lines may be
and lines, but from the surplus receipts of old corn- purchased after thirty years, at twenty-five years of the
panics, in all cases where new powers for raising money net profits, on an average of the five preceding years.
are applied (or, of extension, purchase, or amalgamation In this country no comprehensive system has ever
Bills." 'These illustrations of a system extensively pre- been traced. The lines promising the most ample re-
valent, which are taken from numerous instances brought turns were, as a matter of course, first selected by corn-
before the notice of your Committee, are sufficient to panics ; but the best mode of communicating the benefit
prove that so long as it is suffered to continue, the in- of railways to the kingdom, considered as a whole, was
tentions of Parliament in passing the 7th and Bth Vice only incidentally considered by Committees in deciding
must be defeated. between rival projects. The Committee of the Board of
This practice of issuing new shares to the present Trade, in some of its reports, first attempted to lay down
shareholders at par has not been allowed in any other principles more worthy of the Legislature of a great
country. Mr. William Reed, a director of the Paris and country, by which it should be governed in regard to its
Rotten Railway, states, that when the exigencies of the railways.
company rendered it necessary for them to raise money, Your Committee conceive that the advantages of sys-
they applied to the Government to he allowed to issue to tern in determine- on railways are sufficiently obvious.
the then shareholders new shares at par, in the proeor- The best system is that which, at the least expense, and
that of one new share for every five shares they hell. with the least sacrifice of soil, affords the greenest facili-
This application was rejected by the Ministry, and they ti es to intercourse, and the greatest encouragement to
borrowed the money required, for which no authorisa. industry. By selectmg an injudicious line, the capital
tioa was necessary. The French Government c ettendsd of the country may be unnecessarily wasted, and the
that the righta of the future proprietor would be eons- population of a district may not derive all the benefits
promised by the issue of shares at par when at a pre from it to which they are entitled. By constructing two
rwurn, but it has been maintained by torn of the railroad lines where one would suffice, there is not only an ur.ne-
proprietors in this country, that it is immaterial whether cessary outlay of capital, but a waste of a portion of our
the money required by companies be raised by the crea- territory. Besides, as the cost of conveyance diminishes
tion of new stock or by loans ; and whether the share- with every increase of traffic, competing lines, by
holders receivt d increased dividends on smaller capitals, dividing the traffic, add to the cost of conveyance on the
or smaller dividends on larger capitals. But if the rate separate lines. In private concerns, no sensible man
of dividend is to determine whether the scale of fares employs more mechanical power than he conceives
shall be subjected to revision by the Government on necessary for Isis purpose ; but it is ROW almost univer-
behalf of the public, it, is of the very first consequence sally admitted that not a few of our lines have been inju-
that the capitals should correspond with the original diciously traced, both with reference to expenditure of
outlay. It may be the same thing to proprietors whether capital and local accommodation ; and that, in the fruit-
they pocket large bonuses, and increase their capitals by less hope of competition, rival lines have been sanctioned
sums exceeding the money laid out on the roads by the where they were not wanted. But the sanction by Parlia-
amount of such bonuses, and receive proportionately ment of injudicious and unnecessary lines is not the only
smaller dividends ; but it is a very different thing to the evil. 'rho mere entertainment of wild schemes, which
public, if the scales of fares are to be governed by the may never go farther than Committees of the House of
rate of dividend, whether they pay high fares or low Ceeimons, keeps owners of property in a constant state
fares. of alarm, and often subjects them to much trouble and
- -

But by another section of this Act, the second, the
Lords of the Treasury are empowered, after the expira-
tion of twenty-five years, to purchase the railways,
whatever the rate of divisible profits may be, upon giving
three calendar months' notice in writing of their inten-
tion, on payment of a sum equal to twenty -live years'
purchase of their profits, estimated on the average of the
three preceding years.
This power to purchase on such extravagant terms,
and under such limitations, held out small hopes of
relief ; so that, upon the whole, the position of the pub-
lic with regard to railways was not thereby materially
improved.
Whilst your Committee thus express their regret that
the public interests were so little consulted in the ar-
rangements with railways for so long a period, they have
seen with satisfaction the commencement of a better
system. In consequence of sessional orders of the House,
both in this and the previous session, clauses have been
introduced into all Acts relative to railways, either for
the construction of new lines or the extension of old lines
by branches, reserving the power, whenever it should be
deemed necessary, to revise and regulate the scales of
faresi and charges ; and as nearly all the great com-
panies have either obtained or applied for Acts for the
construction of branch lines, and the extension of old
lines, they have thereby enabled Parliament to place
them under such control or supervision as it may be
deemed expedient to adopt ; and thus the hope may at
length be entertained, that means for securing the public
against oppressive and extravagant charges will yet be
adopted.
Your Committee wish here to dwell a little on the irn•
mense importance to the community of a judicious sys-
tem of railways, both with reference to the selection of
lines, and the rates at which the fares and charges are
I; is hardy possible, indeed, to exaggsrate the
imp rtan of a rit'lway,
nOt only to the great cities
,
which are connected by it, but to the districts through
which it runs. It has been generaily assumed that rail-
ways are better suited for the seats of commerce and
manufacturing industry than for agricultural districts;
but a highly respectable and intelligent witness, Mr.
Samuel Morton l'eto,_ who has had considerable experi-
ence in the construction of railways in manufacturing
districts, and is deeply interested in the Norfolk lines as
a proprietor, states, as the result of his experience, that,
" the people in manufacturing districts do not travel any-
thing like so much as as agricultural population;" and
that ,` he would rather, if he c lul,l get a moderately-
priced line, have it in an assricultural district than in a
manufacturing district, as far as the population of the
district is csneerner.!." Mr. Pete adds, that the experi-
ence of Belgium fnruishery a striking corroboration of the
soundness of these views, as it has been proved by the
report of M. Desart, in whose hands the Belgian
Government placed the whole of its railway statistics,

expense in watching and resisting them. It is stated by
• several of the witnesses as matter of notoriety that more
, than half the schemes lately brought forward, and which
occupied the time of Parliament, were utterly uncalled
fer. Mr. Robert Stephenson, by way of illustrating
the inconvenience of the present system, stated in his
evidence that he could " quote a case at Wisbeach, where
within half a mile of that town, there were actually
fourteen different schemes, intersecting the land in every
possible direction, hedges cut down, and crops interfered
with. Now, all the legal expenses, and the expenses of
engineers and surveyors, have been thrown away, be-
cause only one Act had been obtained. When they
come before Parliament it is impossible to convey to the
members of this Committee a correct notion of the diffi-
culties which the Committee must have to wade through
in coming to anything like a true decision."
It is stated by Mr. Peto that many lines have been
very injudiciously laid out; and he gives, among other
instances, the Trent Valley line, promoted and purchased
by the London and Birmingham, in order to get the
most direct course to Manchester; and the lines of the
South .Eastern Company, who are obliged to incur great
expense in constructing the Mid-Kent line, to remedy
the defects of that first adopted.
Economy in the outlay of capital, and in the applica-
tion of the surface of the country to its railways, ought
always to be aimed at. In the opinion of nearly all the
witnesses practically acquainted with railway affairs
examined by your Committee the public can never bene-
fit by the competition of companies. Mr. Robert Ste-
phenson, when asked whether the lowering the fares
might not be influenced by competing lines and compet-
ing canals, gave this decided answer:—" I have had so
many eases of that kind brought before me, that I have
come to the conclusion, that wherever combination is
practi.table competition is impracticable. Therefore I
say, l =t the Government he as stringent as they like with
existing companies, but, never excite competition; be-
cause by exciting competition you increase the capital
invested for diving the same convenience which would
be otherwise obtained with less capital."
Your Committee find in the scond report of the Select
Committee appointed this session to consider the princi-
ple of amalgamation, as applied to the Railway and
Canal Bills under the consideration of Parliament, and
in the report of a Select Committee of the House of
Lords, also appointed this session, to take into consider-
ation the best means of enforcing one uniform system of
management on railroads in operation or to be con-
structed, abundant confirmation of their views as to the
hopelessness of looking to competition for the means of
securing the public interests. The more powerful com-
panies have, it appears, not only succeeded to a great
extent in obtaining the control of railway lines, from
which competition might be apprehended, but also
succeeded, by various means in obtaining a cvntrQl ,

over the canals, which, for a time, maintained a com-
petition with them is the carriage of heavy goods,
and have thus deprived the public of all the protection
at one time anticipated from this source. It would
appear from evidence received by your Committee that
railways may also be expected to encroach materially on
the coasting trade of the country. Mr. Peto states, that
a great deal of the produce of Suffolk and Norfolk, which
hitherto has been carried by coasting vessels is now con-
veyed to town by railways; and that much more will, no
doubt, be carried hereafter. Norfolk and Suffolk are
great counties for malt, much of which, formerly carried
by coasters, now reaches town by railway, cheaper and
more rapidly than by water ; and Mr. Peto states, also,
that as rates will be still further reduced with increase of
traffic, they must take away more and more of the
coasting trade, and that the only reason why more pro-
duce is not now carried, is the inability to procure at
once the requisite number of engines.
Your Committee, therefore, conceive that experience
warrants them in viewing railways in the light of mono-
polies. As expectations of relief from competiiion can-
not possibly be realised, they ought not to be longer
entertained. But the very circumstance of railways
being monopolies only renders it the more necessary to
subject them to proper regulation. The past cannot, of
course, be remedied, but the future is more in our power,
and an endeavour should be made to discover the best
means of securing to the community all the advantages
which, under a proper system, may be derived from
railways.
A monopoly, from its very nature, can only be exer-
cised with safety to the community under effective con-
trol. One of the abuses of railway management from
which the public have most suffered in this country is
the fixing the fares and charges at too high rates.
By extravagant charges, in some cases imposed with
the highly objectionable view of limiting the benefit
of railways to particular classes, in others with
the view of driving certain descriptions of animals
and produce from the lines, the railway companies
were long open to severe animadversion. A feature in
the English practice which very early attracted the no-
tice of foreigners, and is severely censured in continental
publications on railways, was the absence for a long time
of third and fourth-classes on nearly all our lines. And
even after third-class carriages were supplied, they were
for the most part so constructed as to affect health, and
did not proceed with the usual trains, but were dragged
at a pace which seemed chosen to disgust those who took
places in them. In short, it appeared as if it had been
determined to exclude the great body of the nation, un-
able of course to pay first and second-class fares, from
the benefit communicated to the more wealthy orders.
When the Belgian Minister proposed his last tariff, he
introduced a modification of the third-class fares with
the express intention of encouraging third-class pas-
sengers and inducing them to travel, by which he ex-
peered to swell the treasury receipts. The offensive
conduct of English directors, betrayed, no doubt, an ig-
norance of their true interest,, but that forms no valid
excuse for them.
Many intelligent persons who saw how much better
the convenience of the public and the encouragement of
industry was secured abroad than in this country,
where at one time fares, according to Mr. Laing,
ranged at 80 per cent. higiser than on the cond.-
Rent, were in serious apprehension for our trade and com-
merce, from the disadvantages to which they were thus
exitosed. Your Committee perceive with satisfaction
that this evil has of late considerably abated. Several
of the railway companies, of their own accord,
under the influence of public opinion and more correct
views of their interests, have lowered their scales of
fares and charges. It is admitted by most of the wit-
nesses connected with railways, examined by your Com-
mittee, that in keeping the scale extravagantly high, and
in excluding the mass of the people from the benefit of
railway conveyance, the companies took a most errone-
ous view of their own interest ; and with hardly an ex-
ception it has been found that every reduction of fares
has been at:ended with an increase of revenue. Mr.
Creed states that the difference between the prices
charged originally on the Birmingham Railway and the
present price is exactly one-third. The reductions on
the first class in the half-year ending 30th of June, 1844,
were 17-i per cent., and they caused an increase of pas.
sengers of DI per cent. ; on the second class the reduc-
tion in the hires was 26'1 per cent., and the increase- in
the cnrnher of passengers GI 1-5 per cent. ; on the third
class the reductiens in the fares was 33 1-3 per cent., and
the increase of passengers 259 per cent. ; and the reduc-
tions have in most cases increased the revenue of the
company. But were there to have been no immediate
increase of the revenue, still a regard to the welfare
and convenience of the community, which ought to be
the object of all legislation, would have demanded the
reduction.

Your Committee wish to observe, in passing, that they
regret to perceive in the evidence of this witness an at-
tempt to justify the limitation of carriages for third-class
passengers to four out of sixteen trains, not on sound
commercial principles, but by the statement, that if there
were third-class passengers with each train, it would be
considered objectionable to the other passengers, and he
refers in confirmation to what had taken place on the
North Midland line.
Your Committee carnot understand how third-class
passengers in separate carriages can interfere with the
convenience of first-class passengers, where due provi-
sion is made for the preservation of order at stations.
In Belgium, France, and Germany, carriages for all
classes proceed with every train ; and it appears, from
the evidence of Mr. M`Gregor, the Chairman of the
South-Eastern Company, that on their lines the conduct
of the third-class passengers has been uniformity inoffen-
sive, and that first-class passengers have never objected
to travel in the same train with them. The fares of the
South-Eastern Company have experienced a-greater re-
duction than those on the Birmingham line. The fares
by the express train are 2 45-100 d. per mile ; and, day
tickets, PB4-1004. per mile ; by the ordinary trains for
the first-class, 2.053., and day ticket, 1 53-100 d. per mile;
for the second-class, P 363., and day ticket, 1-02 d. ; for
the third-class, 82-100ths of a penny, and day ticket,
61 100ths of a penny. On the Scotch lines the fares
from the first have been generally lower than on any of
the English lines. On the Edinburgh and Glasgow
Railway, Mr. Miller states, that several trains a day are
run, on which fourth-class passengers pay about -d. a
mile, and third-class passengers Id. ; and he thinks that
still lower fares would be more profitable in many dis-
tricts. The fares for third-class passengers on the Glas-
gow and Greenock line are so low as J. a mile.
According to Mr. Peto, the charges on the Norfolk lines
are very ow. "We have," he says, " paid great atten-
tion to the fares there. It was a subject of deliberation
before we fixed them, and we decided that the lowest
scale of fares, lower in fact than upon any other
hoe, would be that which would bring us the largest
amount of profit ; that it would bring the greatest
number of people, and therefore would be most bene-
ficial to ourselves." The third-class passengers pay
much less on the Norwich and Brandon line than
ld. per mile ; from Norwich to Yarmouth, 22 miles,
only Is. 6d.
Notwithstanding the reductions on several of our lines
ttie fares are almost always higher, and in some cases
considerably so, than on the Belgian lines. On the State
lines, the first-class fares, which from 1835 to 1838 were
I'l3l per mile, were, on the 3d of February, 1839, raised
to 1 373. per mile ; on the 10th of April, 1841, lowered
to 1.29 d. per mile ; on the 17th of August, 1841, still
further lowered to 1•221. per mile, at which they remain
by the existing tariff. The second class fares were sue-
ces-ively at the above periole o.Bod. 0.90 d., 0-801 0.901.,
and 0 933. ; the third class fares, 040 d., 0•481,
0.551, and 0.581 It will be seen that by the existing
tariff first-class passengers are carried for something
more than Id. a mile ; second-class passengers for con-
siderably less than 13. ; and third-class passengers for
little more than a halfpenny a mile. The last tariff laid
before the Chambers by the Belgian Minister made a
reduction of 10 per cent, for third-class passengers, for
all distances short of 25 kilometres (15i miles), in order,
he said, to attract travellers for short distances, to favour
the working population, and at the same time increase
the Treasury receipts.
It is more difficult to institute any satisfactory com-
parison between the charges for goods in Belgium and
England, from the difference in the mode of rating. In
Belgium a distinction is made with respect to coal and
pig iron when destined for exportation, and when des-
tined for home consumption. In the former case the
charge is P 1273. per ton per mile ; in the latter it is
charged like other heavy goods, 1.6 Id. per ton. The
charges on twelve English railways for iron and coal
have been averaged at somewhat less than 21d. a mile,
ranging from Id. to 53. On the Hull and Selby line
the maximum for coals and coke carried 30 miles and
upwards is Id. per ton per mile ; for 20 miles, and less
than 30 miles, lid. per ton per mile ; for less than 20
miles lid. In the Great North of England Purchase
Bill the maximum for iron for 40 miles and upwards
is lid. per ton per mile; for less than 40 miles 2d. per
ton per mile; for coals, upwards of 40 miles, Id. per
ton per mile; less than 40, but upwards of 30, lid. per
ton per mile; for 20 miles, but less than 30, lid. per ton
per mile; for 10 miles, and less than 20, lid. per
ton per mile; for less than 10 miles, 2d. These maxi-
mum charges are, according to the distance, higher or
lower than the Belgian charges. In Belgium the charge
for a horse on all the lines is 6.443.; on the Hull and
Selby line the maximum is 51 per mile; in the Great
North of England Purchase Bill, sd. per mile. In Bel-
gium on all the lines the charge for five or six oxen, or
one waggon of small cattle, is 7.25 d.; for three or four
oxen, five or ten pigs or calves, or eleven to twenty
sheep, it is 6.44 d.; for one or two oxen, or one to five
pigs or calves, or one to ten sheep, it is 4.83 d. per mile.
(.)n the last-mentioned English line the maximum for
horses and other beasts of draught or burden, if con-
veyed more than fifteen miles, sd. per mile; for less
than fifteen miles, ss. the whole distance; for neat
cattle, if more than fifteen miles, 3d. per head per mile;
if one, at 2d. per mile; if more than one, if conveyed
fifteen miles only or less, 2s. for the whole distance.
These last instances are taken from one of the latest
Bills, and are much lower than the average rates in this
country; but, as has been stated, not only is there the
utmost diversity in the charges on different lines, but
also in the classification and mode of charging, so that
it is almost impossible, in goods traffic, to institute a
comparison either between the charges of different com-
panies, or between the charges of any one company and
these in foreign countries.
In 13:nlgiurn the charges for the carriage of goods are
it is understood, in many cases below the water carriage
rates; and it is stated, in the Comptc Rendu by the
Minister of Public Works of the service of the year 1844,
that the goods traffic of 1844 was about 52,000 tons,
while it was only 33,000 tons in 1843, and that it was
to the goods and cattle traffic that the very remarkable
increase of the revenue for that year, which exceeded the
estimates by 630,000 francs, had been chiefly owing.
The increase of the passenger traffic of 1844 above that
of '1843 was nine per cent., while the increase on horses
was 26 per cent., and on heavy goods 56 per cent. It
is principally, therefore, to the carriage of heavy goods,
which wakscarcely thought of a few years ago, that the
very considerable increase ill the revenue is due.