and Dublin. The Railway Clerks' Association secured recognition on February 4th, the very eve of their projected national strike, as the organisation for stationmasters, agents, supervisory and clerical staffs generally. It was a signal conquest for a right long refused, and it brought the R.C.A. forward at once as a very powerful adjunct to railway trade unionism, and a valued ally to the A.S.L.E. & F. in many projects. Clerks, so long neglected, are a vital essential to any sort of industry, and none can run without them. We could no more run the railways for a single hour without clerks than we could produce a newspaper without journalists. Therefore, 1919 was a memorable year for the R.C.A., which in 1921 has embarked with us upon legislative enterprises referred to later. Some remarkable facts demonstrating the extent of the railways' war work were given by Sir Herbert Walker before the Select Committee on Transport. Sir Herbert was the acting Chairman of the Railway Executive Committee, and General Manager of the London and South Western Railway.
"The mileage of the railway undertakings taken over by the Government," Sir Herbert said, "is 121,331; the mileage of the lines not taken over is only 499. Last year about £35,000,000 worth of traffic was carried for the Government-about two-thirds goods and one-third passenger traffic. At the end of 1916, when the railway companies were called upon to send 300 locomotives to France, passenger services had to be drastically curtailed, and the surcharge of 50 per cent. was put on all ordinary fares with the object of discouraging travel. This 50 per cent. increase," Sir Herbert added, "did have an appreciable effect in 1917, especially in the early part of the year.
"Unfortunately," he added, "owing no doubt to high wages that are being earned throughout the country, we have had to carry more passengers this year than ever before. The total of the passenger receipts on the L. & S.W. Railway in August this year, for instance, were £160,000 more than in the previous August.
"More than 30,000 railway-owned wagons and a large number of private wagons were sent to various theatres of war.
