8 gether a capital Lancashire and Yorkshire 15,000,000, and adeainister an income soding that of Belgium. But, though portant commercially, this is really of the least: momentous of the questions at issue. A greater one is how is the public interest to be subserved, and a just balance held between what is good for the Company and what advantageous for the people. Shall narrow and inelastic rules he laid down for the regulation of traffic on the one band, or shall the Company be permitted de facto to make its own rales under a sufficiently elastic limit Some six years ago, on the expiry of the Act of 1844 giving the State power, after twenty-one years to enter all railways in the Kingdom from that date to be constructed, a somewhat similar commission was appointed to enquire into the possibility of such a course. Beyond suggestions as to improvement in pri-vote billlogislation, conveyance of mails, interchange of traffic, and conveyance of merchandise and minerals, the Commission deprecated interference on the part of the State, and strongly urged the advisability of Teaving wide discretion to the companies. Since that date, the tendency to amalgamation on the part of the great companies, as well as the result of the State purchase of the telegraphs, has again awakened men's minds to a consideration of the topic. At present, we believe there are few practical men who would view with favour such a suggestion; but few as they are, they are certainly more numerous than at any former period. The disadvantages of the proposed system are great and palpable, even independent of the enormous influence which would be thrown into the hands of the executive. On the other hand, there is some fear of public interests suffering under a management conducted by competition, while there may be even political objections to the creation of so powerfal an organisation, which might possibly be made use of imperium in imperia, Pablic opinion seems to hold that both appro. pensions have been exaggerated, and that neither course would resalt in any great detriment to public interests. Although the present Committee will not have the opportunity of arriving at any definite conclusion, there is little doubt that, before many have passed, the question will arise in a more practical form.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.