AQUEDUCT AT PONTCYSYLLTE (IN THE DISTANCE). (Constructed by Telford to carry Ellesmere Canal over River Dee. Opened 1803. Cost £47,000. Length, 1007 feet.) [ Frontispiece. BRITISH CANALS: IS THEIR RESUSCITATION PRACTICABLE? BY EDWIN A. PRATT AUTHOR OF "RAILWAYS AND THEIR RATES," "THE ORGANIZATION OF AGRICULTURE," "THE TRANSITION IN AGRICULTURE," ETC. LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1906...

The appointment of a Royal Commission on Canals and Waterways, which first sat to take evidence on March 21, 1906, is an event that should lead to an exhaustive and most useful enquiry into a question which has been much discussed of late years, but on which, as I hope to show, considerable misapprehension in regard to actual facts and conditions has hitherto existed. Theoretically, there is much to be said in favour of canal restoration, and the advocates thereof have not been backward in the v

The movement in favour of resuscitating, if not also of reconstructing, the British canal system, in conjunction with such improvement as may be possible in our natural waterways, is a matter that concerns various interests, and gives rise to a number of more or less complicated problems. It appeals in the most direct form to the British trader, from the point of view of the possibility of enabling him to secure cheaper transit for his goods. Every one must sympathise with him in that desire, an

It seems to be customary with writers on the subject of canals and waterways to begin with the Egyptians, to detail the achievements of the Chinese, to record the doings of the Greeks, and then to pass on to the Romans, before even beginning their account of what has been done in Great Britain. Here, however, I propose to leave alone all this ancient history, which, to my mind, has no more to do with existing conditions in our own country than the system of inland navigation adopted by Noah, or

It is not a little curious to find that, whereas the proposed resuscitation of canals is now being actively supported in various quarters as a means of effecting increased competition with the railways, the railway system itself originally had a most cordial welcome from the traders of this country as a means of relieving them from what had become the intolerable monopoly of the canals and waterways! It will have been seen that in the article published in the Quarterly Review of March 1825, from

Both canals and railways were, in their early days, made according to local conditions, and were intended to serve local purposes. In the case of the former the design and dimensions of the canal boat used were influenced by the depth and nature of the estuary or river along which it might require to proceed, and the size of the lock (affecting, again, the size of the boat) might vary according to whether the lock was constructed on a low level, where there was ample water, or on a high level, w

What is known as the "Birmingham Canal" is really a perfect network of waterways in and around Birmingham and South Staffordshire, representing a total length of about 160 miles, exclusive of some hundreds of private sidings in connection with different works in the district. Map of the Canals & Railways between WOLVERHAMPTON & BIRMINGHAM [ To face page 56. The system was originally constructed by four different canal companies under Acts of Parliament passed between 1768 and 181

Of the various causes which have operated to bring about the comparative decay of the British canal system (for, as already shown, there are sections that still retain a certain amount of vitality), the most important are to be found in the great changes that have taken place in the general conditions of trade, manufacture and commerce. The tendency in almost every branch of business to-day is for the trader to have small, or comparatively small, stocks of any particular commodity, which he can

The larger proportion of the arguments advanced in the Press or in public in favour of a restoration of our own canal system is derived from the statements which are unceasingly being made as to what our neighbours on the Continent of Europe are doing. Almost every writer or speaker on the subject brings forward the same stock of facts and figures as to the large sums of money that are being expended on waterways in Continental countries; the contention advanced being, in effect, that because su

In some respects conditions in the United States compare with those of Continental Europe, for they suggest alike powerful streams, artificial canals constructed on (as a rule) flat or comparatively flat surfaces, and the possibilities of traffic in large quantities for transport over long distances before they can reach a seaport. In other respects the comparison is less with Continental than with British conditions, inasmuch as, for the last half century at least, the American railways have be

I have already spoken in Chapter VII. of some of the chief differences between Continental and English conditions, but I revert to the latter because it is essential that, before approving of any scheme of canal restoration here, the British public should thoroughly understand the nature of the task that would thus be undertaken. The sections of actual canal routes, given opposite page 98 , will convey some idea of the difficulties which faced the original builders of our artificial waterways. T

Taking into consideration all the facts and arguments here presented, I may summarise as follows the conclusions at which I have arrived:— (1) That, alike from a geographical, physical, and economic point of view, there is no basis for fair comparison between British and Continental conditions; consequently our own position must be judged on its own merits or demerits. (2) That, owing to the great changes in British trade, manufacture, and commerce, giving rise to widespread and still increasing

Whilst this book is passing through the Press, I have received from Mr Stuyvesant Fish, President of the Illinois Central Railroad Company—whom I asked to favour me with some additional details respecting the decline in freight traffic on the Mississippi River—the following interesting notes, drawn up by Mr T. J. Hudson, General Traffic Manager of the Illinois Central:— The traffic on the Mississippi River was established and built up under totally different conditions from those now obtaining,