The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

390 LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. [chap. xxxi.
peditious worhing, than others which have nothing steeper than
1 in 100 or 1 in 120 ! " They concluded by reporting in favour
of the line which exhibited the most gradients and the sharpest
curves, chiefly on the ground that it could be constructed for less
money.
Sir Eobert Peel took occasion, when speaking in favour of the
continuance of the Railways Department of the Board of Trade,
to advert to this Report in the House of Commons on the 4th
of March following, as containing " a novel and highly important
view on the subject of gradients, which, he was certain, never
could have been taken by any Committee of the House of Com-
mons, however intelligent ;
" and he might have added, that the
more intelligent, the less likely they were to arrive at any such
conclusions. When Mr. Stephenson saw this report of the
premier's speech in the newspapers of the following morning,
he went forthwith to his son, and asked him to write a letter
to Sir Robert Peel on the subject. He saw clearly that if these
views were adopted, the utility and economy of railways would
be seriously curtailed. " These members of parliament," said he,
" are now as much disposed to exaggerate the powers of the
locomotive, as they were to under-estimate them but a few years
ago." Mr. Robert Stephenson wrote a letter for his father's
signature, embodying the views which he so strongly entertained
as to the importance of flat gradients, and referring to the ex-
periments conducted by him many years before, in proof of the
great loss of working power which was incurred on a line of
steep as compared with easy gradients. It was clear, from the
tone of Sir Robert Peel's speech in a subsequent debate,* that
he had carefully read and considered Mr. Stephenson's practical
observations on the subject ; for he then took the opportunity of
observing that »" he thought there was too great a tendency to'
adopt the shortest lines, without reference to gradients. Though,
in recent instances, unfavourable gradients had been overcome
by the construction of new engines, he doubted whether there
was not an unprofitable expenditure of power in such cases,
whether the mechanical action of locomotive engines was not
materially interfered with by unfavourable gradients,— and
* Debate on Mr. Morison's resolutions, March 20th, 1845.
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