72 



policy, be laid down between State and Railways, and, 

 between Labour and Capital, as to the limit of their 

 respective financial responsibilities, no great improve- 

 ment can be expected in the present situation,* where 

 freights and railway costs seem enormously high and 

 traffic very slow. 



However, there is one line along which progress 

 is essential, that is in regard to the handling and trans- 

 port of cereals. 



In regard to the transport of cereals, to the mar- 

 vellous progress of the U.S.A. in dealing with her ce- 

 reals, I want to draw atteniton to the fact that it is of- 

 ten cited as one of the great reasons for the unexamp- 

 led prosperity of the American railways that they 

 understood this branch of their business in time, and 

 the satisfactory way in which they solved the problem 

 has done as much to place them in their present pros- 

 perous state, in the same way as the neglig- 

 ence of others has left them in a far from thriv- 

 ing condition. The great abilit}' with which the 

 grain, the chief article of revenue to the rail- 

 ways, is handled in North America has resulted in a 

 model organisation, worthy of study for all interested 

 in adequate railway exploitation, and one that calls 

 for particular attention from all parties, equally for 

 the farmer as for these to whom is confided the man- 

 agement of the railways. 



Undoubtedly the low freights, the rapid haul and 

 the minimum losses are due to the intelligent manage- 

 ment of the railways, but, also, the foresight of the farm- 

 ers in adapting themselves to the measures proposed 

 and in supporting the railways in their efforts, have 

 powerfully contributed to make the present high 

 standard possible in the United States. 



Grain is greater in bulk than any other article of 

 commerce; it is more difficult to transport and handle 

 than any other commercial commodity, and in resolv- 

 ing the difficulty satisfactorily the directors of the 

 American railways have scored a double triumph. 



The obstacles to the transportation of wheat enter 

 largely 'into the question of its feasibility as an article 

 of commerce; on the calculations of cost of transport 

 often depend the profit of wheat growing to the farmer. 

 It is indisputable that the i^se of the North Ame- 

 rican wheat trade has been facilitated, to an enormous 

 extent, by the admirable manner in which the problem 

 of handling it has been solved by the American rail- 

 way managers. 



