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

RAILWAY SYSTEM AND ITS RESULTS. 475
the errors whicli are too often committed to their detriment, have
attentively considered in what way the present system of management
may be altered, so as to avoid these evils. Various suggestions have
been made, some of which, undoubtedly, seem only calculated to in-
crease the difficulty ; whilst others in no degree alleviate it. Looking
at the question in a broad point of view, the consideration occurs,
whether it might not be possible, by some operation analogous to that
of a trading company under the Limited Liability Act, to give an entirely
new and greatly improved character to the relations between
shareholders and managers. Suppose a limited number of men of
business, varying, say, from ten to twenty, and capable of giving good
security, agreed together to take a line from the shareholders, at a
fixed rental. They might depute their management to two or three of
their own body ; or, even if the line was short, to one gdrant. Under
such circumstances there would be no clamour from shareholders at
half-yearly meetings,—no sudden changes of Directorates, involving
ruinous alterations of policy,—no cabals between one set of Directors
against another,—and no mischievous interferences with the development
of the system. The Managers, free from the apprehension of
being saddled, personally, with all the responsibility and liability,
would be able to embark in enterprises, not comprehended in the
terms of the Act of Parliament, but essential to the prosperity of their
line. They might undertake business which, under the existing sys-
tems, the most enterprising Directors would not dare to contemplate,
however lucrative it might be. The Managers of the line would have
something more to look to than their position as Directors. They
would be free from apprehensions as to the liabilities they incurred
and whilst they would not be turned from their course of policy by
the outcry of any discontented individual able to make his voice
heard through any public channel, they would give practical secu-
rity that the public interests would be consulted, because the interests
of the pubhc and those of the Managers would be, in every respect,
identical.
No doubt any system of this sort must be subject to restrictions,
both for the interest of the public and the security of shareholders.
Those restrictions are, however, matters of detail which it is needless
at present to discuss. Presuming that leases were taken on good
terms, and regarding the saving usually accruing from individual as
compared with general management, it seems probable that an arrangement
of this sort would be valuable alike to owners and to lessees, a
large profit would accrue to those who took the line on safe and well-
considered terms, and who managed it with enterprise, vigour, and
;