In reply to a circular from the Commission on Trade
Depression, the Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, I^icestershire,
and Warwickshire Colliery Owners Association declared that
" the ruinous effect of the conduct of the Railway Companies
in excessive, preferential and capricious rates, and in acquiring,
and then practically closing, the principal canals and waterways
of the country is not special to the coal trade, it affects the iron
trade to a greater and more unjust extent than it does us.
But the iron trade being the chief factor in the coal trade
prosperity, we suffer not only directly by the pressure of railway
monopoly, but indirectly by its calamitous effect on our best
customers."^ And the Mining Association of Great Britain
stated — " The heavy trades of coal and iron are also unduly
burdened by the high rates and tolls charged by the Railway
Companies of the kingdom ; the rates in question are much

^ Vol. II. p. 419.
