J. J. Grierson
Published: 2015-04-23
Total Pages: 148
Get eBook
For many reasons the failure to pass the Railway and Canal Traffic Bill ought not to be regretted even by those who are dissatisfied with railway companies, but who sincerely desire to benefit the trade of the country. In the discussion of that Bill, and in the debates on the subject of railway rates in recent sessions of Parliament, the existence of many misconceptions were disclosed. As to principles, there was little agreement; there was, if possible, still less as to details. Charges which had often been explained or refuted were repeated as if they were new, and as if they had never been answered. One of the greatest defects of the discussion was its fragmentary, one-sided character; it was carried on with far too little regard to the interests of many classes, districts, and ports which would have been seriously injured by some of the changes hastily proposed. Many of those who professed to represent traders ignored the interests of large sections of them; and what would benefit consumers was, to a remarkable degree, lost sight of. The delay may be useful; and it may be hoped that any future legislation will be shaped according to the interests of all traders, and not of a part of them only, and of the general public, to whom extended and not restricted trade, cheapness, and a wide area of supply are desirable.