Railway Reorganisation. By a Railway Officer. (E. and F. N.
Spon. 6s. 6d. net.)—It has occurred to many people, on hearing that our British railways would show a deficit of £100,000,000 this year, that there must be something very wrong with their system of working, apart altogether from the great increase in the railwaymen's wages. The anonymous official who has written this book, based on the Boarded Trade Returns of 1913, confirms the suspicion. He declares roundly that our railway management is old-fashioned, unscientific, and wasteful. He examines each department in turn, and estimates that in 1913 over £29,000,000, or one-third of the expenditure, could have been saved, and that the services of 275,000 mon could have been dispensed with. It is of comae evident, as he says, that as the railways carried more traffic during the years of war—after many thousands of railwaymen, numerous engines, and much rolling-stock had been sent to France and elsewhere—than they carried in peace time, their resources cannot have been utilized to the full, however much we may allow for the increased enerby of workers inspired by patriotism. We are not greatly impressed by the author's method of estimating expenditure according to an arbitrary standard, which may be right or may be wrong. But he shows that the working expenses of the different com- panies vary widely, and that under a uniform and efficient manage- ment very considerable economies could be made. Some of his proposals—as, for example, to abolish the collection and delivery of goods sent by rail—will be unpopular, yet his argument as a whole deserves serious attention.
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