Page:The Canal System of England.djvu/70

 canal. Even these figures give but a poor idea of the carrying capacity of our waterways, for on the 21 miles of the Weaver during the same year, no less than one and a half million tons, or 75,000 tons per mile, were transported, and on the busiest portion of this navigation at least 120,000 tons per mile must have been carried.

From the above figures it will be seen that the possibilities of canals for traffic are very large, and with better conditions the traffic on the existing waterways might be greatly increased.

It has often been urged that the Canal and the Railway should be combined under one management and that were the canals of sufficient size, with uniform gauge and capacity, they could be worked side by side with the railway to their mutual advantage, thus largely replacing the goods train with its consequent risk of both accident and delay caused by the shunting, etc., incidental to goods traffic. An attempt is made to show that the canal would take the bulky and heavy goods, such as coal, iron, stone, etc., and the railway the passengers and perishable and light articles. This, however, seems quite impracticable, taking into account the present relations between the Canal and Railway Companies, and the manner in which the latter have acted in cases where canals have been acquired.