an explanation. It will be seen that the question to be discussed is not, have the conductors the will to avert these calamities, but have they the POWER?-not whether we are to consider them as suicidal maniacs, but as the slaughtered victims of a murderous system. Let the impartial reader judge. Suppose our engine director fully understands the construction and management of his engine; suppose we can answer for his discretion, that he never gets intoxicated, never gets fatigued, never falls asleep while on duty, never leaves his engine while on the line, never "sits down on the seat * ; suppose him uninfluenced by the "excitement" of rapid travelling,"+ or by the "severe exposure to the weather." Let us suppose that he can readily attend to the working of his engine, and yet keep a good look-out ahead; that he retains his vision perfect under all circumstances; that it is unimpaired by moving rapidly through the air, and is not affected by the clouds of ashes from the chimney. Let us suppose, moreover, that the atmosphere is always clear, that fogs never occur, or that they never prevent him distinguishing the colour of a flag or lamp; and, lastly, let us suppose that no curves exist on the line, and that he is * One of the charges made against the unfortunate Simpson on the inquest. consequently enabled to see the signal half a mile ahead of him. Now what is the time, under all these favourable circumstances, allowed to the conductor by the usual speed, to shut off the steam, give the signal for the breaks to be applied, or, if necessary, reverse his engine? One minute! But in addition to the above absurd suppositions, we have presumed that the accident by which a train has been stopped has taken place at a station, and that the danger is consequently known; we have presumed that, knowing this danger, the Company's servants have hoisted the red flag or lamp. But trains much more frequently break down between stations, where they cannot be expected to be provided with signals: we frequently hear of trains getting on the wrong line and meeting each other. How are they in such cases to be apprised of their danger? If they are enabled to see each other at half a mile, and recognise their dangerous position, yet but half a minute must elapse before they come into collision if unchecked? Is it possible that this short space of time can be sufficient for the two engine-drivers to think, act, and give their directions for others to act? And if so, can we be certain that the machinery by which the engines are stopped is in proper order to obey these actions of its director? It may be of "the most approved construction," and may have been perfect on commencing the journey; but does it follow that it is so It is well known that at this particular moment? the cost of repairing locomotive engines is about 50 per cent. of the first cost;-is the reversing gear, are the valves, breaks, the machinery, in short, now required to act, never among these expensive repairs? Or are we to believe that the accidents by which they are deranged always occur at the stations? No answer is required to these questions. No one, we think, will presume to assert that these parts are excepted from the fatalities which occur to the rest, or that they take place while at rest. The precautions strongly insisted upon in the Report relative to this machinery prove that they have been called for. And now we would ask, are we justified in attributing these melancholy occurrences to the folly of the engine-driver? Is it not sufficient to see his mutilated corpse stretched before us, but we must accuse him of felo de se, and refuse his remains a Christian burial, when an accident to the machinery (of the occurrence of which the Report indirectly admits the possibility) would at once excuse him? Charity, pity, all the better feelings of humanity, answer in the affirmative. It will be readily seen that the suppositions we have made in order to give every possible advantage to this system are absurd, for we have assumed humanity to be perfect, materials indestructible, the atmosphere invariable, curved lines straight; yet this is not sufficient: we must still presume that actions require no time for their performance, and that matter is deprived of its vis inertia! Had we drawn an inference from the facts that sad experience has afforded us to judge from, we should have concluded the danger to be entirely referable to the use of locomotives, huge masses moving at a great and varying velocity, and over which the conductor has comparatively no control. To render railway travelling safe, (a method of travelling now so essential to the commercial prosperity of this country,) we must begin by rejecting the locomotive, and substituting in its stead stationary power. If we have shown, as we hope we have, dispassionately and fairly, that so large a balance of safety is due to the atmospheric system, the large saving of human life and suffering that would result from its adoption ought to be one of its best advocates for public patronage; and in the same proportion that it restored public confidence and appetite for railway travelling, would it benefit the Directors and Proprietors. Every fatal accident, on whichever railway it has occurred, has been followed by a sensible reduction in the traffic; and this can be a matter of no surprise, when it is recollected that the present traffic possessed by all railways was actually formed by the increased facilities and inducements they held out to travellers over turnpike roads: remove these facilities, and the increased traffic will vanish. No railroad in existence could pay its expenses carrying only such passengers as are actually obliged to travel, and therefore the best policy of Railway Directors is to induce the public to use their lines by affording them the fullest and best accommodation as regards safety, speed, cheap fares, and agreeable travelling. That railway which provides best for the wants and wishes of the public will, and very properly so, become the most patronised; and it is scarcely too much to assert that a very large portion of business will spring up and locate itself along such lines, while others which may at present possess a large traffic will lose what they found to their hand, if, neglecting this course, they lull themselves into the mistaken notion that the monopoly they possess, not the convenience they afford, will guarantee them an equal amount of business. : The first grand object in railway undertakings is to render them a perfectly secure mode of transit —a conveyance by which the most timid may travel without hesitation, without a thought of fear, and of course without an example of ill, arising from the badness of their workings, to refer to these great works, destined as they are to effect much good to all classes of society, will never be, nor indeed deserve to be, looked upon as a permanent benefit until they have arrived at this point. Precisely as a country flourishes under a well regulated system of police and justice, where the liberty and right of the subject are respected, so will railways flourish |