APPENDIX I. COMPARISON BETWEEN ENGLISH AND FOREIGN RATES.
Reading edition
The figures and facts which have been stated prove that, as a rule, no fair, or even useful, comparison can be made between rates per ton per mile on railways in England, and those charged on railways in continental countries. A multitude of circumstances—original cost of construction, difference in gradients, nature of services performed, speed in transit, limited liability of foreign companies, opportunities for getting full loads, immunity from taxation—must all be taken into account before a just comparison can be established.
But even assuming due regard is not given to these striking differences the inference to the extent drawn by Sir B. Samuelson is not accurate; the rates on the Continent are not universally lower. Sir B. Samuelson’s report contains many errors of detail; and some of them are worth noting, because they are frequently repeated. Comparisons throughout have been made without due regard to the conditions attaching to the rates, or the different circumstances under which the traffic is carried. We give a few instances of the errors; errors, it may be observed, not merely in calculation but in the very bases of the comparison.
An effort has been made to reduce the English rates (which include collection and delivery) to station to station rates, with the object of comparing them with similar rates in other countries. But many of the deductions are inaccurate and misleading. Instead of adding to the continental station to station rates the charges for cartage, which in Brussels is 4s. per ton, and in other Belgian towns about 2s. 5d. at each end, Sir B. Samuelson has apparently made arbitrary deductions of sums varying from 3d. and 4d. to 1s. and 2s. per ton for cartage from British rates. These are manifestly insufficient deductions. It is impossible that services could be performed for such sums, especially in London. We cite a few illustrations of this class of errors.
For Iron Wire packed from Birmingham to London the rate is shown as 24s. 4d. per ton; the actual rate is 28s. 4d. per ton, including collection and delivery. Apparently 4s. per ton has been deducted for cartage at both ends; that is merely 2s. per ton for cartage in London, although the cost of delivery in such a city as Brussels would be 4s. per ton.
Similar remarks apply to the rates for unpacked iron wire from Birmingham to London and Manchester, which have been treated in the same way.
Cotton Goods from Manchester to Oxford.—The rate shewn on page 32 is 42s. per ton, station to station; the correct rate, including collection and delivery, being 42s. 6d. per ton, so that 6d. per ton, or 3d. per ton only at each end, has been apparently allowed for collection and delivery.
Woollen, Worsted and Stuff Goods from Bradford (Yorks) to Norwich.—The rate shown on page 32 is 41s. per ton, station to station, while the correct rate, including collection and delivery, is 41s. 8d. per ton; 8d. per ton being apparently allowed in this case for the two services of collection and delivery.
General Machinery from Leeds to Newcastle.—The export rate is 12s. 6d. per ton, including both collection and delivery, but 11s. 6d. is shewn on page 33 of report; that is, 1s. per ton only has been deducted for the two services of collection and delivery.[113]
These errors make many of the comparisons valueless.
A still graver error has been repeatedly committed. Notwithstanding the remark (page 19) that the cost of collection and delivery has been deducted, Sir B. Samuelson has in numerous cases assumed British rates, which include either collection or delivery, and in some cases both those services, to be station to station rates, and compared them as such with station to station rates on the foreign lines. Here are a few examples of this class of mistakes.
General Machinery.—Leeds to Hull, the export rate of 12s. 6d. per ton is shown on page 33 as station to station, whereas it includes both collection and delivery.
Though all the following rates for Butter include collection and delivery, they are shewn on pages 38 and 39 as station to station, viz.:—
s. d.
Hull to Manchester 21 8 per ton.
” Birmingham 21 8 ”
” Leeds 13 4 ”
Newcastle to Manchester 23 4 ”
” Birmingham 21 8 ”
” Leeds 14 2 ”
An unfortunate omission may be mentioned. In some cases there are alternative rates on the English railways, i.e., a higher rate when the company undertakes the risk of conveyance, and a lower rate when the risk is borne by the owner. In no single instance has Sir B. Samuelson taken in his comparisons the lower owner’s risk rate chargeable at the option of the consignor. Yet in Holland, for instance, the goods are carried practically at the risk of the owner. On some goods no compensation for damage or delay is payable, while on the others the compensation is limited, in some cases, to simply a return of a portion, or, at the utmost, the whole of the freight. We give a few examples of this class of errors.
The rate for iron wire packed from Birmingham to London is shown on page 29 as 24s. 4d. per ton station to station; there is no reference to the fact that there is an owner’s risk rate of 19s. 2d. per ton, collected and delivered.
In like manner the rates for agricultural implements shown in the first column of the following table are given on pages 33 & 34 of the report, although there are the special rates shown in the other columns, all notice of which has been omitted.
AGRICULTURAL MACHINES.
Special rates.
FROM TO Rates per ton in report reduced to station to station. Agricultural Engines, Steam Ploughs, &c., station to station. Machines in cases and iron harrows collected and delivered. Machines not in cases at owner’s risk collected and delivered.
per ton. per ton. per ton. per ton.
Banbury London 26/2 to 32/- 14/8 24/2 25/- to 29/7
” Lynn 28/8 ” 34/6 19/8 26/8 27/1 ” 32/1
” Shrewsbury 25/4 ” 30/4 16/2 23/4 24/2 ” 28/4
” Bridgwater 34/6 ” 40/4 24/- 29/2 31/3 ” 36/8
Bedford London 18/8 ” 22/- 11/- 17/6 18/4 ” 21/3
These are not the only misleading omissions; it is incumbent to mention others not less important.
In Holland bulky articles pay double the fast goods or ordinary goods rates, or as for a minimum truckload of 5,000 or 10,000 kilogrammes respectively. An actual instance of a consignment from Rotterdam to Munich will illustrate the system:—2 machines and 7 packages of appurtenances, the actual weight of which was 6,762 kilogrammes (6 tons 13 cwt.) were charged as for 10,000 kilogrammes (9 tons 16 cwt. 3 qrs.) under the conditions of special tariff No. 3. This special rate is ignored.
In almost every instance, Sir B. Samuelson has taken the lowest rates in Germany, Belgium and Holland, which are applicable only to full truckloads of 5 and 10 tons, and in some cases, viz., Belgium, to a minimum weight of 8 cwt. These he has used for the purpose of comparison with English rates for any quantities over 500 lbs.
The rate for hardware from Birmingham to Newcastle for export—206 miles—is 27s. 6d. per ton, including collection and delivery, but it is shewn as 25s. 6d. per ton, station to station, overlooking the special owner’s risk rate of 25s. per ton, which also includes collection and delivery. The German rate for the same distance (331 kilometres) is incorrectly given as 18s. 7d. per ton; the lowest station to station rate is 19s. per ton for full truckloads of not less than 5 tons, the rate for smaller quantities, including collection and delivery, being 45s. 2d. per ton.
In Belgium again, the station to station rate of 18s. 11d. per ton (which should be 19s. 4d.) is for a minimum of 8 cwt., the rate, including collection and delivery for the same minimum, being 24s. 3d. per ton.
The Dutch station to station rate of 14s. 10d. per ton (which should be 15s. 7d.) is for full truck loads of not less than 5 tons, the rate, including collection and delivery for any quantities, being 30s. 4d. per ton.
In the German tariff the rate is 2·15d. per ton per mile for goods of every description in lots of less than 5 tons, with a lower tariff divided into six classes for goods in full truckloads of 5 and 10 tons. The latter have been compared with the rates on English railways applicable to consignment of 500 lbs. and over, or of 2 tons. The higher foreign tariff for such traffic, in like circumstances, is not shown. To arrive at a proper comparison, the English rate should, in many instances, have been compared with the rates charged for “Eilgut” (or fast goods service) on the continental lines. Of course, the general public in Holland and Germany cannot avail themselves of the rates for 5 and 10 ton lots. They must deal with carriers or forwarding agents, who perform many of the services included in the rates on English railways, and who fill up, or partially fill up, truckloads. The agents who pay the railway transit charges are free to make their own charges to the public without limitation. What would be instructive—what, however, is not supplied—would be a comparison between what is actually paid in England, and what the majority of the public pay in Germany; it is of little interest to know what the carriers or forwarding agents pay to the railway companies. The comparison, such as it is, does not show the rate of conveyance per ton, because the carriers have to pay as for five or ten tons, even if that quantity is not in a wagon. They must make charges to the public beyond the ordinary profits to cover deficiencies in the loads per wagon, as well as for all the services performed by them.[117]
In some instances, Sir B. Samuelson has not included in the foreign rates the charge for loading and unloading. Bar-iron is a case in point. In every other case he has omitted to include in those rates the charges for weighing, counting, labelling, booking, use of cranes, and advice of arrival of goods—all of which are authorised additional charges beyond the tariff rates. In this country, as is well known, such services are included in the collected and delivered railway rates.[118]
Such are some examples of the errors vitiating the comparison. We have by no means exhausted them; they might be greatly multiplied. It is not intended to suggest that Sir B. Samuelson has been more inaccurate than other critics. On the contrary, his report, notwithstanding its inaccuracies, shows that a considerable amount of labour has been expended in endeavouring to obtain the information. It is a favourable specimen of such criticisms, and for this reason it is deserving of notice. It is, of course, difficult for any person, even when practically acquainted with railway business, to appreciate the practical effect of the different conditions under which traffic is carried on Foreign and English railways. It is not surprising that Sir B. Samuelson has evidently not become fully acquainted with all the conditions of carriage, or that he has omitted to give them their proper value in the tables which he has prepared. Unfortunately, owing to the omissions, the conclusions which he draws are, in some cases, erroneous, and in others misleading.