But there is one industry, one branch of the public service, which
should be the very last to be monopolised or restricted by
Government, viz., the carrying of passengers and goods from one place
to another, especially carrying by railway; and yet this particular
industry is hampered by law and restricted by monopolies above all
others--as I suppose, most unnecessarily; but I will take a few cases
in detail before arguing from the general principle of Free Trade.
There is one railway from London to Brighton: there are two railways
from London to Exeter. There are fewer quick trains daily from London
to Brighton than from London to Exeter. There are third-class
carriages at a penny a mile on all the quick trains from Waterloo to
Exeter: from London to Brighton the only penny a mile train starts at
an inconvenient hour and travels exceedingly slow. The Brighton
charge express fares on every convenient quick train they run; the
South-Western have no express fares at all. The South-Western third-
class carriages are padded, and as comfortable as the first; the
Brighton third-class carriages are bare, very long, and run so badly
that the shaking, the rattling of glass, and the draughts, keep
everybody (who can possibly afford it) out of them.
Naturally there have been numerous schemes for a second railway from
London to Brighton in the course of the last twenty-five years.
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