1818.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



S3 



ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF INLAND NAVIGATION. 



By Hon. & Rev. A. P. Perceval, B.C.L., 



Chaplain to the Queen. 



Chapter I. — On the Comparative Pronpective Value of Railways 

 and Canals. 



In the month of December, 1844, while a party of travellers and 

 traders were waiting: at the Crewe Station the arrival of the «p- 

 train, and eajjerly discussinf!f railway matters, that mania being- 

 then at its heiffht, they were startled from their ])ropriety, by 

 hearing an individual in the room address them thus : " Well, 

 gentlemen, I will hack the canals against the railways now ; I 

 intend to invest wholly in them, and I ad\ise you all to do the 

 same." If a jiistol had been discharged in the midst of the com- 

 pany, it could hardly have produced a more striking effect. All 

 stared ; and most, by movement or ejaculation, gave token of 

 extreme surprise. Some looked with pity upon the speaker, a 

 clergyman, as though the saying, " Ne .intor ultra crrpirinm" was 

 passing in their minds, and they contemplated one about to ruin 

 himself and his family by meddling in matters out of his sphere. 

 But when he proceeded to propound, for the consideration of the 

 company, his grounds for the opinion which he had expressed, none 

 were found ready to gainsay the reasonableness of them. They 

 were these : 



I. That the wear and tear on canals is so inconsiderably less than 

 on railways, that the former, if projierly conducted, must be able 

 to undersell the latter. 



II. That while lines of railway may he multiplied nd lihitiini, 

 occasioning unlimited competition, and consequently unlimited 

 reduction of profits, such multiplication of lines of water con- 

 veyance is almost physically imposssible : consequently, that canals 

 must always retain a comparative monopoly. 



III. " Remember, gentlemen," he said, "that human talent and 

 ingenuity have been taxed to the utmost to bring all the appliances 

 that science can afford, to promote locomotion on railways ; while, 

 as yet, nothing, or next to nothing, of the sort has been attempted 

 on canals." 



Three years ha\e elapsed since these opinions were expressed at 

 ('rewe : let us see what light can be thrown upon the soundness of 

 them, by comparing, 1st, The present state of railways with its 

 condition at that time ; 2ndly, The respective condition and pro- 

 spects of railways and canals, tlien and at the present time. 



I. To take three old and well-established lines for illustration : 

 The value of the under-mentioned was, in Dec. 'H ; is, in Dec. '17 



London and Birmingham ... „ 228 „ 150 



Great Western „ 157 „ 90 



London and South- Western „ 77 „ 50 



II. Let us take for illustration the Birmingham Railway and the 

 Birmingham Canal : 



In December 1814, the Birmingham Railway furnished to the 

 proprietors, not merely in actual dividends, the 10 per cent, (to 

 which it had been sought by Act of Parliament to restrict the 

 profits on railway enterprise), but advantages in new shares, Ike. — 

 in general estimation certainly not less than another 10 per cent. 



We have now before us the Report of this company for the half- 

 year ending Midsummer 1817 ; announcing in the plainest terms, 

 that the second of the causes alleged at Crewe as a reason for 

 regarding railways as offering doubtful security for investment, 

 namely, the liability to unlimited competition, has begun to tell 

 with fearful effect against the prosperity of this most prosperous 

 of railway undertakings, which is no longer able to pay even the 

 legal 10 p"er cent. The Chairman is stated to have said : " He 

 hoped that before Parliament sanctioned any further extension of 

 the principle of competition, or of reduced fares, they would hear 

 in mind the inevitable results which must follow from pursuing 



such a course. They saw its effect upon their receipts now 



Competition might go on in consequence of rivalry and contention 

 between different companies ; hut what would be the effect .'' The 

 proprietors would interfere and force the directors to reduce the 

 establishments of the two companies to the lowest possible point ; 

 trains would be taken off, servants would be discharged, the whole 

 machinery of the companies would be deteriorated, and what would 

 become of the public safety > This would be the result of those 

 doctrines of competition which had been taken up by the legisla- 

 ture." — Here, then, we have the confession of the most intelligent 

 of railway chairmen, at the head of the most influential of railway 

 companies, avowing in the face of Europe that railways afford so 

 insecure an investment for capital, that they cannot possibly be 



relied upon, unless in their behalf the doctrine of Free Trade, to 

 which all mankind, to speak generally, have given in their adhe- 

 sion, be repudiated ; and an artificial protection be afforded to 

 them, which has been denied, not only to the inland navigation, 

 but even to the agriculture of the country ! 



Meanwhile, how has the Birmingham Canal been faring.'' In 

 December 1811, in consequence of the railway mania, it had so 

 fallen in iiublic estimation, and apprehensive value, that projects 

 for draining off the water, and converting the channels into rail- 

 way beds, were seriously discussed. 



We have also before us the Report of this Company for the half- 

 year ending Midsummer 1817 : from which it appears, that not- 

 withstanding its operations have been impeded by a very question- 

 able (in point of prudence) alliance which it has contracted with 

 the Birmingham Railw ay, whereby it has placed itself, to a certain 

 extent, under the control of tlie latter, on condition of receiving 

 from it a guarantee, in perpetuity, of the customary dividend of 

 £4, per share (a guarantee which it is dou1>tful whether the railway 

 company would be able to make good, should the canal company 

 ever be so reduced as to demand the fulfilment of it), and notwith- 

 standing a " considerable pressure on the mercantile world," to 

 which in common with the railway, it has been subjected, its affairs 

 are in a state of unexampled prosperity. " The account for the 

 last half-year," the Report says, " exhibits a considerable increase 

 of revenue, the amount for the six months ending 30tli of June 

 last, including rents, being £86,125 7«. 3}^ii. [being an increase of 

 £21,192 above the corresponding half-year in 1816]. The balance 

 of the accounts, after providing for the payment of the half-year's 

 interest, and the usual dividend of £'2 per share (which the com- 

 mittee now recommend to be ))ai(l free from the income-tax), shows 

 a surplus of upwards of £9,000." 



In other cases, where the canal companies have not tied their 

 hands from competing with rival railways, as the Birmingham 

 Canal Company have done by their compact with the Birmingham 

 Railway, the truth of the first of the reasons alleged at Crewe has 

 had opportunity of being tested : and the result has been, to speak 

 generally, to confirm and establish its truth ; and Lord Ellesmere 

 on his waters, and the Birmingham and AVorcester C'ompany on 

 theirs, to name no others, can tell the world that they have ceased 

 to dread any evil effects from railway competition, through fear of 

 which the former received (according to report) from £80,000 to 

 I £100,000, by way of compensation ; and the latter unprofitably 

 : expended several thousands in an abortive railway speculation. 

 I It remains to be seen whether the third of the reasons alleged at 

 Crewe in 1811, for preferring canals to railways for investment — 

 namely, "that while human ingenuity has been taxed to the utmost 

 to facilitate locomotion on railways, little or no attention has been 

 bestowed upon the improvement of inland navigation," — is as sound 

 as the others (apparently) have proved to be : in other words, 

 " whether inland navigation is not caiiahle of very great improvement!' 

 This shall he the subject of the next chapter: before entering upon 

 which, let it be well-considered, by way of encouragement to turn 

 attention to the sul)ject, that a very little improvement will suffice to 

 bring upon the canals the whole or almost the whole of what forms 

 the chief source of revenue on many railways — namely, the con- 

 veyance OF LIVE stock. No grazier, or butcher, it is believed, 

 will be found to affirm otherwise than that, if the choice were 

 offered to him, he would choose rather to convey the stock that he 

 has to sell, or kill, by water than by rail. 



Chapter II. — On the Improvement of Inland Navigation. 



When the mind has once been directed to devise means of ren- 

 dering our lines of inland navigation more available than at 

 present they are found to be for the commerce of the country, the 

 small degree of attention which lias as yet been bestowed upon 

 them is apparent at every turn. Of tlie matters calling for amend- 

 ment, some are obvious to every passer-by; otheis require con- 

 sideration to be noted ; others again require argument and proof. 

 Again, some are in the power of the parties trading upon the 

 waters; others in that of the i>roprietors or trustees of the waters; 

 others again require either extension, combination, or the inter- 

 ference of the legislature. 



I. Let those matters in which the %vant of amendment is mani- 

 fest to all be first considered. Of such let these be named : — 1st. 

 The style and condition of the animals usually employed in the traf- 

 fic. Generally speaking, these are the worst of their kind, dis- 

 abled, low in condition, ill-groomed, ill-fed, — a striking contrast to 

 those employed in land carriage. — Sndly. The state of the trackways. 

 Natural earth, mud, water, deep sand, slippery chalk. Contrast 

 these with the roads and ways employed in land traffic. By the 

 sides of other roads care is taken to keep the cattle from trespass- 



