2. From each railway clearing station there is forwarded _daily_ to the London office a return similar to the above (but for distinction printed in red ink), of the description, weight, &c. &c., of goods _received_ at each station, and thus from two opposite points a detailed return of the amount of goods conveyed between them is declared. 3. As soon as these two returns (black and red) are received at the London office, they are carefully examined, to ascertain if the articles returned in each are correct--that is, if the declaration of the goods _despatched_ corresponds with the return of the same goods from the point at which they should have been received. About 30 per cent., however, of the number of items in these returns do _not_ correspond, the difference being sometimes a few pounds, sometimes a few pence. Ten clerks are constantly occupied in checking these two sets of returns. 4. As fast as these errors are detected, a “_statement of omissions and inaccuracies_” (in one month 7000 of these statements have been transmitted) are sent from the London office to both parties for explanation, and, when returned by each with “remarks,” the errors are corrected according to their replies. 5. From the above accounts a division of the receipts of the goods traffic is made monthly; and as there are 4500 of these settlements (each on an average wanting 2½ copies), about 11,000 copies per month are required. These abstracts are for the following object:--All “_through_” goods arriving in London are by agreement charged with certain terminal expenses for carterage and porterage, which are about double those charged in the country. This monthly settlement, therefore, shows to every company concerned what each is entitled by mileage to receive from one or more companies,--what actually has been received by each,--and consequently the balance due from the one to the other. Hull alone, from its numerous connexions with other stations, receives on an average 200 of these monthly abstracts. Twenty-four clerks are constantly occupied in preparing them. 6. The next operation is, by a consideration of all these balances, to determine what the clearing-house, as the representative of all the creditor companies, is entitled to receive from the debtor companies. The final result of all these operations is exemplified by a monthly return forwarded by the office to each of the forty-seven companies, showing separately to each, for each of its stations, the weights, the mileage proportions, the terminal expenses, and, lastly, the balances, whether due to it or by it, on the traffic from each of its stations to all other clearing-house stations to which goods had been sent, or from which received. The number of entries in these monthly summaries averages 11,186.