Literature.

" The conduct of these concerns has been pretty exclusively in the hands of persons of the following description : —• " ( A ) Lawyers and gentlemen at large , open to be employed as secretaries , general ancl traffic managers , & c , at handsome salaries . " ( B ) Aristocratic M . P . ' s ancl noblemen willing to figure as promoters of great enterprises , for various political reasons , ancl whose countenance is always first sought after by projectors of new companies—1 st , for the purpose of DRAWING- support from the very

large class of toad-eaters with which our English community abounds ! 2 nd , because , knowing little of business concerns themselves , they are easily MANAGED by those whom they patronise , in return for their own ' selection ; 3 rd , having great social and political influence , they can thus materially assist in MANAGING the distinguished , but more business-like , and therefore more troublesome , directors ; 4 tb , being naturally indolent , they are only too glad to leave the management in general to those officers who can best

succeed in ' making things pleasant . ' " ( C ) A sprinkling of merchants , & c , with more of their own business to attend to than they can easily get through , but who nevertheless serve as orAHASTEES to the public that everything will be properly carried on , whilst they can be outvoted as often as convenient by the managers' majority . " ( D ) Engineers who have individually a reputation to acquire or maintain from great worksand a fortune to make from such

repu-, tation ere they condescend to consider the paltry savings of a parcel of shareholders , too often regarded with contempt . These latter gentlemen g-et the lion's share ofthe profit ; for unless the engineer ' s salary is computed from the amount expended on the works , he usually receives a commission on such expenditure ; and whilst thus paid sufficient to satisfy most reasonable men for their

whole time , they frequently serve two or more companies at once , besides attending to other professional business . So , also , have they usually a considerable voice in the management . For does an intelligent and honest secretary , considering liis constituents at large , pass over improvements in locomotion , economy in management , or new expedients for traffic , there will inevitably be a misunderstanding betiveen himself and the high-minded and experienced engineer , resulting in the annoyance of jrr IOED , whose supporters

will swamp the men of business ; and if such unpleasant questions occur too often , the troublesome official will be sure to go to the wall . Our engineer has too much knowledge , and is far too practical to listen to new-fangled theories of any kind . His ideas are formed on a great scale ; any amount of expense is a 'flea-bite , ' whilst his own establishing or established reputation is everything ; ancl woe be to the subordinate assistant or mechanic who clares to suggest novel expedientsor to make himself too usefulwhilst

, , within reach of his superior ' s awful and comprehensive shadow . "Here , then , is a select community made up of individuals the most of all calculated to resist advance , and to avoid unnecessary responsibility , so as for ever to run on in grooves , whilst they continually promote expenditure by their failures : the idle man of weight , who does nothing he is not obliged to do ; the knowing official , who must please his ' directors' at all hazards ; tlie already overburdened

, too glad to have others on whose shoulders his own responsibilities may rest ; the practical self-seeker , too wise to connect his name with plans never before heard of , lest failure should « wamp his reputation , bufc always ready to fill his pockets in any and every acknowledged professional manner . " In such a direction , what brain work can be expected , beyond following the established lead ?—and what management shall bo looked for but mismanagement ?"

_ Thc _ mismanagement of unbusiiiess-Iike boards of direction , in numerous instances , is admirably exposed , and third-class passengers in particular havo reason to thank Bro . Young for his clever advocacy of their cause . He shows the folly of the policy pursued of making the accommodation for the humbler classes of travellers as meagre as possible ; while the tariff of charges is with

equal absurdity made so hi gh , as to debar people from travelling ,, unless as a matter of necessity . Comfortable carriages , low fares , and proper care of life and limb , wifch a disposition to oblige the public instead of tyrannizing over them , on the part of railway directors , may eventually restore the shattered fortunes of their shareholders : —

"AVhen traffic shall be encouraged to the fullest extent , accidents prevented , repairs cheapened , rating made equitable , staff management reduced , and the directorate made business-like and vigilant , British railways muy fairl y he expected to return an average of 10 per cent , upon all the capital invested—a consummation , I fear , not likely to be immediately obtained , however devoutly it may be desired . " An elaborate comparison follows of roads , railroads , and canals , in which our author points out that the great

advantage of the road system over the two others consists in its being already constructed to most- of the points required to be opened up . These roads , constructed at a great expense , and kept in thorough repair , are now almost deserted for the railways , while the heavy tolls levied upon steam carriages , constructed to run upon them , has prevented any competition wifch the locomotive on rails . Ifc

seems evident that if this obstacle were removed , and a moderate toll only levied upon steam carriages and traction engines , a traffic would soon sjn-ing up by this means in various localities where railway accommodation does not exist , which traffic would be an enormous boon to the public , and put money into the coffers of theroad trustees . A large sum of money is invested in the present road system of

this country ; and ifc is , therefore , most important to afford every facility for rendering this capital of greater , instead . of constantly diminishing , value . The advantages of a substitution of steam for animal power are next shown to be very great ; and this is especially the case in agricultural operations by the economy of time and of expense in workingand -in the increased

pro-, ducts of each operation , while farmers and their labourersare both benefited . In India , too , had traction engines with steam power , been in use during tbo Sikh war and thelate mutiny , an enormous waste of life and money would have been prevented . Troops , instead of being worn out by long marches of many months' duration , would have arrived at their destination fresh and vigorous after

travellingsixty miles a-day without fatigue . As for the results which the introduction of this system of steam traction would produce upon the commerce and prosperity of India , there can be no doubt as to their being of the most important and . beneficial character .

I The first steam carriage known to have been constructed for use on common roads was that of a Frenchman named Cugnot , in the year 1769 . Several experiments were made by order of the Due cle Choiseul , bufc the scheme was eventually abandoned . Fifteen years later , the " Scottish Archimedes , " Murdoek , constructed a similar machine , and was followed by AA atfc , Oliver , Evans , Trevithiok ,

Professor-Robinson , and Symington . The first steam coach constructed expressl y for the conveyance of passengers on common roads , was thafc by Julius Griffiths , in 1821 ; and from that time to 1828 various other inventors wero constantly before the public with their improvements upon thisplan . At length Mr . Walter Hancock took up the matter , ancl continued to increase the efficiency of the steam coach

until , in 1833 , he had steam omnibuses actually carrying passengers regularly for many weeks between Paddington and . the Bank , afc the rate of twelve miles an hour . These carriages have since been frequently tried on town ancl country roads , and have proved in every way satisfactory , creating ; no annoyance , and being" no moro subject to accident than an ordinary horse-drawn vehicle . In April , 1834 , Mr . Scott Russell ( the designer and builder ofthe Great Eastern ) , ran

a line of steam coaches between Glasgow and Paisley for many months as a regular mode of conveyance , A wheel of one of these carriages broke , and caused a man ' s death , upon which the Court of Session interdicted their further use , with about as much wisdom as if they had prohibited the running of a four-horse coach , because an outside passenger had been pitched off .

The practicability of carrying passengers and heavy goods on common roads by moans of steam carriages and tractiou engines , with or without endless railways , is amply shown by tbe experience of the experimenters above mentioned . Bro . Young quotes many other instances ; and afc the present day we read of two noblemen , the Marquis of Stafford and the Earl of Caithness , who keep their own

steam carriages ( and drive themselves ) , by way of setting an example to tho public . That economy and speed are obtained by them , unattainable by horses , has been full y established to fche satisfaction of numerous engineers and scientific men . What , then , is the reason thafc they have nob come into general use ? The answer is twofold ; first—an unaccountable prejudice has arisen against this mode of haulage , and next , " The excessive lolls on steam carriages , imposed , no doubt , from a determination on the part of the trustees to obstruct , as much as