Page:The Canal System of England.djvu/23

 competition, were not slow to take advantage of the situation, with the result that during the years 1845-48 they were permitted, if not encouraged, to purchase nearly 1,000 miles of waterways, a total subsequently increased to 1,264 miles.

The natural consequence of this change of ownership was the complete cessation of barge canal construction, and by these means the Railway Companies almost succeeded, as Mr. Conder forcibly expressed it before the Select Committee of 1883, "in strangling the whole of the inland water traffic."

The great difficulty in bringing home the deadly effect of this change of ownership, is due to the fact that no trustworthy statistics upon the subject are available—yet statistics are hardly necessary, for the most casual observer cannot fail to note the decayed condition not only of the traffic but of the antiquated locks and general structure of our inland navigations.

It was not until the year 1872, that the subject of Inland Navigation was again brought forward and thoroughly investigated. A joint committee of the two Houses of Parliament was appointed in that year to report upon the condition of the Canal System, and their report, which was afterwards adopted by Parliament itself, recongisedrecognised [sic] that the chief difficulty in the way of improvement was the fact that the railways had bought up many of the connecting links of through routes.