BY R. M. JOHNSTON, I.S.O., F.S.S. 17 



It does not require much knowledge of industrial 

 economy to realise the fact that the wealth of any 

 country is greatly multiplied by the introduction of 

 machinery, which facilitates the fresh creation of pro- 

 ducts or diminishes the cost of production or transport. 

 All the hopes of economists for the amelioration and 

 improvement of the material condition of a people de- 

 pend upon such agencies increasing at the initial stage 

 at a greater ratio than population, and even at a later 

 stage, as in the United Kingdom, the investments in 

 extending its railways and other public works of local 

 bodies during the last four years increased from 

 £1,623 to 1,885.2 million pounds, or at the rate of £65.5 

 million pounds per year, equivalent to 30s. 8d. per 

 head per year. Australia, which is still in the initial 

 stage of development, has, in similar investments, only 

 increased during the same period from 222.87 million 

 pounds to 240.14 million pounds, or at the rate of 4.31 

 million pounds per year, equivalent to 24s. 8d. per head 

 per year. Taking all these matters into consideration, 

 it is clearly demonstrated that Australia's Capital in- 

 vestments in Railway construction and other Permanent 

 Public Works are, in relation to her initial stage of de- 

 velopment of an area nearly as large as Europe, and 

 also in relation to her population, progressing at a 

 much slower rate than the United Kingdom, which long 

 ago had advanced to a high stage in all equipment of 

 this nature. 



THE IMMEASURABLE INDIRECT BENEFITS 

 OF RAILWAYS. 



It is also a very common fallacy to assume, as some 

 do, that the only object which the several State Govern- 

 ments of Australia had in view in opening up the 

 country By means of railways was confined to the direct 

 profit which they might possibly receive into the State 

 revenues from the net receipts of the railways, them- 

 selves regarded as private undertakings ; that is the only 

 view they can take of the vast wealt'h-producing in- 

 fluence of railways to a country is restricted to the 

 petty consideration as to how far the extension if Rail- 

 ways benefit the Railway carrier, as such. If the mere 

 receipts from freight cover working expenses and the 



