That funds will be provided for the London and Birmingham Railway far beyond any amount expended in canals, will be seen by the following statement:—In 1825, it is stated, there were in England ninety-seven canals, the total extent of which was 2,471 miles, and the cost of which was 30,000,000_l._; giving an average cost of about 12,500_l._ per mile. The railway from London to Birmingham will be 105 miles in length, and capital to the amount of 3,000,000_l._ will be provided for it: this gives an average of upwards of 28,000_l._ per mile. That the land in this direction is more favourable to works of this kind than that in many other parts of the country, is known by the canals that run in this district costing less per mile than the average rate of others. But even if the Railway costs twice or three times as much as a canal, the advantages that it has over a canal in its amount of traffic, and the economy attending it, are in a much greater proportion than the increase of its cost. There are very few canals of any extent that can pass more than two hundred tons of goods per hour. The locks in general admit of but one boat passing at a time, carrying from twenty to twenty-five tons. Where the greatest despatch is used, the average is not more than eight boats passed per hour. Here at once is a limit to the despatch of canal conveyance. Eight boats per hour, at an average load of twenty tons, gives only 160 tons per hour as the greatest quantity that can be passed. The average load of a fly-boat is but sixteen tons.