Inland Transit/Barry
Evidence.
Class A. (1.)—Commerce.
Mr. Frederick Barry.—p. 77.
1.[1] You are a shipbroker in London?
I am.
2. And have been so many years?
For twenty-five years.
3. Have you been in the habit of dispatching a great number of ships in the course of that time?
Yes.
4. To all quarters of the globe?
To all quarters, but more particularly to Spain and Portugal.
5. Are they loaded chiefly with manufactured goods?
Yes, almost invariably.
6. Are these manufactured goods obtained in a great measure from Birmingham?
A great many of them; some woollen manufactures come from the north, but the principal part comes from Staffordshire and Birmingham.
7. Are there particular ships appointed to sail on particular days from the port of London?
There are particular days for a vessel to sail, and whether the goods arrive or not we send our vessels away. I am owner of a great many.
8. You do not wait till the goods come? We make arrangements with the merchants for a particular day, and whether the goods arrive or not we go.
9. At what periods do they go?
There are fourteen days between the sailing of the one and the other to Spain; if to Lisbon, nine days; and if to the Havannah, we give them a month.
10. Do you know whether disappointments frequently occur in consequence of goods not arriving?
Invariably, from a great many circumstances, arising from the canal being stopped from freezing or for cleansing, or from other casualties.
11. The exporters from London often suffer considerable inconvenience?
Whether they be merchants or manufacturers they must of necessity suffer.
12. And very materially?
Of course. You may lose a market. Many of the goods are bound for particular ports: some of them have to be transhipped from Manilla. The Spanish ships sail for Cadiz at a certain time, and if you do not get there previous to the sailing of the annual vessels you must stop till the next year.
13. Has that occurred often in your experience?
Frequently; very frequently.
14. Do not the shipowners suffer, as they lose the freight?
Yes; there must be a falling-off to them as well as to the manufacturers.
15. Would this disadvantage be remedied by a more speedy communication?
I take it as common sense that the greater the expedition the more benefit will be derived to all parties, where certainty is to be had.
18. Would the construction of a Railroad between London and Birmingham materially benefit the commerce of this port?
All dispatch and facility must of necessity benefit the port. Almost all the manufactures sent to Germany, the north of Europe, and Russia, must of necessity travel eastward, and every facility for bringing them to London would be a great advantage.
19. The losses and disappointments which you mentioned before would of course be obviated?
In the course of the season many vessels take their departure for the Baltic, and if the manufacturers are thrown out two or three days they are thrown out the whole winter, for the Baltic is frozen up, and they are frozen in; three or four days make all the alteration.
20. Do you often find that goods are stopped on the canal by its being frozen?
One night will stop them; they are also more liable to casualties; they are stopped in cleaning.
21. How often in a year?
I believe twice.
22. They are sometimes shut up in the winter by frost?
I have known them six or seven weeks.
23. During the time there is a cessation of the supply?
Many of the articles will not bear the expence of land carriage; the season operates in some measure on land carriage, but not so effectually as on water. Many articles will not bear the expence, such as iron bars, and so on; we must bring them by water, or we cannot export them at all.
24. In these cases you are obliged to wait till the canals are open?
In point of fact the value of the articles is so small that they cannot bear the expence.
- ↑ The Numbers opposite the Questions denote their order in the printed Minutes of the Lords' Committees