260 History of Inland Transport 



might run his own engine on the Grand Junction, and in one 

 instance this was done by a trader who had a locomotive 

 on the company's line for drawing his own coal ; but the 

 witness apprehended the greatest possible inconvenience 

 from any general resort to such powers. On the Liverpool 

 and Manchester, also, anyone might run his own engines on 

 the line ; but, the witness added, " no one does." 



The Royal Commission of 1865 summed up the position 

 thus : " No sooner were railways worked on a large scale 

 with locomotive power than it was found impracticable for 

 the general public to use the line with carriages and engines, 

 and railway companies were compelled to embark in the 

 business of common carriers on their own line, and conduct 

 the whole operations." 



When, in these circumstances, it was made certain that 

 any idea of competition between carriers using a railway 

 company's lines in the same manner as an ordinary highway 

 would have to be abandoned, it became the established policy 

 of the State to promote competition between the railway 

 companies themselves by encouraging the construction of 

 competitive lines or otherwise, thus still protecting, as was 

 thought, the interests of railway users, and checking any 

 monopolistic tendencies on the part of the railway companies. 

 The futility, however, of seeking to compel railway companies 

 to compete with one another had already been pointed out 

 by Mr James Morrison, whose speech on the subject in the 

 House of Commons on May 17, 1836, confirms, also, the 

 theory I have suggested as to the attitude adopted towards 

 the railway companies being traceable to fears engendered by 

 the undue prosperity of the canal and navigation companies. 



If, argued Morrison, after one company had spent a large 

 sum on a line to Liverpool, another company were encouraged 

 to spend as much again, with a view to providing a competition 

 which would keep down the charges, the two would inevitably 

 arrive at some understanding by which the original charges 

 would be confirmed ; and the Legislature, he contended 

 though the Legislature never acted on his contention was 

 " bound to prevent, as far as it could, the unnecessary waste 

 of capital " on the building of unnecessary lines to promote 

 a competition he held to be futile. The safeguarding of the 

 public interests could, he thought, be effected in another way. 



