Page:The Canal System of England.djvu/82

 canals he contended that with a similar volume of traffic, the cost of transport in England would only be 0.37d., including 0.11d. for interest on investment, or £154 per 100,000 units. In other words, he estimated that the cost of railway transport would be at least three and a quarter times as much as the cost of transport by canal.

If an average freight-charge be taken for different countries of the world, it is found that our net railway receipts are among the highest, and as the volume of traffic per mile is greater than in any other country, the net income ought to be proportionately large, but the want of system in laying out the lines, and the exorbitant cost of land and preliminary expenses, have so inflated the capital accounts that no considerable cheapening of the cost of transportation can be expected from the Railway Companies. In fact, in order to pay a 5% dividend on the capital of the English Railways, a sum of £2,600 would have to be earned per mile per annum, wheras [sic] a sum of less than £500 per mile would suffice to pay a like dividend on canal expenditure.

But in spite of enormous capital accounts and consequent high freight, the traffic per mile of railway has so increased that it has actually overtaken the power of our Railways to deal with it. This is shewn by the fact that many are doubling their lines at enormous cost. Obviously under such conditions it would be economical to