Appendix II. 177 



expenditure. But great development in mining, the timber trade, and in 

 the exploitation of other forest products may be looked for, as well as the 

 beginnings of agriculture, nor is it likely that with a railway on the 

 Takutu the Brazilians could long resist extending it to Manaos, or at 

 least to a point in the Rio Branco, and thus secure the immense advan- 

 tage of a direct route to the North Atlantic at Georgetown. With such 

 an extension there would be no further anxiety regarding the financial 

 prospects of the line. 



Note by Editor. — I can bear testimony to the fact that the presen} 

 Viscount Harcourt, when Secretary of State for the Colonies, realized the 

 importance of the proposed trunk railway. After the few ascertained 

 facts had been placed before him by the Editor at an interview in February, 

 1912, four months before Sir Walter Egerton's arrival in the Colony, Mr. 

 Harcourt sent for the Editor in November, 1912, and again in June, 

 1914, to enquire as to the progress of the movement. Mr. Harcourt had 

 recommended the matter to His Excellency's special attention and had 

 carefully annotated and studied the Report of the Railway Committee and 

 the attached memorandum, which had reached him by extra-official chan- 

 nels. The arguments in favour of a combined colonization and railway 

 development he considered sound. Sir Walter at the time was opposed to 

 such a combination, but his lecture shows that he does not underrate the 

 importance of colonization. The suggestion of a preliminary reconnais- 

 sance and economic survey of the route and of negotiations with Brazil 

 for a local Zollverein or commercial treaty Mr. Harcourt seemed to 

 accept as essential first steps. Further discussion and a final decision 

 were to follow the arrival of the Governor in London from the Colony. 

 Dis aliter visum. The war broke out. Sir Walter was unable 

 to leave the colony. Later developments include the inaugur- 

 ation of the cattle trail scheme by Mr. Melville and Mr. 

 Buck's proposal to utilise the Demerara Railway as far as 

 the Abary. The purely subjective view expressed from one quarter 

 that the trunk railway is merely a dream inasmuch as any South Ameri- 

 can line would run towards Panama has not encouraged its few remaining 

 and mostly unavowed opponents. It is fully recognized (1) that British 

 Guiana offers the easiest route (2) that South America will have eventually 

 as many trunk lines as North America and that the costly mountain rail- 

 ways necessary to connect Brazil with Panama will no doubt fol'ow in due 

 course the construction of our own pioneer line. 



APPENDIX II. 



EDITORIAL NOTE. 



The following is taken from our issue of May, 1915, which has 

 long been out of print. We feel it advisable to reproduce it as the last 

 tangible contribution to the subject. The memorandum on which it is 

 based would ao doubt require considerable revision in view of the con- 



