Excerpt from Railway Reform: Its Importance and Practicability Considered as Affecting the Nation, the Shareholders, and the Government This treatise was written for private circulation in the early part of last year; it underwent revision in the parliamentary recess; and since the subject attracted public notice, the author has added, with a view to publication in a complete form, the last three chapters. This explanation is necessary to prevent a confusion of dates in the mind of the reader. Mr. Gladstone has given notice, "That it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to advise the Crown to appoint a Commission to inquire into the economical question connected with our railway system: that is to say, the cost of conveyance on railways, and into the charges which are made by railway companies to the public." Without an accurate knowledge of these important facts, it would be utterly impossible for the Legislature to deal satisfactorily with our railway system: it could neither comprehend the extent of the evil it has inflicted on the country on the one hand, nor devise the necessary remedy on the other. Government having determined "to begin with the beginning," there is every reason to hope that the movement now so well commenced may terminate in an equally satisfactory manner. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.