nd of them I may pretend to have a little
knowledge, which must be my excuse for saying a few words more on the
subject.

The Irish railways, like those of Great Britain, are at present
controlled by the Government, under the _Regulation of the Forces Act_,
1871--a war arrangement which is to be continued, under the powers of the
_Ministry of Transport Act_, for a further period of two years, "with a
view to affording time for the consideration and formulation of the
policy to be pursued as to the future position" of the railways. This
arrangement, temporary in its nature, provides, as is pretty generally
known, that during its continuance, the railway companies shall be
guaranteed the same net income as they earned in the year preceding the
war, viz., 1913. So far so good. But two years will quickly pass; and
what then? It is also generally known that the Government control of the
railways, during the war and since, has resulted in enormous additions to
the working expenses. Perhaps these additions were inevitable. The cost
of coal, and of all materials used in the working of railways, advanced
by leaps and bounds; but the biggest increase has been in the wages bill.
The Government granted these increases of wages, and also conceded
shorter hours of labour, involving an immensity of expense, on their own
responsibility, without consultation with the Irish railway companies.
Upon the Irish railway companies, for the present position of affairs no
responsibility, therefore, rests. Again I say, the course which the
Government adopted was, perhaps, inevitable. They had to win the war.
Labour was clamorous and insistent, and serious trouble threatened. High
reasons of State may be presumed to have dictated the Government policy.
Anyhow the thing is done, and the hard fact remains that the Irish
railways have been brought to such a financial condition that, if they
were handed back to the companies, many of them not only could not pay
any dividends but would be unable to meet their fixed charges whilst some
would not be able to even pay their working expenses.

In England the opinion is held that a proper balance between receipts and
expenditure can be restored by increased charges and reduced expenditure.
This may be so in England, with its teeming population and its almost
illimitable industrial resources. As to that I venture no opinion, but
Ireland is very differently situated. It is mainly an agricultural
co