22 MARCH 1873, Page 3

The Purchase of the Railways by the State is a

question that, if not yet ripe for practical settlement, is quite ripe for discus.. sion ; and such an examination of the subject as that submitted by Mr. Biddulph Martin to the Statistical Society on Tuesday evening is valuable, if only for the sake of the criticisms it elicits on all sides. Mr. Martin's argument is founded, however, on what is thought by many well-informed persons a very con- siderable miscalculation of the primary cost of the undertaking. Is it possible for us to acquire the Railways, even if we buy them in the lump, for six hundred millions sterling ? It is probable that eight hundred or a thousand millions for the United Kingdom is nearer the mark.