al clause,
designed to block the construction of lines from political
considerations. Any line constructed contrary to the advice of the
Railway Board, if it resulted in loss, the loss was to be a charge, not
upon the general railway revenue, but upon the Consolidated Fund--a
useful "brake," which I have no doubt has often pulled up hasty and
impetuous politicians.

South African railways enjoy one great advantage--cheap coal for their
engines. In 1913 the average cost at the pit's mouth was 4s. 11.5d. per
ton.

The railways of Newfoundland have had a chequered history. Now they are
Government property, worked by a private company under a 50 years' lease,
which dates from 1901, and under that lease no rent is paid. As the
capital expenditure (about 3,000,000 pounds) averages less than 4,000
pounds per mile, it may be conceived that the railway system of
Newfoundland is not of an extravagant character, and in my humble
opinion, the country deserves something much better. In our fourth
report (on Newfoundland) we stated: "It must also be said that the state
of the permanent way does not conduce to speedy or comfortable
travelling."

The gauges of the Dominions' railways are very varied. In Australia
there are three--5ft. 3in., 4ft. 8.5in. and 3ft. 6in., with some 300
miles or so of less than 3ft. 6in. The Commonwealth has for some time
been considering the conversion of the lines into one standard gauge, the
British gauge of 4ft. 8.5in. being favoured. The cost of this conversion
naturally increases the longer action is deferred, and in any case would
be very great. It was officially estimated at the time of our visit at
37,000,000 pounds.

New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Newfoundland are each the happy
possessor of one gauge only. In Canada it is the British gauge of 4ft.
8.5in., and in New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland, 3ft. 6in.

Our Final Report was signed on the 21st of February, 1917, and published
as a Blue Book in the usual way, but, what is rarely done with any Blue
Book, it was also published in handy book-form, bound in cloth, at the
popular price of 1s. 6d. Blue Books do sometimes contain matter of
general interest, are sometimes well written and readable, and would be
more read if presented to the public in a handy form such as we succeeded
in publishing.

The main purposes of the Commission I have already briefly stated. They
embraced many subjects for inquiry and study, of