As the entire transit system of Great Britain, with all its railroads,
turnpike-roads, canals, and navigable rivers, converges on London,
I propose to make it the subject of the present section, by way of
introduction to my inquiry into the condition of the metropolitan
labourers connected therewith.
“There is a very great amount of labour employed,” says Mr. Stewart
Mill, “not only in bringing a product into existence, but in
rendering it, when in existence, accessible to those for whose use
it is intended. Many important classes of labourers find their sole
employment in some functions of this kind. There is the whole class of
carriers by land and water--waggoners, bargemen, sailors, wharfmen,
porters, railway officials, and the like. Good roads,” continues the
same eminent authority, “are equivalent to good tools, and railways
and canals are virtually a diminution of the cost of production of all
things sent to market by them.”
In order to give the public as comprehensive an idea of this subject as
possible, and to show its vastness and importance to the community, I
shall, before entering upon the details of that part of it which more
immediately concerns me; viz. the transit from and to the different
parts of the metropolis, and the condition and earnings of the people
connected therewith--I shall, I say, furnish an account of the extent
of the external and internal transit of this country generally. Of the
provisions for the internal transit I shall speak in due course--first
speaking of the grand medium for carrying on the traffic of Great
Britain with the world, and showing how, within the capital of an
island which is a mere speck on the map of the earth, is centered and
originated, planned and executed, so vast a portion of the trade of all
nations. I shall confine my observations to the latest returns and the
latest results.