Little time was afforded to the companies for their part of
the work. The whole system of rates was changed. New rates had to be
calculated on the new scale; thousands of rate books had to be compiled,
and millions of rates altered and revised. It was a colossal task;
impossible of fulfilment in the time allowed. The application of the new
Schedule forcibly reduced many rates, inflicting much loss upon the
companies, and because the companies advanced other rates (within the
limits of the new maximum powers of course) to meet this loss, or to meet
it to some extent, a storm of abuse arose and swept across the land. A
trader from Berwick-on-Tweed, more frank than most, wrote the following
"characteristic" letter as it was called at the time:--
"What we want is to have our fish carried at _half_ present rates. We
don't care a --- whether it pays the railways or not. Railways ought to
be made to carry for the good of the country, or they should be taken
over by the Government. That is what all Traders want and mean to try to
get."
Perhaps they would not be happy if they got it! In his clear, and most
interesting book _Railways and Their Rates_, my friend Edwin A.
Pages:
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194