Railroad Supervision. 
79 
to these directories are special administrative organs upon which 
falls local supervision. The functions of the directories are gen¬ 
eral, while the functions of the local offices 5 are special. The 
local offices may be divided into six classes, according to the 
work they perform, namely, operating, machine, traffic, shop, 
telegraph and building offices. 6 The chief inspector (Vorstand) 
of each local office has power to let smaller jobs, to grant leaves 
of absence, and, together with certain committee members, to 
control certain kinds of railroad property, impose fines, fix 
fees, etc. 
Private railroads, 7 which before April 1, 1895, had been 
supervised by a special railroad commission, are now subject 
to the jurisdiction of the president of a directory 8 and his two 
chief associates (substitutes). The number of miles 9 supervised 
by a directory depends upon various conditions, chief among 
which are the geographical distribution of the railroads and the 
intensity of the traffic. 10 
5 Betriebs-, Maschinen Verkehrs-, Werkstatten Telegraph and 
Bau - Inspektionen. 
6 Eisenbahn-Verordnungs-Blatt, 1895, pp. 49-68, contains a full account 
of the duties connected with the various classes of local offices. However, 
all the important laws and regulations governing Prussian railroads are 
found in “ Vorschriften filr die Verwaltung der Preussischen Staatseisen- 
bahnen,” Amtliche Ausgabe, Berlin, 1895. 
7 Compare Ministerial Erlass, vom 2. Marz, 1895. 
8 The following directories are charged (April 1,1895), with the super¬ 
vision of private roads : Altona, Berlin, Breslau, Cassel, Cologne, Elber- 
feld, Erfurt, Essen, Frankfurt, Halle, Hannover, Konigsberg, Magde¬ 
burg, Munster, St. Johann-Saabriicken, Stettin. As there are twenty 
directories and only sixteen supervise private roads, it is evident that 
circuits for private roads are not identical with directorial circuits. 
9 The Berlin directory supervises 587 kilometers, while Halle embraces 
1,884 kilometers of state roads. Between these two extremes lie the 
other circuits. It may be added here that on April 1,1895, the private 
roads represented together only 2,200 kilometers (not including 1,945 
Anschlussbahnen and 71 kilometers rented to private parties) against 
27,060 kilometers of state roads, of which 10,479 kilometers contained 
two or more tracks. 
10 That is, by the number, size, and speed of trains, which in turn 
influence the nature of the track, safety appliances, and equipment in 
general. 
