Page:Report from the Select Committee on Steam Carriages.pdf/31

 Should it, however, be deemed profitable to convey heavy goods by Steam Carriages, the Committee re commend that there should be as little interference as possible with the number of carts employed; as the effect on the surface of roads would be infinitely more injurious if heavy loads were placed on a single cart, than if the same weight were divided over several.—The Committee recommend, that where Carriages, containing heavy goods alone, are propelled by Steam, the weight of the load should be charged, without reference to the number of carts on which it may be carried.

As a horse is able to draw from 20 to 40 cwt, on common roads, they propose that each 20 cwt, of load conveyed in, or drawn by, a Steam Carriage, should be chargeable at the same rate of Toll as one horse drawing a cart.

A charge on weight is not so objectionable where goods are conveyed at a slow rate, as when speed is alone required.

In conclusion, the Committee submit the following Summary of the Evidence, given by the several witnesses, as to the progress made in the application of Steam to the purposes of draught on common roads.

Sufficient Evidence has been adduced to convince Your Committee,—

1.—That Carriages can be propelled by Steam on common roads at an average rate of ten miles per hour.

2.—That at this rate they have conveyed up wards of fourteen Passengers.

3.—That their weight, including Engine, fuel, water and attendants may be under three tons.

4.—That they can ascend and descend hills of considerable inclination with facility and safety.

5.—That they are perfectly safe for Passengers.

6.—That they are not (or need not be, if properly constructed) nuisances to the Public.

7.—That they will become a speedier and cheaper mode of conveyance than Carriages drawn by horses.

8.—That, as they admit of greater breadth of tire