Is there not, then, pressing need for an amendment of the laws affecting the proprietary contract—an amendment which shall transform it from an unlimited into a limited contract; or rather—not _transform_ it into such, but _recognize_ it as such? If there be truth in our argument, the absence of any limitation has been the chief cause of the manifold evils of our railway administration. The share-trafficking {108} of directors; the complicated intrigues of lawyers, engineers, contractors, and others; the betrayal of proprietaries—all the complicated corruptions which we have detailed, have primarily arisen from it, have been made possible by it. It has rendered travelling more costly and less safe than it would have been; and while apparently facilitating traffic, has indirectly hindered it. By fostering antagonism, it has led to the ill laying-out of supplementary lines; to the wasting of enormous sums in useless parliamentary contests; to the loss of an almost incredible amount of national capital in the making of railways for which there is no due requirement. Regarded in the mass, the investments of shareholders have been reduced by it to less than half the average productiveness which such investments should possess; and, as all authorities admit, railway property is, even now, kept below its real value, by the fear of future depreciations consequent on future extensions. Considering, then, the vastness of the interests at stake—considering that the total capital of our companies will soon reach £300,000,000—considering, on the one hand, the immense number of persons owning this capital (many of them with no incomes but what are derived from it), and, on the other hand, the great extent to which the community is concerned, both directly as to its commercial facilities, and indirectly as to the economy of its resources—considering all this, it becomes extremely important that railway property should be placed on a secure footing, and railway enterprise confined within normal bounds. The change is demanded alike for the welfare of shareholders and the public. No charge of over-legislation can be brought against it. It is simply an extension to joint-stock contracts, of the principle applied to all other contracts; it is merely a fulfilment of the State’s judicial function in cases hitherto neglected; it is nothing but a better administration of justice. * * * * * POSTSCRIPT.—That the proprietary contract should be {109} strictly adhered to, and no undertakings beyond those specified in the deed of incorporation entered upon, is a doctrine unpalatable to those in authority. A friend who, as chairman of one of our great railway-companies, has been familiar with railway-politics and parliamentary usages in connexion with them, contends that such a restrictive interpretation would be unworkable; and, further, that the legislature would never allow itself to be shackled in the implied way.