TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 771 



Comparison of cost of maintenance on canals and railways. 



Greater volume of Manchester goods taken to Liverpool by the canal than upon 

 the lines of any one of the three competing railways. 



Examples showing that although railway rates are considerably lower on the 

 Continent than in this country, the water traffic increases in a greater ratio than 

 the railway traffic. 



Goods suffer less injury during conveyance by canal than upon railways. 



The advantages derivable from canals are governed by the physical and com- 

 mercial conditions of the districts to be served. 



Division of canals into four classes. 



Examples of the different types of canals. 



Illustration of greater traffic on canals in proportion to mileage than on 

 railways. 



The Bridgwater Canal shown to pay a better dividend than the competing 

 railways. 



The River Weaver as an illustration of what can be accomplished by a water- 

 way free from railway control, and worked entirely for the public advantage. 



Type of canal which can be constructed with advantage to points as far inland 

 as Birmingham. 



No type of canal, however, can afford the advantages to be derived from a 

 "waterway which gives access for ocean steamers to the centres of industry. 



Examples at Glasgow, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and at Middlesborough. 



The difference between the Manchester Ship Canal and the other examples of 

 inland access for ocean steamers. 



Function of the Manchester Ship Canal. 



Great saving to traders which the Manchester Ship Canal will accomplish. 



Comparatively small volume of traffic (in relation to actual known volume of 

 traffic) required to make the canal a success. 



Summary. — The neglect of our waterways. 



Suggestions for the emancipation of our canals. 



Their capacity for improvement. 



Urgent action necessary in view of the keenness of foreign competition. 



Necessity for turning our opportunities to account. Comparatively cheap 

 facilities in France and other countries. 



The Manchester Ship Canal movement and the agitation in Birmingham for 

 improved water communication are steps in the direction of general national effort 

 to revitalise our canal system. 



5. Canal CommiiniGation.^ By Samuel Llotd. 



The author maintained that the continued unsatisfactory condition of many 

 canals, especially of the 1,306 miles under the control of railway companies, led, in 

 1883, to the appointment of a Select Committee on Canals. It sat for four months, 

 and much valuable evidence was brought forward, which was published in a Blue 

 Book of 331 pages. It showed that while a laisser faire policy respecting canals 

 had prevailed in England, the Governments of France, Germany, and Belgium, 

 aware of the importance of water communication, had acquired, and were improving 

 their principal water routes with very great advantage. There was a virtual 

 monopoly on the part of the railway companies of the canals, and in October last, 

 in answer to the question issued by the Royal Commission on Depression in Trade, 

 ' Are there any special circumstances affecting your district to which the existing 

 condition of trade and industry there can be attributed ? ' the Birmingham Chamber 

 of Commerce replied : ' The exorbitant cost of carriage of goods from Birmingham 

 to the seaboard, which has placed inland districts at a great disadvantage compared 

 with maritime towns.' Birmingham and South Staffordshire objected to pay higher 

 Tates than any other district, and to enforce them might not prove to the perma- 

 nent advantage of the railway companies, as it tended to cripple trade and seriously 



' Published wi extenso by T. H. Lakins, Birmingham. 



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