198 Mr. Lionel B. Wells on the 



Bristol Channel ; also the Thames and Severn Canal, and 

 thus cuts through communication between the estuaries of 

 those rivers. This Company also owns important canals in 

 South Wales. There are upwards of 130 different lengths 

 of waterways, and more than 100 proprietors. It would 

 be to the public advantage that many of these should be 

 amalgamated. By this means through routes from east to 

 west and north to south could be established. 



Under a recent Act of Parliament through rates and tolls 

 can be demanded by traders for the carriage of goods on 

 different waterways at the hands of the Railway and Canal 

 Commissioners ; but the process is so tedious and expensive 

 that traders seldom feel themselves in a position to make 

 application. 



It is expected that the enquiry into canal rates and tolls 

 now being held will result in a simplification of charges and 

 the removal of the additional tolls levied on passing from 

 one company's system to another, known as bar tolls ; and 

 that, under amended conditions, a considerable increase of 

 traffic will ensue. This should, however, be succeeded by 

 amalgamation and the establishment of a canal clearing- 

 house. 



The great railway companies have secured their position 

 by amalgamating numerous companies into their systems. 

 The London and North-Western is an aggregation of some 

 50 separate undertakings. Nothing comparable with this 

 has been accomplished by canal companies ; with few 

 exceptions they remain isolated, and in many instances any 

 attempt at amalgamation on important routes would now 

 be impossible, owing to the intervention of a waterway 

 owned by a railway company. 



Having noticed some measures, which, if adopted, would 

 facilitate the transit of goods by water, the question of the 

 enlargement and improvement of the channels demands con- 

 sideration, and from experience gained in this country and 



