Note 7 — Chapter V · THE BIRMINGHAM CANAL AND ITS STORY

In Mr Saner's paper the Birmingham Canal navigations are classed among the "Independently-Owned Canals," and Mr Saner says:—"There are 1,138 miles owned by railway companies, which convey only 6,009,820 tons per annum, and produce a net profit of only £40 per mile of navigation. This," he adds, "appears to afford clear proof that the railways do not attempt to make the most of the canals under their control." But when the Birmingham Canal, with its 8,000,000 tons of traffic a year, is transferred (as it ought to be) from the independently-owned to the railway-controlled canals, entirely different figures are shown.