Goods.—From each of the 684 Railway Clearing-House Stations which we have enumerated, there is forwarded to the London office a “daily abstract of goods” (printed in black ink), containing the invoice, the amount carted, the sums paid or the sums to pay, the undercharge, the overcharge, and the description of the traffic “forwarded” each day from each station to each of the other stations enumerated in the return. Of these goods the gross total is composed of a number of articles, each of which, from the station from which it is forwarded, is charged according to the established rate agreed on by the companies for “through” goods. Some of these weights are only 14 lbs., in which case they, as well as every package below 56 lbs. (termed “a small”), are charged at a higher rate.
2. From each railway clearing station there is forwarded daily to the London office a return similar to the above (but for distinction printed in red ink), of the description, weight, &c. &c., of goods received at each station, and thus from two opposite points a detailed return of the amount of goods conveyed between them is declared.
3. As soon as these two returns (black and red) are received at the London office, they are carefully examined, to ascertain if the articles returned in each are correct—that is, if the declaration of the goods despatched corresponds with the return of the same goods from the point at which they should have been received. About 30 per cent., however, of the number of items in these returns do not correspond, the difference being sometimes a few pounds, sometimes a few pence. Ten clerks are constantly occupied in checking these two sets of returns.
4. As fast as these errors are detected, a “statement of omissions and inaccuracies” (in one month 7000 of these statements have been transmitted) are sent from the London office to both parties for explanation, and, when returned by each with “remarks,” the errors are corrected according to their replies.
5. From the above accounts a division of the receipts of the goods traffic is made monthly; and as there are 4500 of these settlements (each on an average wanting 2½ copies), about 11,000 copies per month are required. These abstracts are for the following object:—All “through” goods arriving in London are by agreement charged with certain terminal expenses for carterage and porterage, which are about double those charged in the country. This monthly settlement, therefore, shows to every company concerned what each is entitled by mileage to receive from one or more companies,—what actually has been received by each,—and consequently the balance due from the one to the other. Hull alone, from its numerous connexions with other stations, receives on an average 200 of these monthly abstracts. Twenty-four clerks are constantly occupied in preparing them.
6. The next operation is, by a consideration of all these balances, to determine what the clearing-house, as the representative of all the creditor companies, is entitled to receive from the debtor companies. The final result of all these operations is exemplified by a monthly return forwarded by the office to each of the forty-seven companies, showing separately to each, for each of its stations, the weights, the mileage proportions, the terminal expenses, and, lastly, the balances, whether due to it or by it, on the traffic from each of its stations to all other clearing-house stations to which goods had been sent, or from which received. The number of entries in these monthly summaries averages 11,186.
The above closes the account of the goods traffic. Any omission or errors in these accounts are corrected in those of the subsequent month, the balances being, in the first instance, always paid as declared by the London railway clearing-house.
When the balances are finally struck, a letter is addressed from the office to each company, advising it of the amount due to or by it on the traffic of the month; and, unless these balances are paid by each company within twenty-one days, interest at 6 per cent. is charged, and credited to the companies to whom the clearing-house is nominally indebted.
For the convenience of the companies a weekly notice is sent by the London office to each, informing each of the amounts of the receipts of the through goods traffic to which it is respectively entitled. This single operation, which enables the companies to publish their weekly receipts, employs nine clerks.
Passengers.—All tickets collected at all the clearing-house stations from through passengers are transmitted daily to the London clearing-house, from whence, after being examined and compared with the returns of the tickets issued, they are sent back to the respective companies. From Euston, as well as from all other stations, passenger tickets for every station are each numbered separately from 1 to 10,000, and are issued consecutively, not only for each station, but for each class of passengers. In examining these collected tickets, which on an average amount to 9000 per day,—in comparing them with the consecutive numbers as entered in the daily Returns received from the various stations,—and in checking the consecutive numbers themselves, five clerks are employed. The railway clearing-office thus receives—