198 REPORT— 1870. 



The Eeportofthe Eoyal Commission on Railways has unhappily failed to receive 

 the consideration from Her Majesty's Government which might have been expected, 

 seeing it was prepared by such high authorities as the Duke of Devonshire, Lord 

 Stanley (Derby), JNIr. Lowe, Mr. Glynn, Captain Galton, Mr. M'Clean, and others. 

 It had a large representation of the railway interests ; but, not\\ithstanding-, con- 

 tained many recommendations in the public interest, such as uniformity of classi- 

 fication of goods, definition of terminal charges, revision and reduction of charges 

 for parcels ; these reforms to be accompanied by a power of inspection and inter- 

 vention in the public interest by the Board of Trade, where railways used their 

 powers oppressively. But the recommendations remain a dead letter, and practi- 

 cally, as regards goods and parcels, the railway monopoly charge as they please, 

 competition being prevented by combination and legislation ineffectual from its 

 want of knowledge. 



The accoimts now before us disclose that in December 1868 England and Wales 

 had 6506 miles of double and 3634 miles of single rails, together 10,200 miles in 

 length, or of single rails 16,766 miles, on which were carried up-passengers : — 



£ s. d. 



27,374,061 1st class, paying 3,366,830, average 2 5-^ each. 



o _2j;_ 



y> -^ ^ 100 ?> 



107: 

 persons 



70,-304,008 2nd „ .... 4,472,304 



171,581,244 3rd ,, .... 5,533,778 „ 7-?^ 



'^''■^ ! 10,717,300 i im^°""^''^^'^*^Li, \ 544,928 „ 1 



ms = I ' ' j 100 jom-neys each j ' " 



279,976,613 13,917,840 



Carriages, horses, dogs, and luggage . . 1,312,030 

 Mails 403,626 



£15,634,096 



Miles travelled by passenger-trains 03,302,374 miles. Distance by each pas- 

 senger about 16 miles, 1st class ; 2nd class 12 miles ; 3rd class 8 miles ; season- 

 tickets 20 miles. 



The charges authorized bymultitudinous Acts of Parliament vary from 2d. to Zd. 

 per mile 1st class, \ld. to 2d. 2nd class. Id. to lid. third (once per 'day If/.). Prac- 

 tically, charges are Id. 3rd class, l^d. 2nd class, M. 1st class. These excessive 

 charges are somewhat mitigated abnormally and objectionably by — 



Exmrsion-trains. — These are interpolated in masses, as at A\1iitsuntide, amongst 

 the ordinary traffic in carriages imfit for the safe and regular conveyance of passen- 

 gers paying the usual rates. Accidents occur so regularly as to identify the excur- 

 sion-season with the slaughter-season ; whilst the humble condition of the suf- 

 ferers and the limited intelligence of their sm-^-iving relatives minimize the claims 

 for damages, the payment of which is the dead fly in the pot of fragrant ointment 

 poured forth by the eloquent chairman at each railway-meeting. 



McturH-tichets form the main buffer interposed between the grinding exactions of 

 railway companies and the public impatience. Economy of issue is not one penny 

 each, as that charge wovdd amoimt to over £'1,000,000, the whole traffic charges 

 being less than half that sum. 



Free passes stand self-condemned; they are either discounts upon traffic to favoured 

 customers and so unjust to the non-favoured, or are frauds upon the proprietors. 



The remedy is a fairly calculated remunerative scale of charges proportioned to 

 the accommodation afforded, supplied regularly, and offering equal terms to all 

 comers, such as 



1st class Id. per mile and 2d. per ticket additional. 

 2nd „ Id. „ l\d. „ „ 



3rd „ hd. „ Id. „ „ 



_ The ticket-charge covering all station-expenses and compensating for the frac- 

 tional cost extra which may attach to short as compared with long journeys. 



Luggage, imless in the charge and at the risk of passengers, should be chai'ged : 

 A, phis_ 100 lb., with luggage of value handled by porters, pays 2s. 6d. ; B, plus 

 10 lb. in his own hand, pays 2s. 6f/. A shoiUd pay 3s. and B 2s. 



Speed is fairly chargeable extra, ordinary trains 30 miles per hour being assumed 



