[113] Some difficulty has been experienced in checking the rates contained in Sir B. Samuelson’s report owing to the distances not being given, and from the name of the district being used instead of the names of the places between which the rates are shewn. For instance, although the South Wales Coalfields extend over a very large area, a rate of 7s. 3d. per ton for coke is referred to as from “South Wales to Darlaston,” on page 24 of the report; and in like manner on pages 27 and 28 the rates for pig iron are given as from “Cleveland and Northamptonshire.” These errors make many of the comparisons valueless. A still graver error has been repeatedly committed. Notwithstanding the remark (page 19) that the cost of collection and delivery has been deducted, Sir B. Samuelson has in numerous cases assumed British rates, which include either collection or delivery, and in some cases both those services, to be station to station rates, and compared them as such with station to station rates on the foreign lines. Here are a few examples of this class of mistakes. GENERAL MACHINERY.--Leeds to Hull, the export rate of 12s. 6d. per ton is shown on page 33 as station to station, whereas it includes both collection and delivery. Though all the following rates for BUTTER include collection and delivery, they are shewn on pages 38 and 39 as station to station, viz.:-- s. d. Hull to Manchester 21 8 per ton. ” Birmingham 21 8 ” ” Leeds 13 4 ” Newcastle to Manchester 23 4 ” ” Birmingham 21 8 ” ” Leeds 14 2 ” An unfortunate omission may be mentioned. In some cases there are alternative rates on the English railways, _i.e._, a higher rate when the company undertakes the risk of conveyance, and a lower rate when the risk is borne by the owner. In no single instance has Sir B. Samuelson taken in his comparisons the lower owner’s risk rate chargeable at the option of the consignor. Yet in Holland, for instance, the goods are carried practically at the risk of the owner. On some goods no compensation for damage or delay is payable, while on the others the compensation is limited, in some cases, to simply a return of a portion, or, at the utmost, the whole of the freight. We give a few examples of this class of errors. The rate for iron wire packed from Birmingham to London is shown on page 29 as 24s. 4d. per ton station to station; there is no reference to the fact that there is an owner’s risk rate of 19s. 2d. per ton, collected and delivered. In like manner the rates for agricultural implements shown in the first column of the following table are given on pages 33 & 34 of the report, although there are the special rates shown in the other columns, all notice of which has been omitted.