Page:Report from the Select Committee on Steam Carriages.pdf/122



John Farey, Esq. 10 August, 1831. offer strong inducements to persons to embark in it; and to do that the rate of profit must be very much greater than that which is commonly expected to be realized by the proprietors of Stage Coaches; their present trade affords a less profit on the capital and trouble of management probably than any other sort of business which is carried on with spirit in this country. The great reason of that is, the constant loss by destruction of horses, the fluctuations of the price and quality of horse-keep, and the impossibility of reducing Stage Coach establishments in times when travelling business is flat; because the horses must be kept and men to attend them at all events, and the loss of running a Coach half employed is not so great as suspending it, and keeping the horses idle on short allowance, till better times come round. The profit of Stage Coaches which load well is very high, particularly in the fine travelling season, and that occasional profit creates an excitement which induce the injudicious setting up of more Coaches than are wanted for an average of all seasons; and for the reasons above stated, their expences when once set going, cannot be reduced to meet bad times. The adoption of Steam Coaches will set the trade free from its great commercial difficulty, because they can be laid up and kept idle without considerable loss and brought out again when wanted without any new outlay; also fuel does not fluctuate either in price or quality to any considerable extent like horse corn. In short, the capital embarked in a Steam Coach trade will not be so rapidly wasted as at present in horses. Owing to the great number of horses which must be first bought and then kept to do the same work as one Steam Coach, the first outlay in stock will be very small in Steam Coaches, compared with horses, the same of stables, hostlers and harness. The daily expences of fuel and attendants will be very much less than that of horse keep and attendance; the wear and tear of the Coaches and all that is coachmakers' work will be only the same as at present, but the wear and tear of Engines and machinery, though a very expensive