GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS.

Bruce Herald, Volume III, Issue 59, 25 May 1865, Page 8

GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS.

(Frdm the Melbourne; Leader.) A; subject in which othc colonists of Tictoria iave considerable interest is now exciting very great interest in : England. It is a proposal: by the British Government to purchase all the existing lines of railway.-: feeing that our railways^ with; the exception :of the suburban lines around j Melbourne, are public property, it is pleasant to perceive an- opinion, at least to: some extent concurrent with our policy,: gaining favor in a country where the rail- i way system—its .managementandbenefits; — is so well,; understood. The .movement has its origin in a proviso inserted in the Incorporating. Acts of those companies which dates no further back than 1,844, to the effect that, at any time after the lapse of twenty-one years, they might be purchased by the i: . Government on certain ter,ms, namely,, twenty-five years' purchase ; en, the last three years' amount of their clear annual divisible profits. . This^ pro- . yiso was obtained at a time when the promoters of competing schemes were ready to sacrifice any consideration looming* so distantly in the future as twenty-one years, provided they obtained the immediate but speculative advantage of. their Incorporating Act. It was Mr Gladstone, (hen iVe-' siolpni of the Board' of Trade, who secured ! to the Government this right, and singu'larl^ r , after the lapse of twenty-one years, heis not only 'a Minister, 'but the Minister " to : wh6m, in the ordinary course of business, the cpnsumation of the bargain would "be entrusted. It is said' that L Mr Gladstone does intend to avail himself of the contract, and tlatifr ho' will submit to Parliament during the ensuing session, a scheme by which this vast property may be acquired. The railways of the : United Ki ngdoin are valued; at foiir hundred- million sterlingv or. aboiit one' half of the amount of the na-: -. tion-al' dfebt ; the total receipts are thirtyseven millions sterling per annum j but the -average profits do not. exceed three and three-quarters per^^ cent. The dividendsj as a whole, instead' ;of increasing,, have decreased, and are still decreasing. This is/owing chiefly to 'the enarnious cost of the original lines as- compared with those- of more recent construction, and to the continually narrowing area fed by trunk lines. The .railways first constructed averaged in cost L 35,000 per mile ;; the London and North Western cost, we. think L 56,000, and the short linfes in the neigh T borhood of Londonj ; the Blackwall '■ and ■ Greenwich respectively, cost upwards of iL400,000 per 'mile; Lines traversing . ag ricnltural districts now average' ; aboiH : Li2^oo0 > per mile j and single lines,' whi6li are found q.uite equal to the traffic of sparsely populated districts, may be, con-r .structed, for little more than Lsoo(>, It will readily be perceived, that the old and . .costly lines cannot withstand the Pompeti•;tipn pf;Bew ©ne&,;eeonomieally constructed, 'and; carrying off the traffic .; which formerly : ,|fed. the wayside stations; of trunk lines. - ,The ; ; plder , companies strenuously oppose fresh jcpmpetitors, and much oi their an- i nuaUnc.Qme is expended : inj this, way. As an instance of the enormous amounts ; ab- - sprbed in. parKamenliary expenses we may " nientipn .that- the costs, of the various embryo companies competing for the right, to lay. down aline between London, and ;'3Hg : hton.wfere Lloo,doov- / "\'V ",; _ : j . . ' ; Wot the. : least singular aspe.pt \&f. ,th[(i , Scheme is that a prpfit is,- expeeted,,,pi rj no less than four millions . per annum, in, v aid: .of ..the general, re venue .of.th.c :^tate.., ; :. The shareliplders would of course, . ( b ; e Jppid; jin (government boijids, whic]i r being regjarded , as so much. better security than r.rail^-ay , scrip, command a m^pH : smaller :rate. of 'in-j , terest. ■ . . The dilFerence in value of the two kinds of~ securities, and the difference^.l)^--tween tha computed net profits of the lilies '' taken' in tlie aggregate, and the mterest t pq be paid bn tlie funded debt,, would ieaye'/as ■ w'a have said," a prbfit of four million's 1 per , iinnuni; to the 1 Government. This isi''aU64 gethef * independent of. the profits ■acb j ruino ; 'fi'om the' tragic, which possibly , mignf 'not "■"lie iitrg-ef :-> tuati they 'are now, in^smiicli .as the surplus ( would t be continua'll^'de r vbted "fd ' th e eou strut ction' J of ; fresh branches 1 . 1 iB u t • it-is'prijposed: to effect a revolution in" th^ ■.^ost-'of" travelling, -The : railway '■" comj -panics' have ■'•never s 'consulted 1 public 'conj venience y they have unwisely •ffre'ferTeci i a ■'fin'inimum tdafficiatlnikxihroni tavks'f. ana neither reasoning- nor experience ibasicohj vinced thena^hajitheir >policy\has been in-i

jurious. It: is incontestable proved that ; when, from a spiteful spirit of competition '■ the fares have been reduced even so much as 60 or 70 per cent, the dividends have only slightly diminished. A writer on the subject tells us that when the South Eastern, was competing 1 with the Great Western for the London and Reading traffic, carried passengers at .the rate of two shillings and threepence per hundred miles first■class, and one ;and sixpence second class, : the ; diyulends* : the , chairman of the com pany informed: the-, shareholders, were not' 4iminij:;h.e.d^rTin-i fact, ,. the:' reduction had cost nothing!. -The; contest: which, for a; .year, andvavhajf,. Was waged ; between the ; •Edinburgh and, Glasgow iand the: Caledonian lines, is,, also iin;: point. Both? lines, carried ; pasjsen gers a- dis tan cci of' •.. ;fbr,ty-six '' miles : at (for ea.qh of! .the ;threeijclasses)';a shillings ninejjence.j, ■ and I sixpence, instead : of eight;: shillings,, six,. shillings .iand. ; ; four; shillings^ ,-; ,asi ; previously , , ■ ■■ ! The public , eii- : joyed; an^enormous benefit, -and the* profitsof one eom ; pany Li were reduced only one per i cent, and of the other .a'half.: /It will occur to ; our readers that r yiewing the railways as public, property, the low fares were a positive .gain. „ It iSj quite ; true that the shareholders lost slightly, but how great was ; the saving-, and how .conducive to the progress of .commerce., and social intercourse, were the cheap fares •? .This is essentially tlie idea which is gaining, ground in England,. that .travelling- and conveyance of goods are a national necessity as muclr as the penny poStagej and that passengers and merchandise ought to be carried as cheaply as is '' consistent with the gctualcost added .to the interest oh tlie capital expended. ! . In the' hands of the Government the railways might ta worked so cheaply as to allow~of~ the fares beihgi reduced from one-half to tliree-fburtlis ; indeed one advocate of tlie scheme went so' far' as to contend that as large . an income would ;be, derived if they were rediiced five-sixthsj.'dndho suggested .as a practical' testtli'at the fare from London to Btig I ht6'n,';aM i^.om\ I 'Maicliester. i to Liverpool should, for ' third-ciass passengers be reduced to sixpence for the" entire distance. 1 T But one, cannot but ,be, struck; by the gigantic .nature of the proposal. Four hundred millions tp. be added to the national debt — 'the. property; of the companies to be forcibly taken from them in exchange for Governmenr securities I,' Who can, question the stability -of- Great Britain;; when a plan so gigantic can be seriously entertained. ,? ;We do not ; hear that ' the ; shareholders are: unwilling-, rto be bougjht 0ut., ., O.n,.the contrary, the; matter 1 is sim>» ply one of terms. Give them a sufficient .bonus ; and they ; will she •= satisfied with Governmentbonds.; ; Another aspect, of the icase is the enormqus patronage that would .be. thrown into the,, hands of the Govern,ment; Every official would be, the creature of political influence, and a sentinel to protect the interests of. the, dominant classes. This difficulty is, however, partly met by a proposal. to let tlie working of the lines by contract^ much in ,the same way as .the horsing- of the stage: coaches, ivas ; con-: tracted for in olden times. .By this means: the Government would cease to. be "burdened with the maintenance of rolling stock. Gradually the. railroad would ;comd to be altogether distinct from^the means of locomotion. ...... ■.';■-,.• ....-.;■_ This project presents many features which: .the, Victorian Government might-do well;tbj;mitate. - In. tlie first place, instead ,b.f> absolutely! leasing' the; lines, -as j .-posed, the working of; them might -be; let ;by ieontract^ the ;Government retaining in i -its own ipossessipn its costly .and. efficient :■ plant; i regain tlie facts as to :cheap, 'fares i might- be profitaWyl applied.' There/is no doubt; jthat' athes i f ares i. are upreposterou sly .high,i and thaty ; ifj reduced* to ione>half^ the traffic would/be 'increased -fourfold. A jmeite ri abatement .: of ? a i few v shillings on^ • a longs. distance- does nbt meet, the case. "A. sweeping reduction' is required, and' 'then .our • 'railways anight 'possibly accomplish .. their; ■ original! desigriy namel}^ to cheapen coinj-mwnieation and; commodities, :to prp/mQteid.eCentralisatiohj a-nd? stimulate i'ag^i l cultural and mininsMpur'Suitsi i We merely <addrin.flllu'ifcration; l tHat ! , ;-it 'is^ ; shown '^that ,cp)ils .CQuldrb'e carried* .from Peterborough jtQ; London Ati '.& i ishilling! >per ton <if there • iw.ere;not; rival:! interests,^ the line of ■ commupication-were^not -in 'the;: hands of : ,s.e!vesa!l: c©jMpanie's.ru Bomeans: of the railr i > w^yjitcSiSaid>'tibii:ig!6p|^oitls might ■■ at^all , .seasons', bei'soldiin Lciridpn.for- ten shillings iperitony insteaid of aboufi ■ ■ twenty >eigkt; ■■■ ak