Mr. Edwin A. Pratt, in his book before referred to, cannot but admit the cogency of the argument in favour of the amalgamation and unification of the railways, but urges that this should be accomplished by the amalgamation of the whole of the existing railways into =a Trust or Traffic Board=. The answer to this is that when once constituted, even though appointed by Parliament, such a Board =is responsible to no one but itself=, and, however eminent may be the directors or managers, the want of ultimate responsibility inevitably and unconsciously leads to abuses. =Can any instance be adduced of the successful working of any such large Trust or Board?= On the other hand, instances are well known to the contrary. One of these was the notorious Metropolitan Board of Works. And is it certain that the Metropolitan Water Board and the Port of London Authority, both of which are constituted on similar lines, will answer all the expectations which were formed of them? There are, of course, difficulties inherent in the administration of a great Government Department, but, as already hinted, various remedies may be suggested for many of these difficulties. For instance, there might be elected =a Railway Council= or Standing Committee in Parliament, consisting of representatives of several large districts of the United Kingdom, and of which the “Minister of Transport” would be, ex-officio, the President. In the first instance possibly some of the present directors of railway companies, many of whom are already in Parliament, could be members of this Council. Any proposals for improvements, extensions or alterations in the services of the railway or Post Office would be submitted to and decided upon by this Council or Committee, subject to an appeal to Parliament on questions of principle or finance. This would be one means of obviating an objection found in some countries where the railways are owned by the State, namely, the continual trivial complaints made in Parliament about the railways. A further suggestion is that a =special Railway Court= should be established in London with branches in every important centre, and presided over by competent arbitrators to determine and adjudicate upon claims against the Department for personal injuries to passengers and servants, or for loss of or damage to goods, or by reason of delay, any one accident, involving a large number of claims, being dealt with by the same Court instead of being, as now, the subject of innumerable actions at law in the ordinary Courts. This Railway Court might also be useful in settling disputes between the Government and the men. OTHER OBJECTIONS.