238 History of Inland Transport 



The following further quotations are from " Wetenhall's 

 Commercial List " for December 10, 1824 : 



COMPANY. SHARE. PRICE. DIVIDEND 



s. d. s. d. s. d. 



Ashton and Oldham . . 97 18 o 310 o o 500 



Barnsley . . . 160 o o 340 o o 12 o o 



Grand Junction . . 100 o o 296 o o 10 o o 



Glamorganshire . . 172 13 4 280 o o 13 12 8 



Grantham . . . 150 o o 190 o o 10 o o 



Leicester . . . 140 o o 390 o o 14 o o 



Monmouthshire . . 100 o o 245 o o 10 o o 



Melton Mowbray . . 100 o o 255 o o 1 1 o o 



Mersey and Irwell . . 1000 o o 35 o o 



Neath .... 100 o o 400 o o 15 o o 



Shrewsbury . . 125 o o 206 o o 10 o o 



Stourbridge . . . 145 o o 220 o o 10 10 o 



Stroudwater . . . 150 o o 450 o o 31 10 o 



Trent and Mersey (half share) . 100 o o 2300 o o 7500* 



Warwick and Birmingham . 100 o o 320 o o n o o 



Warwick and Knapton . 100 o o 280 o o n o o 

 * And bonus. 



These figures, it will be seen, are given for years when the 

 " canal mania " at its height between 1791 and 1794 had 

 long been over, and they suggest, therefore, bona fide market 

 values based on business done and dividends paid. High as 

 they are, it is doubtful if they tell the whole story. I have 

 mentioned on page 218 that in their petition to the House 

 of Commons against the proposed railway, or tramway, 

 between Merthyr and Cardiff, the Glamorganshire Canal 

 Company represented that they were restrained by their 

 Act from paying more than a " moderate " dividend. The 

 dividend they were authorised to pay was one of eight per 

 cent ; but there is a tradition in South Wales that the company, 

 after checking effectively the threatened railway competition, 

 attained to phenomenal prosperity, and resorted to an in- 

 genious expedient as a means of deriving further pecuniary 

 advantage from the waterway without exceeding the statutory 

 limitation in regard to the dividend to be paid. This expedient 

 took the form of a suspension of all tolls for a large part of 

 every year, the use of the canal being free to the public for 



