RAILROADS. 505 



effect a shortening, of tlie distance) between the metropolis and the 

 great manufacturing and commercial towns; nor do we overlook the 

 advantages which the agricultural interest on the great lines of rail- 

 road may derive from them: but, with the degree of knowledge that 

 mature enquiry has given us, we should feel unwilling to encourage 

 lines of railroad either in counties where great natural obstacles were 

 presented, or where a new demand for carriage is to be created, — 

 circumstances which, so far as we are able to judge, make railroad 

 speculations a mere gambling concern. 



In the above remarks we have not once alluded to the trickery so 

 notorious in the money-market respecting railroad shares. It is not 

 for persons professionally connected with the stock-market that we 

 write ; but, while we earnestly exhort the really, monied men of the 

 country against the profuse and useless expenditure of capital, we at 

 the same time recommend caution to all who care even for the turn 

 of the market. As soon as the chief railroad bills get the royal assent 

 (of which under the present constitution of railroad committees there 

 seems little doubt), the price of shares will come down from the arti- 

 ficial level to which interested speculators have raised them, and the 

 public will then perhaps have the means of seeing the real merits of 

 the railways now before Parliament. We await the result with 

 patience. 



We beg leave to embody the substance of our information in the 

 shape of a few short maxims, which will, we think, be found useful to 

 those w ho wish to exercise discretion in the choice of their railroad 

 investments.* 



1. There must be a certain and large amount of transport already 

 existing on a road, both of goods and passengers. The amount of ton- 

 nage by waggon and canal conveyance must be well ascertained. 

 The previous existence of a good canal on a line of road diminishes 

 the chance of transporting heavy goods by railways. Passengers 

 chiejly, and light or perishable commodities only secondarily, are 

 their dependence for support; and they cannot reasonably hope for 

 more than double the number of passengers already travelling the 

 road. No expectation of creaizH^r a demand for extensive carriage 

 can justify the risk of forming a railway along aline of unfrequented 

 country. 



2. The ground must have been carefully and specially surveyed 

 before the best track can be fixed on. Good surveys at the outset 

 save much subsequent expense. The points to be attained in fixing 

 the line are shortness of distance, the greatest possible equality of sur- 

 face, and firmness of soil. 



3. The expense of construction may be greatly diminished if 

 limestone or other building materials are in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the line. This should be well ascertained. 



4. When the line has been fixed and the plans and sections com- 

 pleted, those desiring shares may form some guess respecting the 



• This summary will be found to contuin nearly the same directions as Dr. Lardner's 

 excellent Plain Rules for Railroad Speculators, in the .5th edition of the ' Steam En- 

 Bine." Tlio roufirmation of one's own conclusions by so great an autlioriiy is highly 

 p ratifying. 



