At Robertson's request I appeared as a witness this year for the Great Northern Railway, before Committees of both Houses of Parliament, in connection with a Bill which sought powers to construct an extension of the Donegal railway from Strabane to Londonderry. Robertson himself did not give evidence in the case. Before the Committees sat he had left the Great Northern for the Board of Works, and Henry Plews, his successor, represented the Great Northern Railway. The proposed line was in direct competition with the Great Northern, and they sought my aid in opposing it. Certainly there was no need for two railways, but Parliament thought otherwise and passed the Bill. Indeed Parliament is not free from blame for many unnecessary duplicated lines throughout the kingdom. _Competition_ was for long its fetish; now it is _unification_, and (blessed word!) _co-ordination_. Strange how men are taken with fine words and phrases, and what slaves they are to shibboleths! Before the House of Commons Committee which sat on this Bill I had the pleasure, for the first time, of being examined by Balfour Browne. He was leader in the case for the Great Northern, and I met him also in consultations which took place. Since then I have crossed swords with him too, and always I must confess with keen enjoyment. His knowledge of railway matters was so remarkable, his mind so practiced, alert, and luminous, that it was rare excitement to undergo cross-examination at his hands. In his book, _Forty Years at the Bar_, he himself says: "I have not had many opportunities of giving evidence, but I confess that when I have been called as a witness I have enjoyed myself." Well, I can say that I have had many such opportunities, and can truthfully declare that I have enjoyed them all.