(9) That certain of these canals (as, for example, the Birmingham and the Shropshire Union Canals) are still offering to traders all reasonable facilities within the limitations of their surroundings and physical possibilities; and that if such canals were required to bear the expense of extremely costly widenings, of lock reconstruction, of increased water supply, and of general improvements, the tolls and charges would have to be raised to such a point that the use of the canals would become prohibitive even to those local traders who now fully appreciate the convenience they still afford. (10) That, in effect, whatever may be done in the case of navigable rivers, any scheme which aimed at a general resuscitation of canals in this country, at the risk, if not at the expense, of the community, is altogether impracticable; and that, inasmuch as the only desire of the traders, in this connection, is to secure cheaper transport, it is desirable to see whether the same results could not be more effectively, more generally, and more economically obtained in other directions. Following up this last conclusion, I beg to recommend:-- (_a_) The desirability of increasing the usefulness of the railway system, which can go anywhere, serve everybody, and carry and deliver consignments, great and small, with that promptness and despatch which are all-important to the welfare of the vast majority of industries and enterprises, as conducted under the trading conditions of to-day. This usefulness, some of the traders allege, is marred by rates and charges which they consider unduly heavy, especially in the case of certain commodities calling for exceptionally low freight, and canal transport is now asked for by them, as against rail transport, just as the traders of 1825 wanted the railways as a relief from the waterways. The rates and charges, say the railway companies, are not unreasonable in themselves, considering all the circumstances of the case and the nature of the various services represented, while the actual amount thereof is due, to a certain extent, not so much to any seeking on the part of the companies to pay dividends of abnormal proportions, akin to those of the canal companies of old (the average railway dividend to-day, on over one thousand millions of actual capital, being only about 3-1/2 per cent.), but to a combination of causes which have increased unduly capital outlay and working expenses, only to be met out of the rates, fares, and charges that are imposed on traders and travellers. Among these causes may be mentioned the heavy price the companies have had to pay for their land; the cost of Parliamentary proceedings; various requirements imposed by Parliament or by Government departments; and the heavy burden of the contribution that railway companies make to local rates. (See p. 10.) These various conditions must necessarily influence the rates and charges to be paid by traders.