It A ILWAY INQUIRY.

Ili a former number we adverted to the mpolitie indiscriminate system of Railway-taxation. which final's the subject of comment in the Fourth Report of the Select Committee appointed by the house of Commons to inquire into the state or communication by railways. The Fifth Report of the Committee has been since printed, containing the Minutes of Evidence on which the observations of the preceding Report are founded. I laving, therefore, the evidence to collate with the commen- tary, we are enalded to take a more complete and satisfactory view of the subject than could be obtained from the mere remarks of the Com- mittee, confined as they are, almost exclusively, to the question of tax- ation. On that quest inn:, which constit tit es but one branch of the inquiry, the Committee urgently enforce the necessity of' altering the plan of taxing all passengers indiscriminately, and of substituting an ad valorem tax on the gross receipts, or a graduated scale for each class of pas- , sengers. Referring to the justice and expediency of' altering the pre- sent system on which railway- passengers are taxed, the Committee observe-

" Much evidence upon this subject was collected by the Committee on Bail- ! ways during the last session of Parliament, and your Committee have also entered fully into the same inquiry ; from both which inquiries your Commit- tee are satisfied that this question is of great importance to the public at large, and especially to time poorer classes of the cotnmunity ; and that in proportion as railway communication is extended through the country, the unequal pressure

of this tax will be more severely felt, inasmuch as it will be found to limit the accommodation which railways might otherwise beneficially afford to the labouring classes. 4' The great advantage which would result to these classes from the establish- ment of railway communication was repeatedly urged as an argument in favour of these undertakings. To convey the labourer cheaply and rapidly to that spot where his labour might be most highly remunerated, was frequently stated to be one great benefit which would be derived from opening these new channels of intercourse, while it was added that the health and enjoyment of the mechanics, artisans, and poor inhabitants of the large towns would be pro- moted, by the facility with which they would be enabled to remove themselves or their families into healthier districts and less crowded habitations. Your Committee believe, that Parliament would deeply regret to find that the tax imposed on railway passengers had a tendency to deprive the labouring classes of these promised advantages, and especially when it is seen that in those parts of the country where the pressure of this tax is most severely felt, the revenue derived from it is insignificant in amount. The income derived from the duty on railway passengers, during the last six years, has been, in the years ending

5th January lbJa £6,852 — 1836 8,693 — 1837 296 — 1833 10, 16,892 — 1839 39,570 — 1840 72,716 A reference to the Appendix will show, that of the sum of 72,000/. derived from this tax during the last year, 53,000/. was received from the five following lines, namely, the Grand Junction, Great Western, Liverpool and Manches- ter, London and Birmingham, London and Southampton ; so that those rail- ways in Scotland and in the North of England which derive their income, as connected with the conveyance of passengers, chiefly from the poorer classes of society, and which suffer most from the present tax, contribute in a very small proportion to the revenue." On referring to the evidence, we find numerous instances mentioned

in which the operation of the present system of taxation has been most prejudicial. As the mileage-duty is an invariable charge of one-eighth of' a penny per passenger for every mile, without reference to the fares, it is evident that it bears most oppressively on those railways that afford the cheapest accommodation. The average charge on most of the rail- -ways in the North of England and in Scotland is about one penny per mile for the third-class carriages : in those cases, therefore, the tax constitutes one-eighth part of the.whole fare. On the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railroad, the lowest class of passengers were formerly con- veyed the distance of eleven miles for the low charge of sixpence, be- fore the railroad was sabjected to any tax. When the fare was raised, in 1837, to eightpence, a sensible diminution took place in the number of passengers, in the proportion of 145,700 to 119,400 in the course of a year. In April 1839, the flues were still further raised to tenpence ; but the number of passengers diminished so rapidly in consequence, that in the following August the Company were obliged to re- duce the fares to the former level. Several similar cases are men- tioned in which a rise in the fares, for the purpose of paying the mileage-duty, was met with a sudden decrease in the number of pas- sengers. So sensibly, indeed, does a slight advance operate in Scotland in reducing the Dumber of passengers, that the Chairman of the Forfar and Arbroath Railway Company says in his evidence, that the effect of the imposition of .the tax would be to stop the railroad altogether. The present fares by that railway, for the third-class passengers, is one shilling for the whole distance of 151; miles. If the tax were exacted, be stated that the I utors would be obliged to raise the fares to one penny a mile ; and that, in his opinion, would diminish the number of passengers more than halt:

Some curious evidence was given by Captain LawEs, the Manager of

the Leeds and Manchester Railway ; exhibiting the anxiety of even the richer classes in that part of the country to save expense by travelling in the lowest-priced carriage. The third-class carriages on that railway are entirely open, without seats; each carriage holds eighty persons ; and they are not even protected from the sparks of the engine. The fare in these open waggoas, from Manchester to Littleborough, a distance of 13i- miles, is one shilling, and the fare by the second-class carriage is double : to save the extra shilling, not only are tradesmen found to submit to the inconvenience and discomfort of the waggons without scats, but Mr. Law es has seen one of the most wealthy bankers in Rochdale riding in a third-class carriage when the first-class had not a passenger in it. The railway from Manchester to Littleborough tra- yaks a densely-peopled part of the country, and it affords at present great accommodation to the poorer classes ; but it appears from the evidence of Mr. LAWES, that it would he more beneficial to the Com- pany to raise the fares, even at the risk of losing one-third of their passengers. The following extract from his evidence on this point, shows how essential it is far the accommodation of the working-classes in our manufacturing districts that the fares should be kept down to the lowest possible scale.

" From our experience of working the small part of the line which is now

open, we find we shall be absolutely obliged to raise our fares unless the duty is altered. As the third-class carriages are used so much more, it would pay us infinitely better to get rid of at least one-third of the whole of our passengers, and to get mum additional fare ; but that a very small rise of fare would exclude one-third, we have not the smallest doubt."

" Would it not be the very poorest class of your present passengers who would thus be excluded ?"—" Yes ; it would throw them all oft" " It would throw 0IT the hand-loom weavers, carrying their packs into Man- chester ?"—" It would."

" They would be altogether excluded from the use of the railroad?'—" Yes ; for we tried once, to check their carrying their neighbour's packs, to force the men to come themselves instead of sending their deputies : the consequence was, they left off going."

" Row long did you try that experiment ?"—" We tried it only one neck ; and we had petitions, not only t'rom the men themselves, but from the clergy and the respectable gentlemen of the neighbourhood." The cause of the [resent urgent remonstrances against the mileage- duty is thus explained by the Committee in their Report— Time pressure of this tax is now for the that time telt on many lines of railway, because in former years the Lords of the Treasury have exercised mm power given to them by the Act 2 and 3 Wm. IV. cap. 120, and have allowed many of the Scotch and some of the English railways to pay an annual com- position in lieu of this tax : this indulgence, however, which was a great accom- modation to companies opening railway communications in the poorer iFstricts of the country, is now no longer granted ; and your Committee see many oh - jections to the future exercise of such a power by the Treasury. 46 In considering the question of railway-taxation, Parliament o tilt overlook the facts which were elicited by the inquiries of the Commuittets, session, and which tend materially to increase the objections to a coatitl °bi-,' of the present system. It was stated by the Chairman and Deputy etez of the Leeds and Selby Railway, that in the year 18:36 they raised the far31-' that line to an amount which diminished greatly the number of pass but they added, that by this increase of fare, although they lessened the'e-r,„i ber of passengers by 12,000 in the year, yet they augmented their n 1,3001. Evidence to the same effect has also been given by the ChiirsIt°-17`i the Bolton and Bury Railway."

The impolicy as well as the injustice of the present system of Tea

taxation, is fully established by the evidence given before the

Cots% tee, and their reprobation of it cannot be too forcible ; but there other branches of the inquiry into the state of communication by r.4.1 ways, scarcely less important, to which the Committee make no allesie, The public will naturally be anxious to know the cause of the gre; difference between the charges on the railroads in the North of Low and Scotland and on those in the South. We find that on tnost of th Northern railroads the average price for the third-class carriages e penny a mile for each passenger. If the same scale were introducedez the London and Birmingham Railway, the fares would be only ail, shillings, instead of twenty-two, as at present. What is the causeq this immense difference, and. why have the third-class carriages No altogether put off the line ? The Committee have not touched upon this topic in their report, and the evidence bearing upon it is very scanty. What we want to know is, the actual cost of conveyancetq

the railway-companies, and whether there be any adequate cause tot the great disproportion in their fares.

In default of evidence to this effect in the Reports before us, we tura to the Report of M. NOTHOMII, the Belgian Minister in charge title Railways in Belgium ; which gives explicit information on all poims connected with the system. In Belgium, the railways were constructed at the charge of the Government, and they are completely underthe control of the Administration. The character of the country also pre- sents great engineering facilities for the formation of railroads. These circumstances, of course, occasion important difference in the original eat of the undertakings, in favour of Belgium ; but as regards the working of the railway, when completed, the cost of locomotive engines, mold the management, the two countries are nearly on a par. The total es- pense of traction and management on the Belgian railways is statedhy NOTHOMB to be 13 francs per league, which in the distance from Brussels to Antwerp amounts to 135 francs. The fare by the second. class carriages, called char-a-bancs, between those towns, a distance of about twenty-seven miles, is 2 francs 25 centimes, or rather less that two shillings. The fare by the third-class carriages 1 franc 75 eta. times, or equal to Is. Gd. English. The full train of these carriagesis capable of conveying 360 passengers. This, for the second-class car- riages, would produce a gross receipt for the journey from Brussels to Antwerp of 810 francs ; the actual expense of conveyance being only 135 francs. Even supposing the carriages to be only one-quarter filled, there would still .remain a surplus above expenditure of 50 pet cent.

It appears front this account, that the fares by the third-class ear- riages in Belgium, and those of the cheapest of the Scotch railways, nearly correspond. What then occasions the immense difference be- tween these charges and the fares on the railroads out of London? One cause, no doubt, is the dead-weight of the original cost of' the under- takings, arising from private jobbing, and the exorbitant sums de- mantled for the lands through which the railways pass. There masa however, be other causes operating besides the heavy payment °fin- terest on the capital expended, to produce so marked a difference be- tween the fares in the North and in the South of England. We wish the Committee had directed their attention to this point. As it is, the whole scope of their observations is confined to the comparatively short lines of railway in the North, and they leave the greater evils of the more important railways untouched. The mileage-duty, though ex- tremely oppressive on the low fares, bears a very trifling proportion to the higher charges for conveyance ; and its total abolition in the latter cases would effect little or no alteration for the public advantage. A different system of management must be introduced before the fall advantages contemplated from railways can be attained. The Directors should bear in mind that their position is different from that of the managers of mere trading speculations. They are responsible to Par- liament as well as to the shareholders for the administration of the powers which were asked by and granted to them especially for the public good. The shareholders must, indeed, be fairly remunerated for the capital they have embarked in these national undertakings ; but in the eye of the Legislature public good must ride paramount over all pri- vate considerations.

A great portion of the evidence in the Fifth Report relates to the conveyance of goods by railway ; and to the formation of an electro- magnetic telegraphic on the Great Western line. The latter subject is not necessarily connected with railways, though it forms a considerable feature in the Report. On the former, which is of minor importance only to the conveyance of passengers, the Committee meke no remark. We cannot now enter into that branch of the question further than to observe, that thought the advantage from the transit of merchandise by railway has not been so great as was anticipated either in rapidity ef conveyance or cheapness, it appears from the evidence that there has been considerable gam both its speed and price.