Page:The Canal System of England.djvu/67

 Calder earned £121,705 as carriers, and only £67,835 from tolls; the Leeds and Liverpool £94,464 as carriers, as against £43,367 from tolls; and the Trent Navigation £14,115 as carriers, and only £1,492 from tolls; the total revenue of the seven independent canals from freight as carriers being £433,000, and that earned by tolls £212,551. Turning to the canals which act as carriers, but are owned by Railways, we find that the revenue earned by these Companies from carrying is generally much below that derived from Tolls. The Shropshire Union is the only one of the Railway-owned Canals which obtains the greater part of its revenue from carrying-freights. The remaining seven together receive nearly four times as much from tolls as from carrying.

The above facts seem to show that where a Canal Company controls an important through route, the carrying trade may be made as remunerative on canals as on railways.

It may be convenient here to sum up the important advantages, defects, and points requiring attention in the English Canal System.

The chief advantages of canals, apart from the question of economy, are:—

(i.) They admit of a class of goods being carried in the manner and at the speed which proves to be most economical and suitable for it, without interference from any other class.