Sentence:  I fear there is too much reason to acknowledge the truth of his remarks regarding the original formation of railways, but are the <WSD>screwings</WSD> out of the poor pittance received by "some" of the 20,000 at present employed to keep them in operation, to be the means of compensating the proprietors for the folly and extravagance then displayed? 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The act by which something is screwed (in various senses).