3 FEBRUARY 1872, Page 2

The Times has found a new argument against State railways.

The country may one day be ruined by the discovery of some con- trivance, such as passenger balloons or electric engines, which will supersede them. The State would then lose the property for which it had paid so much, and would be half ruined. The argu- ment will alarm a great many people, but there is very little in it. The State would not be precluded from absorbing the new conveyance like the old one, and could manage it just as well. This is what the Railway Companies would have to do and would do, just as the gas companies will whenever their stupid lamps are super- seded by anything giving a decent light. That is certain to happen one day, but the shareholders nevertheless very wisely stick to their shares.