General Abstract of Expenditure of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, to the 31st of May 1830, [from Mr. Booth’s Pamphlet.]

Extracts from the “Observations” of Mr. Booth.

“Cuttings and Embankments.—The Excavations consist of about 722,000 cubic yards of rock and shale, and about 2,006,000 cubic yards of marle, earth, and sand. This aggregate mass has been removed to various distances, from a few furlongs to between three and four miles; and no inconsiderable portion of it has been hoisted up by machinery, from a depth of thirty to fifty feet, to be deposited on the surface above, either to remain in permanent spoil banks, as at Kenyon, or to be afterwards carried to the next embankment, as at the deep rock cutting through Olive Mount; the process in this latter case being rendered expedient from considerations of increased expedition. Where land for the deposit of spoil banks has been purchased, the cost of the land forms part of the expenditure under this head, and a good deal of substantial and lofty walling in the deep cuttings is also included.”

“Iron Rail Account.—This expenditure comprises the following items:—

Land.—This is a heavy item of expenditure. The price of land in the vicinity of large towns is usually high; and the outlay was further enhanced by numerous claims for compensation, owing to the prejudice which a few years since existed against Railways, and especially against what now appears their peculiar recommendation—the Locomotive Engine. A great change has taken place in this respect. At the close of 1828, the charge under this head was nearly 102,000l., but a portion of this amount being for the depÔts, has been transferred to the carrying department.”

“The Directors, in their Report, dated the 25th of March last, estimated the total expenditure, including Warehouses, Machinery and Carriages, at 820,000l., which may be apportioned as follows:—

No. II.

The Speech of the Rev. John Corrie, F.R.S., taken from the Report of the Town’s Meeting, held in Birmingham, March 4th, 1831, in support of Railways.

The Rev. J. Corrie said, that having been desired to introduce the business of the Meeting, he had undertaken the task, from a conviction that it would be no difficult thing to show the superiority of railways to all the established modes of communication, and the benefits which the town of Birmingham in particular would derive from that great national line, which this Meeting had assembled to support. It was quite unnecessary to dwell upon the importance of safe, easy, and especially cheap means of intercourse. The whole history of human civilization attested it. Why did population first spread along the banks of great rivers? Why were the banks of the Euphrates and the Nile the seats of the earliest civilization? the cradles of science and the arts of life? Principally, if not entirely, from the facilities they afforded of cheap and easy communication. What raised Phoenicia to such high celebrity among ancient nations? Not a narrow strip of rocky territory, but its position on the sea shore; not its abundant harvests, but its memorable ports, its Tyre and Sidon. The name and language of the Greeks were most widely diffused; their numbers, their civilization, their progress in the sciences, in the elegant and useful arts, were most marked, when in the days of the Ptolemies they possessed the first mercantile city of the world—Alexandria,—and had colonies on every little island and rocky promontory in the whole circuit of the Mediterranean. Or if we descend to modern times, What raised Italy to its early commercial eminence but the length of its indented coast? What raised great cities on the banks of the Elbe, or the Rhine, and carried manufactures into the heart of Germany, but those great rivers? What raised Flanders,—especially what raised Holland, but its canals and sea-ports? What in more recent times has occasioned the rapid extension of people, wealth, and property through the wide circuit of the United States, but the extent of its navigable rivers; those rivers on which the transcendent utility of steam navigation was fully established? Or to come nearer home, What would England be without her extent of coast, without her facility of carriage? There are many still in the vigour of their faculties who have witnessed the progress of this country during the memorable reign of George III.—a period of rapid progress in numbers, in wealth, in power, and in all the arts, with which no other period will bear one moment’s comparison. How much of this was owing to our turnpike-roads—to our canals? What would Birmingham, in particular, be without them? What would be the value of the mines of Staffordshire, in the very centre of the island, and without a navigable river? But the art and industry of man has surmounted every difficulty. Birmingham is not only connected with all the kingdom by a system of excellent roads, but has a water-communication with London, with Liverpool, with Bristol, with Hull; and it is from the opening of these canals that you must date its great prosperity. In 1760, Birmingham had less than 30,000 inhabitants: by the last census it had 106,000; it has now probably 130,000. Connected with the ocean, it is connected with the world; its name is known wherever the name of England is known; its useful and ingenious productions are spread over the civilized and the uncivilized regions of the globe. But how is it that roads,—how is it that canals, have produced such wonderful effects? Solely by affording the means of easy, of safe, of regular, of rapid, of economical communication. Which of your productions could have been sent over Europe, which to America, to India, to China, loaded with the weight of land-carriage from hence to the nearest of our ports? At least how few could have been either sent or sold! But how superior in all the particulars I have mentioned are railways to canals or turnpike roads! The ease, the smoothness, is that of one smooth bar of iron revolving on another; the motion of the best built carriage, on the best constructed road, is comparatively rough and jarring. You move with no more fatigue than from sitting in your chamber. Then for regularity,—here are no interruptions from drought, none from frost, none from snow, none from tedious periodical repairs. In safety,—inquire, and you find in the last six months upwards of 100,000 persons have passed between Liverpool and Manchester without an accident. Can you say the same of any equal length of turnpike-road? As for rapidity, this is truly astonishing,—this sets all competition at defiance; this almost realises the extravagant demand of the poet, that the gods would annihilate both space and time. It will condense the whole population of the kingdom, as to all purposes of intercourse for business or amusement; while it spreads it over the whole surface for purposes of healthful air and beautiful country scenery; and we know not yet its maximum rapidity; but our gardens, our farms, above all, our mines and manufactories, will be placed as near the great sea-ports and the sea as if Birmingham was only 30 or 40 miles from Liverpool or London. But the great point of all is the economy: and here, while we claim the right to assert a great economy, we may readily allow that there may not have been sufficient time to estimate all the expenses with which railways and engines of rapid motion may be attended. But would the low prices have been fixed between Liverpool and Manchester if the managers of this interesting establishment had not found they could with justice to the proprietors take those reduced prices? The repair of engines appears great: average this on the quantity of work performed, and you find the charge per passenger or per ton is a mere trifle,—a fraction of a farthing. We will however admit that more time is necessary to ascertain the exact expense. But we must not forget that no great improvement is ever perfected at once: whatever be the expense at first, may we not justly expect it will be reduced?—A curious paper has been published on the power, or what is called the duty, of the steam-engine in Cornwall. You know that instrument is there used most extensively to drain the deep and valuable mines. At the earliest record in the document to which I am referring, the quantity of water raised by a bushel of coals is denoted by the number 5. The attention of the greatest engineers was drawn to this county. The celebrated Smeaton made considerable improvements; the memorable discovery which placed our late illustrious neighbour Mr. Watt in the very first rank of benefactors to his country and mankind, raised the efficiency of a single bushel to 25; subsequently, I believe, still higher. But since his time, merely by a patient attention to every minute circumstance in the construction and the working of the engine, without any new discovery, the duty has been raised from 25 to 85 or 95. Here is a progress, during no very long period: and even were the expense of the locomotive engine ten or twenty times greater than it is, there would be no reason to despair of its economy. Am I not justified then in contending that this town is most deeply interested in the establishment of a railway to Liverpool and to London? It never was more deeply interested in any contrivance to diminish the expense of carriage than at this moment. What is the state of the iron trade of Staffordshire? What the prospect of that industrious population which depends upon it? A reduction of one half in the expense of carriage, which the railways appear justly to promise, would convert a bad trade into a good one; would give Staffordshire a superiority over all competitors. At this moment the remission of the duty on sea-borne coals will narrow the market of the Staffordshire coal trade. The railway may not only restore the balance, but incline it in favour of Staffordshire, whose mines lie nearest of any to the metropolis. But the superiority of railways is a question of fact; it must be decided by actual experiment; and it has been decided by experiment between Manchester and Liverpool.

But it is said, the railway may be a good thing for the country; but what will it be for those who consume their capitals in forming it; what does it promise to its proprietors? In the first place, I would observe that the common expression,—it may be good for the country and bad for the proprietors,—expresses what never can be true: it never can be for the good of the country that any capital should be so invested as not to make an adequate return. This is a matter of calculation. Numberless railways have been constructed, (though the application of the locomotive engine is a comparatively recent improvement); and it must be possible to form some judgment of the capital required. It is true that in all great works this is difficult, and we are often reminded of the original estimate and ultimate expense of the Liverpool and Manchester railway. But are railways the only works in which estimates have been erroneous? Has it never happened in buildings, in roads, in bridges, in canals? And is it impossible for any care, and any caution, to avoid gross mistakes? Be assured that no care will be spared on this subject by those who are inviting the public to invest a capital of three millions; their calculations are founded, not on the estimate, but on the actual expenditure of the Liverpool and Manchester railway: they suppose theirs will cost as much as the other actually has cost. Is that an objectionable basis to build upon? They pledge themselves to ascertain the probable expense, and will not rest on the judgment of any one man, however superior they may justly and confidently think him.But a suspicion is whispered abroad, that the public are ill informed respecting the actual expenses, the profits, and the prospects of that railway, on which we ground all our plans and expectations; the statements circulated are said not to be open, candid, and above-board. Sir, I should be ashamed to enter on a justification of men so well known to the world, of such high honour, such unsullied integrity as those gentlemen, who are best known among the projectors and supporters of the Liverpool and Manchester railway. But if any one should still cherish his suspicions,—what has been their conduct? If they have deceived the public, why did they continue to hold their shares after they had reached 100l. per cent. premium? When they began to decline,—and they have declined,—why did they still hold them? Why are they among the first to encourage similar undertakings in favourable situations? Why were they among the earliest, why are they among the greatest shareholders in those railways, which are the object of our present meeting? But they are enthusiasts; they are blinded by their pre-conceived opinions, or by some feeling of honour. But are there not men at Liverpool, not connected with them, and able to expose their misstatements, to unmask their artifices? Many;—and how are these disclosing their sentiments respecting railways? By embarking in a new railway, carried very nearly through the same line of country with that now at work; for such is that projected between Liverpool and Leeds.

With regard to the traffic on the lines connected with Birmingham, I am not prepared on this occasion to go into detail; other persons well informed on this subject will address you. But look for a moment at the canals between Liverpool and London, the Duke of Bridgewater’s, the Trent and Mersey, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire, the great Birmingham canal, the Warwick, the Napton, the Coventry, the Oxford, the Grand Junction,—all of which have paid the proprietors amply, some enormously. They sufficiently indicate the extent of traffic. Add to this the land-conveyance by coaches, chaises, private carriages, waggons, vans, amounting at least to 300,000l. per annum, between Birmingham and London;—add the cattle sent from Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, &c. to the London markets, and which the railways will convey for less than the value of the flesh lost in driving;—add those kinds of agricultural produce which require a smooth and rapid transport. In short, statements have been made out by persons of no mean capacity, which show a profit so ample as to render the reader incredulous from its magnitude. There probably may be error, but after rigid correction the return must be ample.

Railways will no doubt be extended; and if they are what they profess to be, the sooner the better: they will be extended wherever the traffic and intercourse are great; and if we were to attempt to estimate the sum now paid for carriage on all those great lines,—I know not what it is, what it is supposed to be;—but be it a million, be it a million and a half, or two millions, if we are rejoiced at the remission of a tax of four or five hundred thousand per annum,—will the country derive no benefit from being relieved from a tax of half a million or a million on the expenses of conveyance?

The railways, which we are now considering, resting with one extremity on the metropolis, extending thence by way of Birmingham, through Staffordshire to Liverpool, and by Liverpool connected with all the north of Ireland and west of Scotland, to the north of Birmingham sending off a branch through Manchester to Leeds and the West Riding of Yorkshire,—will connect all the greatest towns, all the greatest manufacturing districts with each other and with the metropolis; and on the other hand, will thus connect the metropolis with them; they will serve as the means of intercourse among a population, which was of FOUR MILLIONS, when the whole kingdom contained less than TWELVE, and this without any wide deviation from the most direct course. The distance by Birmingham is not more than three miles more than the distance in a straight line from London to Liverpool, not more than nine miles more than the direct distance between Manchester and London.

[He had much more to say, but had already trespassed so long upon their patience, that he would leave other topics to the many other well-informed gentlemen who were prepared to address them.]

THE END.

Printed by Richard Taylor, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.