, 1872-11-22

nal, should be kept up; raes andfares are diff
cult Of adjustment; q n,w classification Is de-
sirable; no general scheme r amalsamatlon
can be devised; all future proposals might be
| Joint Committee Of bou Houses ct Parliament; /;
! and special body shord be constituted, of not
less than three member tQ administer the Bail
! way and Canal Traffic act, to assume the juris-
diction heretofore assigned to arbitrators and
nmpires in special or eneral railway acts, and to
redress the complaint Of persons .aggrieVed BY
| non u-compliance OF Companies With the law.
Such are the princirl Recommendations Of the
Joint Committee, NO, however, appear consci-
ous that their conlusions are somewhat lame
and inpotent, forthsy add in their final para
graph:
"'If the above recommendations are adopted By Par
lament they viii OF have the effect Of preventing the
growth Of rawa monopoly, or Of securing that the
| any increased iohts which the Railway Companies
may make. Buthe Committee believe that their effect
asfa, To p,sar4e the competition which nov e1-
a.ib] 70 ee Immediately such support as is prsc,
ticabie to copetihon by canal both Immediately and
ultimately develop and utilize the capacities OF
"z(c) Tcet the public know what they are charged,
and Why tty are charged and TO give them better
means Tia at present exist for getting unfair charges
re1nedied
0tidI enforce the harmonious working and de-
re1opmet Of tho present railway md canal systems
so IS to foduce from then In the interest Of the pub
lie audat the same time OF the shareholders- the
| pablo doing'"
Thj is ali the Light English legislators have,
and Twill be ssen to be not very valuable.
It's no easy matter to inititate legislation Of
fecag giant railway corporations IN England.
"1le railway interest, like the brewing interest
an. the army and navy interests, Is very po"er-
| FUN the Legislature, and, however much the
| Carmen and Directors Of rival Companies may
+ opposed on questions Of traffic, they are IN
1 sant1y united as one man when the interests OF
he travelling public are likely to be studied as
issue OF Bradshao's .Raittcay Manual and
Shareholders Guide, there are 48 Railway Direc-
tors in the House of Lords, aud 122 in the House
Of Commons. Most OF these are on the
Boards of two Companies: many are on three !;
Of the Noble Lords and Honorable Members
hare invested in railways, 80 that it is not, an
easy matter to carry any measure Of reform,
however just IN itself Or urgently needed Yet
change is impending, which not al the power,
and wealth, and skill of all the Railway Direc-
tors and officials united will be able to avert.
Whether their respective lines shall become
State property by purchase, as in the case OF the
telegraph syatem, does no yet clearly appear.
The power to do SO Was expressly restricted by
the Railway act Of 1914 to future lines SO that,
in the event of auch q project being carried out,
there would be 2,320 miles Of railway exempted
from it."
That something must be done is shown by
such revelations of mismanagemeut as that Of
Metropolitan Railway. Working expenses
changed to capital instead Of revenue old and
rusty hulks of engines standing idle and useless
for years, but credited time after time in the
list OF available rolling stock capital created
b fictitious means, and loans contracted at
ruinous prices, have been the bane and the ruin
Of once promising lines, and have made their
names Synonymous with trickery and disgrace.
One instance only out Of many need be given. It
is taken from the Report Of the Committee of
the bewi1dered and eSasperated shareholders
Of that huge modern scandal, the London d
Chatham Dover Railway. The Committee, after
months OF patient and hborous Investigation,
reported (and their facts and fgures have never
been denied that, out Of nominal capital ct
was admitted to have been spent in obtaining
the remainder from the Investigating public,
and that e, 94S, 007 more had been disbursed out
OF capital for the payment OF dividends and Of
interest On losns. So the actual expenditure
for land, compensation. works, rolling stock,
ships, engineering, Parliamentary and legnl e1-
penses, was s10, ,625, ,498: while GOO had
gone in financing, rigging the market, and
making things generally pleasant. No wonder
time the whole project tottered On the edge Of
q yawning gulf OF bankruptcy and ruin.
One remedy suggested by the writer is full Of
s7Ocf Een8e. III il. that ulAnV Of the abuses OF
fbe railway system need not SO much the inter
ference Of the government Is an enlightened
policy of self-iuterest on the part OF the Com
nanies themgelyes. Where Directors and man
acers have had the courage to adopt low fares
tie financial results have always been eratify-
ing, "Yhe fact is, that. the more the convent
ence of the public is studied, the greater will
be the profits accruing to railways. The chief
improvements must originate With tho author
tiles themselves. L they would only learn
to regard the interests Of the public as being
identical with their own; if they invited traffic
by lowering their fares; Il they studied the
convenience and comfort Of their sup
porters if they took means to inquire punctual-
ity; if carriages we're we'll lit, properly warmed,
cleanaed, and ventilated; If those to whom
smoking is necessity were accommodated with
the front half Of the entire train instead Of be-
ing interspersed in compartments; if the
remaining denominations at refreshment coun-
ters we're put an end to; and If there we're
mutual recognition Of tickets by various routes,
or to joint stations railway authorities would be
the first to reap the benefits of q vastly IN
creased traffic. It must not be forgotten that
every instance Of unpunctuality, over-charge, in
ciriity, neglect, and Inconvenience. recoils upon
it's authors sooner or later, in the tangible
and unpleasant form Of diminished receipts.
1A6 tens OF ta0u9anQ9 OF persons VINO travel Tor