that, of course, is the main question which should be decided by an impartial authority, having regard to the interests of Nigeria as a whole. Now a word as to the two systems. So far as governing principles are concerned, it would probably be regarded as a fair description to state that the Southern Nigerian method is less concerned with capital expenditure and with rapidity of construction, as with the advisability of securing permanently good construction and putting in permanent work throughout, including stone ballast, fine stations and so on. The Northern Nigerian method, on the other hand, aims at keeping down initial capital expenditure and interest, exercising strict economy in the matter of buildings, both for the public and for the staff, combined with rapidity of construction and improving the line as the traffic grows. These ideas represent two schools of thought, and beyond the general remark that a rich Administration may be able to afford what a poor one certainly cannot, the non-expert had best not venture upon an expression of opinion lest peradventure he be ground between the upper and the nether millstone. But as regards the respective systems under which these principles are carried out, it is impossible to resist the conclusion that Northern Nigeria has demonstrably proved its superiority so far as actual construction is concerned. The Southern Nigeria line has been, and is being, constructed on the old model. Consulting engineers in London are employed by the Colonial Office, and appoint the staff in Africa. They are unchecked, for the Colonial Office has no independent railway adviser for tropical Africa, no railway board, or department, or anything of that kind. Thus there are two distinct staffs concerned, a staff appointed by and responsible to the Consulting Engineers in London, and the General Manager’s Staff in the Dependency. Where the responsibility of one begins and the other ends, both would probably find it difficult to define; and no one who knows West Africa can fail to appreciate the divided counsels, the friction, the waste of time and money which such a system must inevitably entail, even though every human rivet in the machine were endowed with superlative qualities. It is very difficult to arrive at a clear idea as to what the average expenditure of the Southern Nigerian railway has been per mile, but it does not appear to be disputed that the cost of construction of the first section of 120 miles to Ibadan, plus the capital expenditure incurred on the open line and the working capital for stores, was enormous, viz. £11,000 per mile. The expenditure upon the remaining sections will probably be found to work out at an average of between £5000 and £6000 per mile, exclusive of railway stock and maintenance. Contract labour has been employed except in the later stages, when the line entering Northern Nigeria territory has come under the system of political recruiting which will now be described.