'Transportation in Europe. By Logan G. Macpherson. (Con- -stable and
Co. 5s. net.)—There is, it seems, at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore a " Lecturer on Transportation,"—i.e., on the methods of carrying about passengers and goods. Here we 'have a specimen of his work. Mr. Macpherson, who visited Europe along with the National Waterways Commission, has something to say about canals ; but we may limit our attention to the railways. He is emphatic in his preference for the United States system over the Continental. The most advanced European railways are, lie thinks, inferior to the American; "on local trains and in the backward regions the passenger service is an abomination." He does not express so decided an opinion about English railways, though he finds fault with our uneconomical method of goods transportation. "A shipment of malleable iron castings from Springfield, Ohio, to Bradford, paid a higher transportation charge . from Liverpool to Bradford than from Springfield to Liverpool" ! One point of superiority of English travel over American he does not mention; perhaps it did not come within his scope, but it is of importance,—safety. In 1908 not a single passenger was killed in the United Kingdom by accident to a train or to the permanent way. Mr. Macpherson is no favourer of the State ownership of railways. He cites the example of Switzerland. Railways that made a profit when they were in private bands are now a burden on the Treasury. The number of employees has been trebled, the salaries of the higher officials have been reduced (with the effect of losing some of the ablest men), and the rates have been lowered.
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