The same amount of capital and the same expenditure in money for fuel now required for a line of ships of the present dimensions would build and work ships to carry in the year double the number of passengers, with far superior accommodation, and in about half the time, and two or three times the amount of cargo; the whole difference being produced simply by making the vessel _large enough to carry its own coal_, exactly as when the ‘Great Western’ was projected for the New York line, the passage had been considered an impossible one for steamboats, or, if possible, only at a total sacrifice of all return for the cost. Certainly, no steamboat then built could get across except by a chance fair weather passage, and then only by being completely filled with coals and leaving no room for passengers or cargo. Simply by building a ship of the size necessary to take the coal, over and above the accommodation required for a due number of passengers and a reasonable quantity of cargo, the passage was rendered perfectly easy and certain, and has since become a mere matter of course, and an ordinary and profitable trading voyage. The increased size, instead of being a disadvantage, was found, as predicted by the projectors, to be a great benefit, and gave increased speed, even beyond that proportionate to the power; and this steamboat, built in 1836, is still as good as any of her size afloat. Nothing more novel is proposed now, but again to build a vessel _of the size required to carry her own coals for the voyage_. The use of iron, which has since 1836 become common, removes all difficulty in the construction, and the experience of several years has proved, what was believed before by most unprejudiced persons, that size in a ship is an element of speed, and of strength, and of safety, and of great relative economy, instead of a disadvantage; and that it is limited only by the extent of demand for freight, and by the circumstances of the ports to be frequented. A Committee was appointed to confer with Mr. Brunel and with Mr. Scott Russell, ‘who was fully acquainted with all Mr. Brunel’s plans, and had ably assisted him in maturing them.’[141] The Committee reported to the Directors that they had met on the day after their appointment, when, Mr. Brunel being unavoidably absent, Mr. Russell had attended and entered into a very full explanation of Mr. Brunel’s plans, and that a long investigation of his proposition had taken place; that a few days later they had met again, when Mr. Brunel attended, and that after a further and most satisfactory investigation, they had come to an unanimous decision in favour of the scheme. This resolution was adopted, and Mr. Brunel was appointed Engineer to the Company.