Signed by several influential men in the shipbuilding world, the following statement concerning the alleged failure of the railways efficiently to deal with the traffic of Great Britain has been made public:
"The failure of the railways to handle the country's traffic efliciently is so seriously interfering with the manufacturing operations as to call for public notice and the institution of immediate remedial measures in the national interests. Always important, the efficiency of our railway system is of greatly increased importance to-day as a vital factor in securing national reconstruction. The prevailing conditions—congestion at the docks, delays in transit, and increased costs—are making themselves _adversely felt in every direction, lessening production of necessaries, causing unemployment, inflicting losses on the community, and increasing the cost of living.
"The steelmakers of the country have successfully introduced the system of three shifts of eight hours for each working day of 24 hours, and the country's in. terests demand that the railways shall be worked in like manner to make the utmost use of the rolling stock available, and thus to relieve the present situation, which is preventing the full play of trade and retarding the nation's economic recovery. The efforts of manufacturers and traders in every branch of industry, who are aiming at increased production, should rot be allowed to suffer owing to the restricted use of our trafic facilities.
"We submit that the need for utilizing our existing railway plant to the fullest capacity is imperative, and that steps should be taken to give effect to this without delay. If there is a shortage of men for working the additional shifts, it should be noted that there are still numbers of unemployed who can trained for railway work, including many officers and soldiers for whom work has not been found. who collect the chair-tolls, one hears a good deal of subzcid' criticism. And they are pretty shrewd judges of horsemanship.
One of these sharp-eyed observers remarked: "It's a marvel what some of these people will go through to get themselves in the public eye." Ho was watching the prancings of a mettlesome horse which patently had no use for the nervous-looking man in dazzlingly new riding-breeches who was mounted upon it.
"But the antics aren't so bad, so long as they don't muddle the folk who are riding decently. The trouble is that some of these people who don't understand horses are quite needlessly cruel to. them. They seem to think that the first duty of a rider is to dig the spurs in as hard as they can. I am afraid the women are often tha worst offenders in this way. I suppose it is a way of showing off." ited without permission.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.