The Finances of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Again

Abstract

ASa pioneer of the railway idea the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in,LX curred a number of exceptional costs. Among these may be counted the 1 X special restrictions that were placed on the company's operations as a result of its initial battle for survival on its road to Parliament in i825 and i826. During those years of desperate negotiation the directors of the project agreed to three conditions. In order to placate opposition they offered to divide the shares equally among the towns of Liverpool and Manchester and the landowners along the line of the railway; no individual subscriber would hold more than ten shares; and dividends should be limited to a maximum of io per cent. The first two restrictions were dissolved before the Act passed through Parliament, but the dividend limitation had a much longer life. This article seeks to clarify some of the circumstances concerning these restrictions as well as to suggest a modification of the conventional view of the company's finances. The context is that of a continuing tradition of restrictive practices in transport between Liverpool and Manchester which survived the coming of the railway.