RAILWAY RATES 281 



and elsewhere, and an agent in South Africa. 

 In 1902 it sold 35,000 cwt. of butter, realizing 

 £178,800, as compared with 30,800 cwt., realiz- 

 ing £166,700, in 1901. 



Combination among the Irish farmers has 

 further shown its value in securing the most 

 favourable of railway rates. In the course of 

 conversation a leading official of the Department 

 of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for 

 Ireland said to me on this subject : — 



We began with the idea that the railway rates were 

 extravagantly high. We had heard people say so, and we 

 thought it must be true. But the more we looked into 

 the matter the more we saw that, considering the char- 

 acter of the freight, the quantities carried, and the ir- 

 regular times at which consignments were handed in, the 

 rates charged by the railways were really most reasonable, 

 so far as the individual lines were concerned. We saw, 

 also, that what was needed was such a combination among 

 the producers and traders that their various consignments 

 would be despatched in bulk and at regular times, so as 

 to encourage and enable the railway companies to give 

 more favourable terms. Our experience shows that when 

 this is done the railway companies are perfectly ready to 

 meet us, and do all that it is in their power to do. 



Another authority, who possesses an intimate 

 knowledge of the working of the co-operative 

 movement in Ireland, said to me on the same 

 subject : — 



We have been too much in the habit of blaming tin 



