Whenever they did, reductions in the rates, or the provision of
greater facilities, were to restore the balance. This provision also had
the effect of preventing the imposition of taxation upon the community by
means of railway rates. The Act contained another practical clause,
designed to block the construction of lines from political
considerations. Any line constructed contrary to the advice of the
Railway Board, if it resulted in loss, the loss was to be a charge, not
upon the general railway revenue, but upon the Consolidated Fund--a
useful "brake," which I have no doubt has often pulled up hasty and
impetuous politicians.
South African railways enjoy one great advantage--cheap coal for their
engines. In 1913 the average cost at the pit's mouth was 4s. 11.5d. per
ton.
The railways of Newfoundland have had a chequered history. Now they are
Government property, worked by a private company under a 50 years' lease,
which dates from 1901, and under that lease no rent is paid. As the
capital expenditure (about 3,000,000 pounds) averages less than 4,000
pounds per mile, it may be conceived that the railway system of
Newfoundland is not of an extravagant character, and in my humble
opinion, the country deserves something much better.
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