Our Railways: Should They be Private Or National Property?

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E. Stanford, 1879 - Railroads and state - 60 pages
 

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Page 48 - Years Purchase of the said average Profits is an inadequate Rate of Purchase of such Railway, reference being had to the Prospects thereof, to require that it shall be left to Arbitration, in case of Difference, to determine what (if any) additional Amount of Purchase Money shall be paid to the said Company : Provided also, that such Option of Purchase shall not be exercised, except with the Consent of the Company, while any such revised Scale of Tolls, Fares, and Charges shall be in force.
Page 48 - ... term of twenty-one years, to purchase any such railway, with all its hereditaments, stock, and appurtenances, in the name and on behalf of her Majesty, upon giving to the said company three calendar months' notice in writing of their intention, and upon payment of a sum equal to twenty-five years...
Page 47 - Commissioners, if they shall think fit, subject to the Provisions herein-after contained, at any Time after the Expiration of the said Term of Twenty-one Years, to purchase any such Railway, with all its Hereditaments, Stock, and Appurtenances, in the Name and on Behalf of Her Majesty, upon giving to the said Company Three Calendar Months...
Page 18 - English railway companies, the first with 349 miles of line, and the other with 334 miles, are undertakings which, if reason guided the shareholders instead of prejudice, and, in most instances, senseless apathy, ought to have united long ago. The lines of the two companies serve the same district, the agricultural counties of Kent and Sussex, and at many points, such as Hastings, Tunbridge Wells, and others, the trains, each usually not one-half filled, run side by side. As there are two sets of...
Page 19 - South-Eastern proprietors, drawing 6 and 7 per cent. dividends, are naturally happy men, and inclined for nothing else than to sing " laissez faire, laissez aller." If this be human on their part, it is still surprising that the shareholders of another company running alongside the South - Eastern, the unfortunate London, Chatham, and Dover line, should not insist iipon amalgamation.
Page 52 - ... central government with the service arranged to meet the utmost public convenience. There need be but few trains running at more than 30 miles an hour. Goods trains might often run on separate lines. Goods in small quantities should be treated as letters are by the Post Office. The end kept in view should be to assimilate on the same principle the transport of letters, of telegraphic messages, of persons, and of merchandise. A system of national railways would, more than anything else, bind our...
Page 50 - ... filled, namely, for the benefit of a select class, including directors. One train would often carry all the passengers, — if at less speed with less risk. The same of the Chatham and Dover and South Eastern. In the end it is not the shareholders but the public who must pay for waste and improvidence. Loss must be recouped by placing the million under contribution, taxing them in the shape of exorbitantly high fares. Having taken the place of the Queen's highway, railways ought to be public...
Page 19 - Dover line, should not insist iipon amalgamation. The London, Chatham, and Dover Railway has never once since it was opened for traffic returned a dividend to its shareholders, and probably never will as long as it is merely private property, managed as at present.
Page 18 - ... if reason guided the shareholders instead of prejudice, and, in most instances, senseless apathy, ought to have united long ago. The lines of the two companies serve the same district, the agricultural counties of Kent and Sussex, and at many points, such as Hastings, Tunbridge Wells, and others, the trains, each usually not one-half filled, run side by side. As there are two sets of trains, where one might do, so there are two boards of directors, highly salaried, especially in the case of the...
Page 33 - ... on the basis of an even and greatly reduced tariff. With it, there can be no reasonable doubt that the carriage of goods by railway, more particularly that of small parcels and quantities, would increase as much as the carriage of letters did after...

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