178 



FARMERS' REGISTER— RAILWAYS AND CANALS. 



ledge with great pleasure, that the pamphlets of 

 Mr. Grahame are only too late to effect any ma- 

 terial service to the nation, and would have form- 

 ed an invaluable communication about twenty or 

 five-and-twenty years ago. 



Let us examine a few of Mr. Grahame's other 

 statements: — " the canal conveyance to London," 

 says he, " is already far cheaper than that on rail- 

 ways ; and the Liverpool and Manchester railway 

 company, in their competition with the water 

 carriage, have obtained but a very trifling propor- 

 tion of the traffic from the canals. The cx- 

 Eenses of conveying even this fraction of the trade, 

 ave been so enormous, as to make it doubtiul 

 whether the railway company do not suffer a re- 

 gular loss upon their carrying trade, which is de- 

 frayed from their profits as coachraasters." Nov.', 

 this is all undoubtedly very true respecting the 

 one particular railway from Liverpool to Man- 

 chester — the worst and most extravagantly plan- 

 ned, built, and managed in all the British domin- 

 ions ; but is by no means true of many other rail- 

 ways, such as that from Stockton to Darlington, 

 where the rate of conveyance does not exceed one 

 halfpenny per ton t»er mile, whilst the rate on the 

 Manchester road is precisely nine times that sum, 

 being twelve shillings per ton for the whole dis- 

 tance, which is thirty miles. The cause of tliis 

 enormous rate of carriage upon the Liverpool rail- 

 way, is the great and entirely needless cost of steam 

 power, in the use of whicli the Directors perse- 

 vere, at a loss to the public of some hundreds of 

 thousands per annum. 



Let us suppose that the use of these steam en- 

 gines were discontinued, and the entire carrying 

 trade of the railway were perfora^^ed by horses. 

 First, it is necessary to lemark, tliat a decrease 

 of speed would be altogether immaterial in the 

 conveyance of goods, for the short distance be- 

 tween Liverpool and Manchester, since the wagons 

 might travel in the night; or, starting at three in 

 the morning might arrive in six hours, drawn by 

 horses, as effectually in time for business as though 

 conveyed as at present in two hours by unneces- 

 sary steam. By the substitution of horses, in the 

 place of steam engines, the rate of carriage might 

 be at once reduced from twelve shillings to one 

 shilling per ton I — a change which would effectu- 

 ally shut up the canal — increase the dividend up- 

 on the stock of the railway — save almost a mil- 

 lion per annum to the merchants of Manchester 

 and Liverpool, and through them, to the mass of 

 the people, who consume the commodities carried 

 upon the railway. 



We prove this assertion by the following calcu- 

 lations. The weight of goods now annually pass- 

 ing between Liverpool and Manchester, amounts 

 to about fourteen hundred thousand tons; and as 

 no canal could compete Avith a railway at the rate 

 of one shilling per ton, which involves the loss of 

 eleven-twelfths of its present revenue, it is cer- 

 tain, that the whole fourteen hundred thousand 

 tons would thenceforth be carried upon the rail- 

 way. Now, fourteen hundred thousand shillings 

 at the rate of one shilling per ton, amounts to the 

 annual sum of £70,000, whilst the expense of 

 conveying these fourteen hundred thousand tons 

 will be shewn to amount to no more than the sum 

 of £23,040, leaving a profit of 846,960. The 

 average amount of tonnage will be about four thou- 

 §a»d tQns per diem ; and one horse upon a railway 



can draw twenty-five tons a distance of ten miles, 

 at a pace of five miles an hour, and return with 

 another load of twenty-five tons ; thus performing 

 two stages, or twenty miles, and conveying a load 

 of fitly tons per diem. One hundred and sixty 

 horses v/ill, therefore, be required for the convey- 

 ance of four thousand tons ; and as there Avill be 

 three stages in a distance of thirty miles, the en- 

 tire number of horses between Liverpool and 

 Manchester,will amount to four hundred and eigh- 

 ty. The weekly cost of maintaining four hundred 

 and eighty horses, we will estimate at the abun- 

 dant rate of twenty shillings per horse, intending 

 lliat sum amongst so large a number to cover the 

 expense of feeding, stabling, attendance, and other 

 incidental charges. This amounts to the sura of 

 £480 per week; and the annual charge for an 

 establishment of four hundred and eighty horses 

 is, therefore, £23,040, which sum deducted from 

 £70,000, leaves a balance of £46,960 for paying 

 the interest upon the stock, the expense of ma- 

 nagement — the purchase and repair of wagons, 

 and all the general expenses of the railway. The 

 stock upon which interest is paid, amounts to about 

 the sum of £ 800,000, the annual interests of which 

 is £40,000 at the rate of five per cent., which 

 must be allowed to be a good return from a con- 

 cern more substantial, certain, and unfailing, than 

 any real property whatever. Thus, after paying 

 a dividend of five per cent., we have a clear sum 

 of £6,960 remaining for other expenses, from 

 the carriage of goods alone from Liverpool to 

 IManchester. To this sum of £6,960, is to be 

 added the entire revenue derived from passengers, 

 which Mr. Grahame asserts, now pays the entire 

 expenses of the railway, covering also a loss upon 

 the conveyance of goods, and yet affording the 

 shareholders a dividend of seven and ten per cent. 

 The entire receipts from passengers we find ac- 

 cordingly to exceed the sum of £200,000 per an- 

 num ; but as we have already, by the substitution 

 of horses for the conveyance of goods, converted 

 the present loss into a dividend of five per cent., 

 with a balance of £6,960 remaining tor the ge- 

 neral expenses of the railway, it follows, that less 

 money will now be required to be made by the 

 conveyance of passengers, and therefore, a corres- 

 ponding reduction may be made in the rate of pas- 

 sage. We propose, then, to convey the carriages 

 by horses, at the rate of twelve miles an hour, 

 whereby the diminution of the cost by the disuse 

 of steam, added to the vast increase of passengers 

 by the shutting up of the canal, will allow the rate 

 of passage to be lowered from seven shillings, and 

 three shillings and sixpence, to two shillings and 

 one shilling, for each individual ; one or two steam 

 carriages being still maintained for the convey- 

 ances of the mails and -passengers at a superior 

 fare. Thus at this low rate of passage we may 

 reckon upon the receipt of an additional £70,000 

 per annum, which will give the sum of £40,000 

 for an additional dividend of five per cent ; (the 

 stock of this railway having risen about one hun- 

 dred per cent, above par, ten per cent, is requir- 

 ed in justice to the recent purchasers,) with a ba- 

 lance of £30,000 remaining to be added to the 

 sum of £0,960 cleared by the carriage of goods. 

 Thus, after paying the shareholders a dividend of 

 full ten per cent., we have the sum of 36,960, 

 finally remaining for upholding the railway, being 

 upwards of £1,000 per mile, for a distance of 



