"But,
Sir," he continued, "perhaps you will tell me this may be a very good
argument as far as population is concerned, but what is the use of
population if they have no means of paying for their conveyance by
railways? Sir, my friend, who sits beside me (Mr. Hudson) will tell you
that in all railway speculation population is held to be the first
element of success--property second,"
He then went on to show that the traffic upon the Irish railways already
opened, was greater than upon the English and Scotch lines. This
argument met the assertions of some persons, who said that if money were
advanced to make Irish railways they would never pay; and it would be
asked, if they are paying, why not have them done by private enterprise?
Lord George confessed that he could not answer this question
satisfactorily, but English capitalists would not come forward, partly,
he thought, through distrust, and partly through ignorance, whilst the
calamity of the Famine had, of course, a great effect in preventing the
small amount of Irish capital which did exist from coming forward. The
prejudice which English capitalists had against investing in Irish
undertakings, is strikingly illustrated by a fact stated by Lord George
in the course of his speech.
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