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Canal Condition 1904

This is Chapter 4 from 'The Canal System of England' following on from The Manchester Ship Canal

Its growth and present condition, with particular reference to the cheap carriage of goods - 1904 - by H. Gordon Thompson

The present (1904) condition of our inland transport is a subject which calls for the close attention of all who are in any way interested in the commercial prosperity of the country at large. The enormous increase in our imports and exports demands a corresponding increase in the facilities for inland transport.

Mr. Wells in his paper on Canals read before the Federated Institution of Mining Engineers sitting in Conference in 1895 said: "The tonnage of shipping entering our ports is threefold what it was forty years ago, and during that time the population has nearly doubled in number; therefore to supply our wants, six times as much transport is needed as in 1850. These figures help us in some degree to realize the enormous additions made year by year to the movement of traffic throughout the land. This conveyance has become a necessity for our food supply and our trade generally, and as the country increases in population and wealth, its transport also must continue to grow," Mr. W. H. Hunter, of the Manchester Ship Canal, at the Conference of Mining Engineers (referred to above) said that he considered that the revival of interest in the subject of inland navigation, was one of the most hopeful of the economic developments of the present day, as it was indeed one of the most important. Without a really effective canal system it was impossible to provide cheap carriage for either minerals or manufactured goods from the industrial districts of the country lying at any distance from the sea-board, and without cheap carriage, minerals must remain in their native strata, and manufactures must languish and ultimately perish.

The present condition of the inland navigation of Great Britain is, however, deplorable. The introduction of the railway system produced a moribund condition of affairs on canals from which they have not yet recovered, and in addition to 415 miles which are derelict, abandoned, or converted into railways no less than 1264 miles, or one-third of the total mileage, is under railway administration.

The position of these railway-owned Canals is frequently a source of difficulty to the trader, for in many cases they form links on through-routes and often have such high rates of toll that the traffic on the through-route is blocked by their charges. But the question of the position of railway-owned Canals is of such importance that a special portion of this work is devoted to its fuller consideration.

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