The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-18 00:00:00

RAILWAY FARES.

On Thursday evening a paper was read at the Inventors'
Institute, by Mr. R. Brandon, on " Consolidation of
Management of Railways, and Uniformity of Fares for all
Distances." Mr. Brandon having pointed out the
errors in the present system of railway management
and scale of fares, proceeded to argue that rail-
ways should be placed under one management, Govern-
ment or otherwise, and should charge a uniform rate of
feres. The analogy of the Post Office was exact especially
now when it was a book and parcel delivery and also a
transmitter of money. Government was also about to
take possession of the telegraphs, and had only to make
one step more and undertake the railways. Ile shewed
that the present relations between shareholders and rail-
way property were most unsatisfactory, the average
dividend on £500,000,000 sterling having been last year
only 3i per cent. At present the fares averaged ls. for
each person ; but by his plan the fares would be is. first-
class, 6d. second, and 3d. third ; and he calculated that
the number of passengers would be increased sixfold. He
would propose that all luggage should be paid for, as, if a
man got from London to York for 6d., he could hardly
expect to get a hundredweight of luggage, which
required porterage, carried for nothing. By his plan,
taken as a whole, he expected the following results :
Single tickets, 17 millions sterling; annual, 18 millions;
express trains, 11 millions ; 3d. fares, half a million; luggage
barge, 4 millions; saving in management by amalgama-
tion, 3i millions ; total contemplated revenue, 55 millions,
being an excess over the present gross revenue of 38 mil-
lions sterling. He had not entered into any calculations
as to goods trains, as ho did not think they would be much
affected by the proposed change. To show that he was
not too sanguine in his anticipations, he might mention
that in the old coaching days 80,000 passengers were
daily carried in 3,000 coaches, whereas in 1865 the trains
carried 850,000 daily. He believed, therefore, that his cal-
culations would prove correct, but even if the increase
should be only three-fold, there would still be an enormous
pecuniary advantage, whilst the benefits to the public of
all classes would be enormous, especially to the labourers,
who were now often shut out from their market by the
cost of railway travelling. He preferred that Government
should take the whole of the railway capital at a value
based on a seven years' average of quotations, and that the
interest should be 4 and 2-sths per cent. Deferred shares
and bondholders would be paid out of the surplus revenue
after the payment of the above charges. The chairman
(Mr. H. Williams), whilst inviting discussion, de-
murred to Mr. Brandon's calculations. There would
be a great increase of expenditure in providing increased
accommodation, in meeting greater wear and tear, and
the requirements of increased traction. The expenses
of management must also be heavy, as firstrate men
always required large salaries. 'The North-Western
Railway Company gave its inspecting engineer £5,000 a
year. lie had no doubt, however, but that great
advantage to the public would be the result of uni-
formity of management and reduction of fares in the
case of the metropolitan lines. There was also
the question of compensation for accidents which
must be considered. The North-Western Company
had paid in one year £148,000 in compensation. It was
true they only paid £5,000 for the Abergele accident, but
in that case the claimants were all burnt up. He believed
that the law on this subject must be revised, and that a
fixed scale of compensation must be established, based on
the class by which the passenger had travelled. He
denied the analogy between the carriage of letters and
passengers altogether. A discussion followed, in which
Mr. Varley, Mr, F. W. Campion, and others took part;
and the proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to
Mr. Brandon.

RIPON ELECTION. —Lord John Hay, who has
seen appointed one of the Lords f the Treasury, has
issued an address to the e'ectors of Ripon, in which he
says: "Naturally I have viewed with satisfaction the
large majority whi h has been returned to Parliament in
support of the present Government, while I do not think
it is to be regretted that the Conservative ranks are coin.
pact and numerous enough to perform with effect the
legitimate duties of a minority in Opposition." The no-
mination will be on Monday, and there will be no oppo-
sition,