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

482 RAILWAY SYSTEM AND ITS RESULTS.
Plaving now directed attention to the principal and more important
topics of this great subject, it is desirable, before bringing this address
to a close, to endeavour to lay before you some of the general results
of the system.
You have heard that there are more than 90,000 men directly em-
ployed by the railways of the United Kingdom. Collaterally, in the
manufacture of iron, the felling and transport of timber, the production
of stores, the erection and improvement of buildings, &c., these lines
give employment to at least 50,000 more men. Now, 140,000 men
represent, with their wives and children, a population of more than
half a million of souls. The result, therefore, is, that no less than 1 in
50, of the total population of these realms, is directly dependent on its
railways ! Having regard to this most startling fact, you will not be
disposed to think that this is an interest which should be neglected, or
be hai'shly treated by the Legislature, or which should be the subject
of imperfect and unsatisfactory legislation.
The financial results of railways will occasion no less surprise, when
they are considered. In the gross, £20,000,000 of revenue are now
realized annually by the Railway Companies of the United Kingdom
—an amount nearly equal to one half the ordinary revenue of the
state. Now, consider how the national wealth is affected by this large
amount received from the people by the Railway Companies. Sup-
pose that to-morrow there was a stoppage of all the railways—a cessation
of the existing railway means of transporting human beings, mer-
chandise, and animals. In the first place, it is certain that the trafl[ic,
represented by £20,000,000, could not be accommodated at all. But
assume that it could be, it is certain that the accommodation could
only be offered at more than three times the charge now made by the
railways. The result then is, that upon the existing' traffic of the
nation, railways are effecting a direct saving to the people of not less
than £40,000,000 per annum ; and that sum exceeds by about 50 per
cent, the entire interest of our National Debt. It may be said, there-
tbre, that the railway system neutralizes to the people the bad effects
of the debt with which the state is encumbered. It places us in as
good a position as if the debt did not exist. And here the doubt arises
as to which would be the most advantageous condition,—a nation with-
out a national debt and also without a railway system ; or a nation
hampered by a national debt, but having the advantage of cheap in-
ternal intercourse by railway.
Again, " Time is money." At least 111,000,000 passengers travel
every year by our railways an average of 12 miles each. They per-
form the journey in half an hour. At the average rate of speed of the