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88 THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT’S JOURNAL. [March, vinced that wherever works of a public nature have been executed by the Government, they have not only been inferior to those now named, but they have also been attended with much more expense than if undertaken by private enterprise. If we look at the imperfect execu tion, and unfinished state, of the Caledonian Canal, after an expendi ture of one million sterling, and thirty-five years of time, it is really not calculated to inspire people with confidence in the executive of the country, as either being the best or most competent authority to execute public works. Or, again, at the suspension-bridge erected over the straits of the Menai, a structure strongly characterised by its rnferiority of strength and durability, as compared to those bridge- works erected either in ancient or modern times. This fragile and perishable work was constructed under Royal authority, and which the passing breeze not only dismantles and renders impassable, but is also fast consuming its strength by the vibratory motions to which it is constantly exposed, as well as the never-ceasing oxidation of the material which forms the main and imposing feature of that structure. The expense of the Holyhead-road and bridges is stated in the ap pendix, p. 366, of Sir Henry Parnell’s book on roads, at £759,710. 6s. lid. sterling, and the expense of the execution per mile of the road is from £4,000 to £5,000 sterling, and the tolls upon that road are much higher than upon any other road in England. We are not aware that Government toll-roads or Government steam-boats are cheaper to travel on, and voyage in, than those of private companies. For example, the fare from Dublin to Liverpool, in her Majesty’s steam-vessels, is from five to ten shillings more than what is charged by the Dublin Company’s steamers from the quays of Dublin; so much for Government cheapness. It is not only painful to contemplate the odious monopoly of govern ment in the post-office department, but it is really extremely injurious to this great commercial country that the postage of letters should be overwhelmed with so high a rate pf duty. What insanity then to talk of the government of this country becoming constructors of railroads and carriers of passengers. “ Legislation is not health but human welfare and the government of Great Britain has quite enough to do in legislating for this great empireand the colonies thereunto belonging, without interfering with projects which should be left entirely to the enterprise of the people under proper legislative restrictions for the good of the public. Looking at France, one of the most powerful nations in Europe, and where by arbitrary authority the public works of that country had been placed under the controul of the state ; are those works, we ask, more substantially executed, or kept in a better state of repair than those of Great Britain ? Is it not allowed by every person who has travelled through England and France, that the roads of the former country are much better than those of the latter, and that the superiority in the velocity of travelling in Great Britain is well known and admitted to surpass that of any other country. It is also remarkable that our bridges, docks, harbours, canals, aye and also our railways, are, we venture to lay with pride, the most substantially executed, and the grandest works of the kind that the people of any nation in the world has yet executed. These noble engineering works astonish all travellers who have visited Great Britain ; they announce the genius and enterprise of not only a great, but that of a free people, whose unparalleled activity and intel ligence have not been fettered and withered by legislative enactments in the promotion of commerce, the increase of our national wealth, and the consequent greatness of this empire: and this may be justly at tributed t6 perfect freedom being allowed to every kind of private en terprise under parliamentary regulation. Let us examine how far the Railway Commissioners have been able to lay out a judicious system of railroads lor the southern division of Ireland, and whether they have been able to do so upon better levels, and at a less expenditure of mileage than private companies. First, to connect the cities of Dublin, Kilkenny, and Limerick, the following will show the extent of mileage and the gradients. Length of mileage by the Railway Commissioners’ lines. M. F; Dublin to, Limerick cha- teristic gradient Branch to Kilkenny, cha-} 0 teristic gradient ^\ ~ J 128 4 Length of mileage by the Com panies’ lines. M. F. Dublin to Limerick, cha- U j t 0 teristic gradient rhs 5 Branch to Kilkenny x-Ju 28 0 155 0 _ 139 0 Difference in favour of the Companies’lines 16 0 Hence it appears by these facts that the system of railways proposed by the Companies to connect Dublin, Kilkenny, and Limerick, would be sixteen miles shorter than the length of those railways proposed and recommended by the Railway Commissioners. Again, taking Dublin, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Cork, and comparing the number of miles of Railways which will be required to connect them, first, by the system proposed by the Railway Commissioners, and secondly, by the Companies’ system. By the Railway Commissioners’ i By the Companies’system. system. M. F. M. F. Dublin to Limerick 128 4 Dublin to Limerick 111 0 Kilkenny branch 26 4 Kilkenny branch 28 0 Cork branch Small Southern branch at ) 76 7 13 0 Cork branch 68 4 Donahill j 244 4 207 4 Difference in favour of the Companies’ lines 37 3 Here again, in comparing the Companies’ lines of proposed railways with those laid out by the Railway Commissioners, there would be a saving of 87 miles 3 furlongs by adopting the Companies’system, which is very serious, viewed both as to the first expense of construction, and afterwards in working those lines of railroads. We shall now exhibit the distances to be travelled in going from Dublin by Limerick to Cork, from Dublin to Kilkenny, and from Limerick to Cork, &c., by the Commissioners’ lines and also by those proposed by the Companies. By the Railway Commissioners’ lines Dublin to Limerick Limerick to Cork Dublin to Kilkenny M. 128 98 82 Dublin to Limerick & Cork226 6j Dublin to Waterford 144 By the Companies’ lines M. F. Dublin to Limerick 111 0 Limerick to Cork 68 4 Dublin to Kilkenny 75 0 Dublin to Limerick. , and Cork 179 4 Dublin toWaterfordl03 0 Diff. in favour of Com panies’ lines. M. F. 17 4; 29 6f 7 0 47 2i 41 2 The direct distance from Dublin to Cork by the Commissioners’ line not passing through Limerick, would be 169 miles 5 furlongs; by the Company’s line, passing through Limerick to Cork, would be 179 miles 4 furlongs ; difference in favour of the Commissioners’ line 9 miles 7 furlongs. Looking attentively at the above table, and also at the map of Ireland, it will appear that the Companies’lines possess many and great advantages over the Railway Commissioners’ system of railways as laid out in the south of Ireland. It appears by the Railway Commissioners’ maps that a railway has been delineated on the map from Clonmel to Waterford, but in ex amining the estimates, it does not appear that any item of expense is to be found for constructing the continuation of the railroad from Clon mel to Waterford, distance 26| miles, which, at 10,000/. per mile, would be 262,500/., which is a serious error committed by the Railway Com missioners ; for it is not pessible to think that they ever thought of ex cluding the city of Waterford from the benefit of railway communica tion. In the Railway Report, appendix A, No. 1, page 11, it is there stated that no survey was made of the Limerick and Waterford line for the Commissioners further than Clonmel. This is certainly an extra ordinary admission as regards the city of Waterford, containing 30,000 inhabitants, having an excellent port, an immense shipping of both sailing and steam vessels, and an export trade of more than two millions sterling. In looking over the Railway Report we4ind it stated at page 41, that the distance from Dublin to Cork is 166 miles 5 furlongs ... to Limerick 125 4 ... to Waterford 141 2 ... to Kilkenny 79 0 These distances are all incorrect, for in looking over the sections, the zero of mileage is placed three miles from the Dublin Post Office ; and therefore three miles should be added to each of the above distances ; for example Cork is 169 miles 5 furlongs from Dublin according to the figured sections given by the Railway Commissioners, and not 166 miles 5 furlongs, Sic., &c. At pages 104 and 105 of the Irish Railway Report, the powers of four locomotive engines are given. The diameter of the cylinders, the length of stroke of the pistons, diameter of the wheels, and the weight of the engines and tenders have also been stated. “ Norv the whole power of these several engines is found by multi plying the area of their respective pistons by the pressure (64.71bs.,) and then reducing this product to the circumference of the wheel.” “ In this way it will be found that the whole power is:—Class first,