1 SEPTEMBER 1838, Page 8

ON THE REPORT OF THE IRISH RAILWAY COM3IISSION\

LETTER III.

SIR—Intimately connected with the two main lines described in my lastletter, is a cross line from Limerick to Waterford ; with regard to which, one at kot, if not more of the Commissioners, has exhibited very great inconsistency. This line has been warmly supported by the Great Western Railway Company, to which it will prove a large feeder ; it would be, in point of fart, the Irish 6reas \Western. When the Commission was appointed, Captain CHAPMAN, Bristol Secretery to the Company just named, was sent by the Directors to DASD, to submit to the Irish Government anal the Railway Commissioners the desire felt by the body which he represented ta take a leading part in forming a WM COMINttly to execute this line, so soon as it received the sanction of the Con- mission. This circumstance, unlike the offer made by MT. -PIERCE MANNY on the part of his body of capitalists, is not set conspicuously forth in the Flo port : it is nevertheless a real occurrence, and affords one arnongst many other gratifying indications of the interest taken by English capitalists in the pro. motion of Irish railways. and of their readiness to embark money in such under- takings. This line, I have further to observe, had been previously surveyed and reported upon by several engineers of first-rate experience and reputation,— such as N131310, TIMM.% S TELFORD, GEOF.0 E STEPIIE.N SON, and Bs nn. The reports and estimates furniehed at different times by those gentlemen, had been lying for it length of time on the shelves of the 130ard of Works in Dublin; and Colonel Rens:over, who I believe drew up the Report I ant now reviewing, had in Iseea sent in a learott to Parliament, in which he rotated, that the Corn. rs of Peale Works in Ireland were so thoroughly impressed with the areal advantages nor this raibray, and the peculiar facilities presented by the country .for its execution, that they altered to recommeml it a bang 100,01101.• ith such testimonials in its favour, one would have supposed that this Ci.mpany at lea,t would have been exempted from the general sentenced condemn ation so at hitral ily passed upeu all its fellows; that in this instance at least, private enterprise would not be interfered with, and English merchants having evinmereial reboiling with Ireland would not be forbidden to invest their money ilk standard works for the improvement of that country. Vain hope! the common judgment has been paeeed upon this line also—it is not re om. mended! Tie opinion, of Niatnmo, TEI.VORD, STEPHENSON, and BALD, carry no weight with the Commission ; the gold of the Bristol merchant offer, DO temptation to their eyes ; the positive praise of the undertaking formerly be' stowol—the at tual offer of 100,000/. to carry it on—all is overlooked or net at , ii fiance, to lo,,Ister up the cer.trulzitieii system, and abtorb in the monopoly all th:ti prefitable or promising in the railway speculations of the country.

There is a fact or two cu,iiectI with this line whirli involves something

met 1 a lion% than a eit mgt., of iatiiimi‘teney. The first and principal map d t v arlas moats:es to shew t ha il.fferent lines laid dewn under the direction the Commissioners and thuse proposed by pr:vate parties." They remised ill NoVvitilter ISL36 a plan and sectione of ties ‘Vatei fold and Limerick hoe, with amended curves and gradient,' estimates, and the usual explanatoly papers. 'They were theretme bound to delineate the line upon their map "showing the lines proposed by ptivate parties." They have not done this : they have emitted the line altogether ; sod, so Car as their maps go, they have made it appear th..t ni Ene was th sired Set tie one they have given. Be this a twee gent or a wilful omission, in is ,t sary censurable one. Bat the error goes farther. The Commissioners, in the body of the Report, describe their lines in this d;Ieetil.0 us shrouding ctniiplefe COMMIthication between the towns of Waterford, C et tick, Ckrnmmiel, Cithir, Tipperary, and Limerick. (Page 36 et passim.) iii, however, their line by no means actually does ; for it is a mile from Cat. rick, a mile and a half from Clontnel, three miles from Cade, and two and a half from Tipperary; which last place, with the pm:gutters of the suppressed meject, has, upon the recommendation of Mr. STEFFIENSON, been alwa)s the point or connounkation they were principaliy anximis to secure. 1 sul • , that in the ease of this \\*moths(' and Lintel ick Railway, the Conn miesietiers have again gone against the spirit as well as the letter of their in. structione. I submit further, that in excluding this line front their maps, and in representing that they have given a cemplete railway cotnniunication between Tipperary, Caldr, Connie!, arid Waterford, they have laid themselves open. to a charge etiniewhat more serious than inconeistency, and are to be held guilty of positive unfairness and palpable misrepresentation. I revert to the paesage already quoted frone the Report descriptive of the main streams (If travelling We are there told, that "the third, passing along the Grand Canal, is chiefly dis•ipeted amongst the small towns on is banks, a small portion reaching Rallinaslue." Another stream is then pointed out; and • The tion.completion of this line seems lo have been regarded as a proof that it Sit either not (1-sired, or could not be carried Imo effect : hat the truth I believe to be. thel the h u,l si, capitalists iiispowil to mot ark in it beta Mr. STEPIIENPON to examine nut relent mem it before they ...teamed tier money ; amid learning from him 0.19* aims of the net :old the eipital of the compaity were iosuilicieut for the construction ofii doable tine of raila, %% Lich lie held to tie alitolottily tiecew.ary fur the want, ,,4 Ills country. they determined to let the art expire. alai then apply Cur a ia itrinoae. a il.iluoededloi he. Mt) of treating satib.acturily whit the ligl.tt cr, ated by the

course. ore proceede—" Next in magnitude to these two great lines,

afire that the _Re tres d ePct to the West through Luean, Blaynooth, Enfield, Chelan!, ii_licel„---si131,irwhere a branch separates to Athlone, the main line continuing gP" —fie-gland thence to Longford, from which a small stream passes through to Illolligarsnnon and Boyle. to Sligo. The Athlone branch continues to Carricloon. 11*where another small division takes place, a portion diverging to .Castlebar, while the larger passes on by Longlirea to Galway.' Prom of travelling, the utility of a main line bisecting Ireland east and 2f-y running direct from Dublin to Galway, obviously suggests itself to "t' De ficial observation. Accordingly, such a line was projected by

the • was submitted to the Comnaissionere ; arol, like the rest,

enterprre,

private

se •edly disapproved of. Nevertheless, they have no substitute to according to their own showin.g, its direction would nate- clitsrbeintsuentreeZ and,

t one but two of the great streams in that part of the country.

ray embrace,

Of this Dublin and Galway Railroad, affict to conceal the

I do not, speaking

ugrtion thrown out by the Commissioners, that, if it were smile, tie Grand s a Is would be injured. The singularity of the remark, and the

teord R oolyat hle Canals it implies,

deserve particular attention. This is the liret tenor bave heard it asserted that the country which has a canal ehould be de-

batime we et-rels 1h0a Alight it not have been eaki with equil force when can is awe first introduced, You have the convenience of common roads, and cannot w —a-a t can"

Knowing that the tendency of ex pet ienee, as far as we are ac- ls?

quainted ith

jt,.gees positiye!y to prove that railways and vanals are rot com-

petieg W. conveyanees that both may be profitably sustained in one and the same direction ; and that it is the peenhar nature of these great works to generate by process and to an extent as yet not clearly resolved, new anti even unexpected sources of wealth for their proper sustainment and prosperity ; I have, I confess, been struck with a strong feeling of surprise, to find these CO111111isbionei s opposing their raked and unauthenticated opinion to the general voice of all the scientific and practical men of the age, founded ae that has been upon the testimony of 'considerable experience. I am myself inclined to maintain, that if the Commis.. aionets had approached the consideration of this subject with minds unbiassed and clear of the preconcerted schemes of an interested clique, they muit have drawn a vary different doctrine from the state of things i xhibited by the very canal in favuur of which they applied it. For there they liebald a district without any large towns, without any peat industrial possessions inatmlecturing or commercial, in short, with no other than the ordioary agricultural pursuits of thecountry to thrive by, maintaining, nevertheless, a collet:tut thaw of trade and travelling asadmirable to contemplate as it is valuable to enjoy. Advancing the argument still further, and including in its moral the deductiiins we legitimately. derive from it, have we room to &At, that if a wit k like the Grand Canal, inauspiciously begun, long bully directed, and executed at a ecst of ,6i0/. a mile,—wheleas it ought have been completed for 3dii00/. a mile,—if emelt a work, so proceeded with, has nevertheless produced such extensive public ac. commodation and so many national benefits as the Report indicates, within the comparatively short period of half a century,—have we, I repeat, 11,01/I left us to doubt, that the good effect* Lf railroads in the same country would natu- nlly iCOO hear results as much superior to those induced by the canals as they are a splendid improvement upoo those conveyances? Det it is alike vain mid painful to pursue such a train of thought. This large and f■tinful subject. to be jostly investigated, demanded the genius of philosophy statesmanship: but it has been miserably handled, anielies before its contracted, dwarfed down, and powerless, from the narrow cares and barren conceits of mere placemen, pettitliggers, anti empities. Upon the scheme of railways for the North of Ireland, I need say but little. . Raying painted one picture, we possess a good likeness of the remaining sub. jets. The progress of railways north of Dublin may be shortly stated. In 1836, Mr. MAIIONV carried the Dublin and Drogheda Railway Bill through, both Houses, after a violent contest. This Company took the line having most population, and proposed to connect the larger towns by the most direct route. It was opposed, however, by a very italuentiAl bully of agricultutiste, who suggested that a more inland line to unite the coast interests and their own together would be the better one. The Commissioners, upon principle, ought to have adopted this latter title; but they had the fear of PrEacie Ma- MONT. Esq. in their eyes, and they have accordingly given one still more to the West, which, while it can never be tria0e to blend its interests with the coast line, will be SO nearly parallel as to be alwaye injurious to it. It is evi- dent to me that they would have denounced Mr. 31 %111)NY'S line, if they hail dared, as unceremoniously as they denounced that notch better line, the Dublin and Kilkenny. As it is, the bliallow subtlety of the language tiny have need in speaking of Mr. 31arronv's line is ludicrously curious. Their evidently double-voiced policy and puzzled pal tiality supplies an example of babl and halt. faced praise, which would have done honour to the diplomatic genius of a 31.sc. CIIIAVEL or a TA 1.I.EVRA ND. Observe the vein of suppreseed and indirect recommendation which so artfully runs though the while; and above all, mark how gently the points are touched, which if pressed at all strongly, must have inevitably tripped up the flatterer and turned his honied WOrliM tO censure. " We have not thought it necessary to make any partienber investigations it) respect to the probability of the success of this line ; (and why nut, tniay we ask ? ) but IF' the data put forward by its projectors be corrtit, we are i011, r thsposud to think that as stem as the coast railroad from Daldin to lart glis fa shah have been completed, the prolongation to Dundalk and thence eventual y to Newry might be desirable : but we do not offer any opinion as to the probabi- lity of us becoming .rs remunerative speco:Wion." Again, may we ;el why not? Such an opinion has been pronouneed in all the other cases, why not in this? BECAUSE rr no Mo. Plence :11.1110NYS.

I have now to claim your notice tuft summary, which exhibits in a condensed form those further particulars which in the earlier part of tide letter I promised to give, and which being altogether omitted in the Report, are indispensable to a fair and correct knowledge of what private enterprise was about to effect in Ireland when inteifered with by this vampire Commission.

Dr HUN and KILKENNY—Cength of line miles ; 4w:obtained ; subscribed capital 800,000/. ; two calla made; engineere, 31s.s.re. Ma( ell-A.1. :Ind A it si mc; estimated income proved before Committees of both Houses, 197.37,3/. Cs. ekl. a Year; consequent dividend, la!, per cent. The principal Irish shareholders, not counting Messts. 13a1N::::)1,GY time bankers, in this Company, as evidenced by the deed if contract-, are the 3Iar- quit of pitsloxne, Messrs. Manna, Ml'., 31.1'.. Par:NELL, formerly 51.1'. fur Wicklow,-Larouctie of Dublin, Sce env of Kilfeacle, Le. These 2111 others have invested in the undertaking sueli sums as four, liXo ten, and fifteen thousand each. The cumber if Irish shareholders to the extent of one, two, and three thousand, is also entisiderah!e. DUBLIN and Liaterace—Length of line Ill milee ; engineer, Mr. BALD; WM), made and lodged ; proposed capital 1,000,0001.; estimated :animal income 181,2771. 6s. 8d. ; which, deducting 1,0001. a niiie far capertilinire, leaves 10 per cent. dividend. WATERFORD and LIMERICK —Lenrh of line 75 miles; engineers, Messrs. BRUNEI. and BALD; survey mule and lodged ; capital 1,000,000f. ; estimated income 166,174/. ; profit, deducting for expenditure 1,000/. a mile, 106,1741., or more than 10 per cent. The principal supporters of thie line are the Earls of CIA tar and GSENG ALL, Lords WATERPARK and STANLRY, Messrs. Sims and Reinter, the Chairman wad Deputy•Cheirtnan of the Great Western Railway, sod a numerous inch proprietary.

Idr

Dr }MIN and GALW A y—Leogth of line 120 miles ; survey made and lodged ; engineers, Messrs. BALT! and HES ; capital 1,200,000/. ; estimated income 223,0001.4 which, deducting 100,000/. a year fur expenditure, leaves a dividend of more than 10 per cent. The principal supporters of this line are the Marquises of nowt/sultan and CLANRICARDE, the Lords Cenetnenele and OrtaNaloar, Mr. Lv teen the Master in Chancery, Mr. .1011N SMITH the banker, Mr. RAvENs:11AW the Elia India Director, and various applicants for 20,000 shares. The Duities and Drumm:Da—Length of line 34 miles ; act obtained; capital 600,000/. ; two calla made; engineer, Mr. Cc ISITT ; estimated profit, 10 per mint.

l'nsr en, or TIELF.1sr and AnNIACII —Length of line 30 miles; act obtained and woiks in progress; capital 600,0001. ; two calls tnade; engineers, Messrs. STEPHEN soli and BALD ; estimated profit, 12 per cent. DUI:LIN and AltNIAGII (ittland)—Leogth of hue 81 miles ; survey made uni istlgeul ; en pita! 1,000,0001. ; engineere, Messrs. RasTrilcue and BALD; esti- mated profit, Id per cent.

here, then, we have private enterprise desiring of its own impulse to invest the sum of 6,200,0001. in the construction of 142 miles of railroad in Ire- land. Government desired to facilitate and encourage the undertakings ; but the Commission inteeposes and denounces their progress. It is for public opinion to decide the issue. I have only to observe, that in laying this state- ment l'el■ne your readers, I mon it to be no part of my offiee now, whatever it may be on rintither occasion, to prove how far this large capital was likely to be paid up under the proposed terms of its suhscription, or that its investment would really net the anticipated profits. /11y present design is limited to an expo-erne of the partielity of the Report in suppressing altogether the muse of documentary evidence of which I have here been aisle to present a brief ab- stract ; and to animadvert upon the unreasonableness of the Commissioners in negativing its validity, without any apparent inquiry into the fletaile, or any examination of the numerous anti highly-qualified budy of witnesses they were empowered to examine in support of it.

Having new reviewed the lines recommended by the Commlasionere end those promoted by Invite Cempanies, and having contrasted the rival projecte in thee true bearing., I shall take leave of the etibject. The question of traffic I do not touch, leicattse, having shown, I think conclueively, th it the proceedings the Commissioners would adopt are contradicted by 014 instructions, and ab- stractedly bad, I may spare myself the labour of discussing the statistieal data upon which they have calculated the moderate profit to be expected from the completion of their " system." That they limit for a limed' of time to come to 31 and 4 per cert. ; which is a virtual condemnation of the lines they have so L.botiotely net forth. There are, however, two observations directly eppli- c able to this part of the question, which cannot be too strongly impressed upon the Irish pub!ie. 'the Commiesionere give a those enconraging, account of the growing prosperity and undeveloped resource, of the country ; they show that it he reeve capital Iris been expeieled in improving intern-al intercommunication, Cite must extraordinary tesults lowe directly followed ; they quote evidence a, prove that the Grata and floyal Canals would have yielded a liberal income had there not been a twist profligate expenditure of Government funds in theie eimetruction ; they admit that the only railway we hove in Ireland—the Dublin and Kingstosn—though perhaps the most costly work of the kind ever made. has more than trebled the travelling along the line, /114,1 pays (1 per rent. ; bur notwithstanding all this, they allow in very many instances III) greater an in- CI ease of trAlic on railways in Ireland than 25 per cent., although the usual Parliamentary etendard, amply tested by experience, is 100 per cent. They olso declare that their lines will not pay more them 4 per cent. ; but they con- fine the statement to those lines, and take good care not to assert that no others can realize a huger return. On the contrary, they plainly intimate that several detached lines would pay very well. Theme, however, they refuse tn sanction. It is peculiar to some systematizers to neglect the benentS they may obtain with ease. while strailling after an ideal perfection, which the snore it is remote and unattainable, the more obstinately they pursue it.

In concluding, I beg to thank you, Sir, very sineerely for the length to which you have allowed me to treepaee upon your valuable columns. I regard the compliment personally as a very flattering one; until am saiteIMI fellow-country- men in Ireland will not fail to welcotne it as another strong proof, added to the many already afforded, of the anxiety always felt by the Spectator to protect then interests from being tampered with or their independence frotn being un- dermiued. I am, Sir, always your very faithful Het-vent,

A NG1.0-111BERNI:S.