460 History of Inland Transport 



them by the local authorities amounted to 66,000 for street 

 improvements, 20,000 for bridges, and a further 68,000, 

 capitalised value of annual payments for so-called " way- 

 leaves." This made a total of 154,000, or 12,800 per mile, 

 merely for assents to the construction of their lines. The 

 details of the account included a sum of 1500 extorted by an 

 urban district council as " a contribution towards some town 

 improvement, not necessarily on the company's proposed line 

 of route, but anywhere in their district the council might 

 desire." 



One item to which the company had to agree in 1902, 

 before they could obtain an Act authorising them to build 

 another thirteen miles of tramway, was the construction at 

 Barnes of an embankment and terrace along the river side. 

 It made a very pleasant promenade, and was certainly an 

 addition to the amenities of the neighbourhood ; but it cost 

 the tramway company 40,000. The " price " of local 

 authorities' assents for these thirteen miles of line worked out 

 thus : Street improvements (properties and works), 72,000 ; 

 Barnes Boulevard, 40,000 ; " wayleaves " (capitalised), 

 100,000 ; a total of 412,000, or 31,600 per mile. 



Altogether, in the four years, 1898-1902, the total expendi- 

 ture of the company on street and bridge improvements in 

 respect to less than fifty miles of tramway amounted to 

 745,000 ; and although, to a certain extent, the widenings, 

 etc., were necessary for electric tramway purposes, " the bulk 

 of the expenditure under this head," Sir Clifton declared, " was 

 undertaken with a view to conciliate the local authorities, 

 or was forced upon us by them as the ' price of their assents.' '* 

 To this 745,000 was to be added 241,000, the capitalised 

 value, at five per cent, of the " wayleaves " the company had 

 also agreed to pay, making a total of 986,500, irrespective 

 altogether of the cost of construction and equipment of the 

 lines. 



When, in 1904, the company proposed to construct still 

 another twenty-one miles of tramway in the western suburbs 

 of London, " they recognised their obligations to the local 

 and county authorities," Sir Clifton said, by proposing to 

 undertake street, road and bridge widenings which would have 

 cost them 217,932. They thought this a sufficiently generous 

 " price " to pay for permission to provide the district with 



