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THE RAIL WA YS A&D THE STATE. 372
not oocesion a proportionate increeae of cost. If twice the
number of letters are collected and delivered, the labour of
stamping and sorting is nearly twice as great, but almost all
the other expenses increase in a very minor degree. The
ma& are of SO small a weight in general, that the cost of
conveyance is but little, if at all greater : this is true, at 1-t
of the letters, though not so strictly true of tho newspapers
and books, which form by far tho least profitable part of the
postal traffic. Finally, the cost of distribution is by no MMPS
proportional to the number, because the additional letkrs will
ofteu be delivered at houses which the postman would in rruy
case have visited, and it can hardly be said to be more laborious
to deliver ten letters than one. When additional letters are
delivered at houses previously receiving none, these houses
will usually lie within tho circuit of the postman, BO that his
labour and the in making tho distribution will not Lo much
increased. The more, too, correspondence increases, tho more
obvious this source of economy becomes. If every house in
the kingdom received a letter every day, and there were no
heavy books or other matter to load the men unduly, then as
regards the mere distribution, apart from sorting, tho very
same postman could deliver twice as many letters with hardly
any increase of cost.
In the case of t,he railway passenger traffic, almost everything
is different. Unless the comfort and certainty of conveJance
are to be reduced, double the number of passengers
must have nearly double the number of carriages, locomotives,
engine-drivers, guards, etc. The station accommodation must
be much increased, and more porters, clerks, and servanta
generally must be employed. It may sometimes happen that
double accommodation more than doubles the cost, because in
large towns and other confined positions very costly engineering
works may be required to give additional space. NO
doubt, when a line of rails is but little nsed, it may be made
to do donble the work, and thus pay nearly double profit.
Many of the chief lines in the kingdom, however, are already
so overburdened with tra,fEc, that expensive precautions must
be taken to insure safety and efficiency, and an increase in