Nicholas Wilcox Cundy

“ On the proposed Railway from London to Birmingham he believed not a single instance of this nature occurred. No pains, no expense had been spared to effect so desirable an object. Were all the facts which had been given in evidence, as to the increased value of lands from improved modes of communication, collected and laid before the opposing proprietors, he was satisfied that time and consideration would convince them that, in opposing the Railway, they were influenced, in the language of the Resolution, by "ill-founded apprehensions." ”

“ When such extensive designs shall have been completed, the landowner, farmer, grazier, trader, manufacturer, and merchant will vie with each other, in the lasting benefit, splendour, and glory which such expanded views of science will send forth to the productive classes and the consumers of the production of the earth. ”

“ Railroads may be constructed in five points out of London, to the great advantage of the public, like the ancient Roman roads; the Midland to Birmingham and Liverpool, the Northern to York, the Eastern to Dover, the Southern to Portsmouth, Shoreham, and Brighton, and the Western to Bath and Bristol, with tributary branches from opulent towns and manufactories on each respective line of railroad. ”

“ The agricultural labourer and artisan will be called from the workhouse and prison to permanent and profitable labour; while the produce of the loom and the manufacturer will be called into extensive demand by the additional consumption that prosperity would give. Among the advantages that these railroads would give is the extension of agriculture; more than a million of acres of productive land would be brought into the foreground, and cultivated, through which the projected railroads would pass. ”

“ The steepest part of the Liverpool railroad is at Rain Hill, where it rises about eight feet per mile; and from all the experiments that have been hitherto tried, a railroad, whose inclined plane exceeds ten to twelve feet rise per mile, destroys the objects for which commercial railroads are designed; viz. speed of travelling, and the transit of large cargoes of goods, grain, and merchandise, at a small expense: therefore, I am of opinion that railroads will not do for hilly countries, or cross roads ”

“ I must be permitted to say, that I do not think a measure was ever projected, calculated to produce such great and beneficial effects as that which has occasioned our present meeting. I can safely say, that the results of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway have far exceeded the expectation of the parties who embarked in it. Commercial men can safely appreciate the advantages of cheap, certain, and rapid means of communication. ”

“ A single engine is capable of propelling on such levels from 60 to 100 tons of goods and merchandise at the speed of twenty miles per hour, as will appear by the fact, that the engine called the Fire Fly travelled on the Liverpool railroad 22,000 miles in successive days, 155 miles per day, at the expense in fuel of a half-penny per mile. ”

“ It is my opinion, and an opinion formed upon some reflection, that every thing which has a tendency to diminish the cost of carriage of goods or agricultural produce, must have a similar effect to that which would be produced by increasing the fertility of the soil itself, and therefore the landowners in this kingdom in particular are the persons most interested in every thing that tends to cheapen and quicken carriage. ”

“ Of the utility of such a measure no one in the least acquainted with the nature of trade can entertain a doubt—a speedy communication with the ports of shipment or places of consumption, is of vital importance to the manufacturer—there can be no doubt that such a mode of communication as this was proposed to be will be extended not only to Birmingham but to Liverpool, to Lancashire. Yorkshire, and all the manufacturing districts of the North, and will be productive of great national benefit. ”

“ In constructing railroads, these railroads will reduce the present burthen upon the land, the poor and county rates, and extend manual labour and the consumption of the produce of the soil, and enable the cultivator and the productive classes to send forth their goods and wares, with great facility, at one third of the former expense, to the first markets in the world. ”

“ I beg to state that I have never seen a Committee in the House of Lords, that attended more strictly to the examination of the points before them. When we had concluded the case of the promoters, one of the Peers who opposed the Bill said, that notwithstanding all that had been alleged in its favour, he could not make up his mind to force this measure upon so many dissentient landed proprietors, and he thought it right, for the saving both of time and expense, to make a motion to that effect immediately. ”

“ M.P. I beg to make a few observations on the latter part of this Resolution. It is my earnest hope that the effect of this meeting will be to produce a favourable result to the measure on a future occasion. I live in the neighbourhood with which this measure is particularly connected, and I know most of the gentlemen who are concerned in promoting it, and I am sure there are not more honourable men living. I attended the whole of the case in the House of Commons, and firmly believe there never was a measure more fairly brought forward. ”

“ I have long since been of opinion that steam-engines will shortly be superseded by another class of engines, which will perform all that steam-engines have hitherto done, without the danger of fire or the bursting of boilers, and at one-fourth of the expense. ”

“ Husbandry and labour would be extended; and the home growth of grain may be progressively made equal to home consumption ; whereby the four or five millions per year, now expended in the purchase of foreign grain, may be expended in manual labour and cultivation at home.
These railroads would contribute towards the poor and county rates most essentially in every parish and county throughout which they pass; while manual labour would be extended to the advantage of all ”

“ Still I must contend that it is the business of the legislature to protect the property of the parties through whose lands the line would pass, to assure itself that all practicable measures have been taken to satisfy those persons whose property is to be invaded, and who. ”