fire, early man made a primitive boat by hollowing out the trunk of a tree, which, being shaped as experience has taught, formed the first point in the evolution of the ship. To harness the wind was a further stage, and the gaining of the art of navigation furthered the development of the sailing vessel.
On land, the animals natural to a country the horse, fhe camel, the ass have been employed as beasts of burden from early days. Chariots were in existence thousands of years before the Christian era, but the absence of good roads resulted in a very slow develop- ment of land transport.
Coming to Britain in the Middle Ages, we find water transport as the most important means of conveying goods; what little transport was effected on land was by means of pack-horses. Travellers and traders combined in armed companies for protection against maraud- ing bands, and we see long lines of laden horses slowly progressing over tracks so narrow that the animals could seldom -pass two abreast. The rolling of a log is supposed to have inspired the idea of the early waggon for transporting materials, and in the 1 6th century a heavy waggon with broad wheels on a rotating axle, and fixed front wheels, came into use. Its sphere of action was limited to local markets. Such organization as there was lay in the hands of the lord of the manor, who could call upon his tenants for the services of a specified number of waggons and waggoners. Better roads were required. Although the Romans, with their knowledge gained from the Etruscans, did construct many and great roads, organized road-making was practically non-existent from their time until the l6th century, when counties were made respon- sible for the upkeep of bridges, and parishes were ordered to appoint two road surveyors, who were assisted by compulsory labour. Passenger carriages came into vogue in 1550, but, being springless, had little pretension to comfort.
In 1634 the Sedan chair came into use, and in the same year the first hackney carriages were licensed. In 1650 waggons completed the journey from London to Dover in three or four days. About the same time, springless stagecoaches carrying passengers inside at a charge of five m. for is., and luggage at the back, were introduced. By reason of the condition of the roads their rate of travel was only four to five m. an hour; they seldom travelled in winter. In 1658 a coach made the journey from London to Edinburgh at a cost of 4 per passenger, and was more than a fortnight on the way. The post-chaise system was now established. Wealthy people were able to hire horses for their carriages in relays at the various inns, or both the chaise and the horses. A journey from London to Scotland in this manner cost at least 30.
At the beginning of the l8th century, waggons were journey- ing with goods from London to Bristol, and we read that in 1776 waggons travelled from London to Edinburgh and back in six weeks with a load of four tons, whereas a sailing vessel made a similar journey in the same time, carrying some 200 tons and requiring only four times as many men as a waggon. In 1763 a monthly coach service between the same two towns was instituted, completing the journey in 14 days, and about the same time services to Bath, York, Glasgow, Exeter, and other towns were inaugurated. Coaches with springs appear to have been in use by 1760. Particular attention was now being paid to roads. The famous road engineers, Telford, Macadam and Metcalfe, were at work, and in the 14 years follow- ing 1760 some 450 Acts of Parliament authorizing road construction and tolls were passed. The experimental mail coaches of 1784 gave an impetus to road transport. Their speed of six m. per hour was soon increased to 12. Outside passengers were charged about 5d. a m., and those inside, 3d.
Canals had long existed in Holland, and were introduced into France in the 1 7th century, but although two canals were con- structed in Britain by the Romans, one of which, the Fosse Dyke, is still in use, it was not until the l8th century that canal development began in this country. The first important canal was constructed from Worsley to Manchester, at the instance of the Duke of Bridg- water, and was opened for traffic in 1761. It was found that the cost of transport by canal was about one-quarter of that for carriage by pack-horse or waggon for the same distance, and the price of coal in Manchester was immediately reduced by 50 per cent. In 1772 pas- senger boats, charging is. for 20 m., were established on the canal. In 1777 the Grand Trunk Canal, between the Mersey and the Trent, 96 m. in length, was completed, and in 70 years 3,000 m. of canals were constructed in the British Isles by the Companies of Proprietors. Since 1830, with the exception of the Manchester Ship Canal, there has been but little expansion of Britain's canal system. So far as England and Wales are concerned, practically all the canals were constructed by private enterprise without any State financial assistance, but this does not apply to Ireland or Scotland.
Towards the end of the l8th century, experiments with steam- driven vessels were in progress, and in 1788 a small steam-boat was tried in Scotland. Trains hauled by horses over parallel logs of wood had been in use for colliery purposes in the 1 7th cen- tury. Later, the wood was covered with metal plates, and in 1767, cast-iron rails were brought into use.
The coming of the igth century was heralded by the authorization by Parliament in 1801 of the first public railway from Crpydon to the Thames. Traders paid tolls to the company for the privilege of horse-hauling their own waggons over the line. In 1804 Trevithick's
locomotive hauled 70 passengers and 10 tons of goods near Merthyi Tydvil, but the first use of locomotives on public railways was on th( Stockton and Darlington line (now part of the North Eastern rail way), which was opened in 1825. The first train carried 500 pas sengers and made the journey of 8| m. in 65 minutes. For SOUK years, steam traction was employed for the haulage of goods ant mineral traffic only, passengers being conveyed in horse-drawr coaches. The company soon learned that it was impracticable' ic allow individuals to run their own waggons at will over the line, and as a solution the system of company-owned traction and waggons de- veloped. In 1829 George Stephenson made certain the future ol railways by producing his famous " Rocket " type of engine, which attained a speed of 29 m. an hour at its trials. By 1840 there was a regular service between London and Birmingham, the journey occupying from 5 to 6 hours, and Glasgow was brought within a 24- hours' journey. There was also a quarter-hourly service between London and Greenwich. In 1845 over 1,200 railway bills were pre- sented to Parliament, but only a tenth of them received sanction.
Similar progress was made with steamships. In 1807 the " ( ler- mont," constructed by Robert Fulton, began to ply on the Hudson river between New York and Albany. In 1818 the " Rob Roy,") a wooden paddle-steamer, travelled from Dover to Calais, ami in 1819 the Savannah," a sailing vessel with auxiliary steam and removable paddles, crossed the Atlantic from Savannah to Liver- pool in 25 days. In 1838 two vessels crossed the Atlantic tinder steam-power only, and the screw propeller, which was inventrd in 1836, was used on ocean-going craft in 1850.
In 1820 was started the Paris cabriolet, which word was Liter contracted to " cab," and the " Dandy-horse," the forerunner ofj the bicycle, and in 1829 the first omnibus made its appearance on the streets of London.
The advent of the " Industrial Revolution " saw in Britain a num- ber of self-contained communities, each more or less dependent on its own resources for necessary commodities, and a transport sy^ii-m which has been described as probably the worst in Europe. The means of transport were limited to river transport, supplemented by teams of pack-horses and waggons, and, in mining districts, by horse tramways. The comparatively bad condition of the roads, and the small amount that could be carried, made conveyance by horsej and waggon slow and costly, while transportation by river had only a limited sphere, and even then it was unreliable.
The application of steam as the motive power of machinery cheapened and speeded up production, but labour, iron for the machinery itself, and coal as fuel, were needed. There followed a rapid development of the British coal industry, not only where there were river and sea facilities, but far inland. The iron industry moved its base northward, and there was a speedy growth of 1 factory areas, with increasing numbers of workers. The w<> required food and domestic supplies, the factories required raw materials and coal, and these must needs be obtained from mine areas. Improvements in the iron industry gave belter and cheaper agricultural implements, and a development in agriculture greater supplies of produce ready for moving to the industrial a Industry had now reached a stage where production had outstripped its necessary adjunct, transport, and there was a crying need for more efficient and economical methods of transport. For this, capital was necessary, and the increasing wealth which aci nm- panied the industrial development provided it. At first, canals, and, later, railways, played their part in providing the factory di- 1 with raw materials, fuel, and food, and, in addition, along with steam-boats, made possible the distribution of the manufactured articles to an ever-widening range of markets.
Modern Development. The modern development of transport may be said to date from the "Industrial Revolution," and from that time it has been generally recognized that, where advantages have been granted by the State to various forms of carriers, the rates of charges and the provisions for the safety of the public should be controlled to a certain extent by the State. This has been chiefly in evidence in the case of the railways, which were given compulsory powers by legislation for the acquisition of land and other advantages. In other words, it has been recog- nized that, as the carriers existed to a large extent for the bene- fit of the public, it was necessary that individuals should be compelled to sacrifice their private interests for the good of the public generally. On the other hand, it has also been recognized that, the carriers having been given these advantages, the State should protect the public in certain respects.
In Great Britain practically the whole of the transport under- takings have been initiated and carried on by private enterprise, the primary object of the companies from their point of view being the earning of money. For this reason the various com- panies have of necessity vied with each other in making as much money as possible, and one of the most obvious ways of doing this was by increasing the amount of traffic carried. Induce-
