268 
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF 
20. As soon as the Boute and March tables are examined and approved, 
and the chief halting places determined, the Line and Boute commissions 
required for the operations, and for which the requisite staff has already 
been named during peace, are called into activity. 
21. When the concentration has been effected, the dispositions are 
entirely directed by the executive commission for the purposes of the 
operating army, the resources of the railways lying both within and without 
the frontiers being called into requisition. On this account the executive 
commission is attached to the chief head-quarters, and as a rule follows it. 
Line Commission . 
22. Since the transport of large bodies of troops usually requires the 
similtaneous employment of several main lines of rail, the efficient super¬ 
intendence of the whole is beyond the power of the executive commission. 
Eor this reason a Line commission composed of an officer of the staff and a 
superior railway official is formed for each line taken up. The duty of 
these commissions is to direct the transport over their respective railways, 
under the superintendence, and agreeably to the instructions of the executive 
commission. 
23. The Line commissions direct their attention especially to the 
following points 
(1) That the transport of the troops is carried out according to the 
“ Instructions.” 
(2) That the requisite preparations are made for loading and clearing the 
trains, and for the accommodation of the troops, at the points of departure, arrival, 
and repose. 
(3) That the trains are in good condition and ready at the right time and in 
proper order to receive their contingents, according to the dispositions predeter¬ 
mined for the journey j and that they are provided with the necessary staff of 
railway servants. 
(4) That the proper interval be preserved between the trains, for which the 
Boute commissions at the various stations are chiefly responsible. 
Eor the attainment of these objects the constitution of the Line com¬ 
mission is regulated as follows :— 
Each Line commission co-operates with the agent of the railway adminis¬ 
tration of its line. They estimate the amount of rolling stock required to 
carry out the train service in accordance with Boute and March tables; 
determine the station of arrangement, and draw up the military time table 
for the line. When this has been done, the Line commissioners arrange the 
journey-dispositions in such a manner as to avoid as far as practicable the 
departure and arrival of cavalry, artillery, and pioneer trains at night. 
The journey dispositions are then examined by the executive commission 
and submitted for the approval of the central commission. They are then 
