There had long been bitter disputation over the matter of railway freight charges, with the railway companies' trade and agricultural customers bitterly opposed to the high prices charged for the movement of goods. As a means to secure a just and equitable re-assessment of the charges throughout Britain Mundella introduced his Railway and Canal Traffic Bill, which, were it to become law, would give large powers of control over the railways to the Board of Trade, including the power to enforce reductions in the charges. Unsurprisingly, Mundella met vehement opposition from the railway companies and their shareholders, fearful that there would be a fall in their profits of up to 50 per cent and a destruction of the value of railway property.