In 1862, at an important meeting of the Social Science Congress in London, some papers on Private Bill Legislation were read, in which several cases were cited, and from those the following instances of the expense of the present system are taken:—Before the Crisis of the Railway Mania, it was calculated that the lines then existing had been taxed for law and Parliamentary expenses £1,800 per mile; and that up to the year 1857 the Great Western Railway Company had spent no less than £760,000 to get the sanction of Parliament to their undertaking.