Page:A protest against the extension of railways in the Lake District - Somervell (1876).djvu/28

 opinion. But the arguments made use of upon the one supposition, differ from those which are put forward upon the other, by those who favour the railway project; and it may be well to note their divergence, and to indicate some of the considerations which weigh against them.

Upon the supposition that there are no minerals in the district worth working, it is urged that the construction of a railroad, while it would scarcely damage the landscape, would make easy the access to places which must now be reached by a walk or a drive.

It would be idle to attempt to convince a man who can see nothing disfiguring or incongruous in the intrusion, upon a sequestered valley, of a railway with its staring accompaniments, that his opinion results from any lack of fineness in his perceptive powers. But concerning this question of access something may be said. Perfect accessibility, of course, would demand a complete network of lines, with stations at every lovely spot. Nobody, I believe, wants exactly that. It must therefore be a question of degree.

Considering it as such, I venture to say that a little study of present railway facilities will convince any one with a knowledge of the district that, unless we are to legislate solely for the indolent, or for the few who, being too weak to walk, are too poor to ride, no reasonable case for extending the railway can be made out. Even those who can afford but a day at a time may, by a