(103.) The first effect which the Liverpool railroad produced on the Liverpool and Manchester canals was a fall in the price of transport; and at this time, I believe, the cost of transport per ton on the railroads and on the canals is the same. It will, therefore, be naturally asked, this being the case, why the greater speed and certainty of the railroad does not in every instance give it the preference, and altogether deprive the canals of transport? This effect, however, is prevented by several local and accidental causes, as well as by direct influence and individual interest. A large portion of the commercial and manufacturing population of Liverpool and Manchester have property invested in the canals, and are deeply interested to sustain them in opposition to the railway. Such persons will give the preference to the canals in their own business, and will induce those over whom they have influence to do so in every case where speed of transport is not absolutely indispensable. Besides these circumstances, the canal communicates immediately with the shipping at Liverpool, and it ramifies in various directions through Manchester, washing the walls of many of the warehouses and factories for which the goods transported are destined. The merchandise is thus transferred from the shipping to the boat, and brought directly to the door of its owner, or _vice versâ_. If transported by the railway, on the other hand, it must be carried to the station at one extremity; and, when transported to the station at the other, it has still to be carried to its destination in different parts of the town. These circumstances will sufficiently explain why the canals still retain, and may probably continue to retain, a share of the traffic between these great marts. CHAPTER XI. LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES ON TURNPIKE ROADS. Railways and Turnpike Roads compared. -- Mr. Gurney's inventions. -- His Locomotive Steam Engine. -- Its performances. -- Prejudices and errors. -- Committee of the House of Commons. -- Convenience and safety of Steam Carriages. -- Hancock's Steam Carriage. -- Mr. N. Ogle. -- Trevithick's invention. -- Proceedings against Steam Carriages. -- Turnpike Bills. -- Steam Carriage between Gloucester and Cheltenham. -- Its discontinuance. -- Report of the Committee of the Commons. -- Present State and Prospects of Steam Carriages.