These are the rules that still govern the dealings between the Post Office and railways, and at the risk of being wearisome I have quoted them _in extenso_. In 1910 the Railway Conference Association started an agitation that the haulage rates paid were insufficient, and that by comparison with those paid for goods they were performing the work of the Post Office at a considerable loss. The result of an inquiry into their demands for an increase was an offer from the Director-General to increase the rate on broad-gauge lines to 24 pies a mile and to retain the existing rate of 18 pies on narrow-gauge lines. This offer was accepted provisionally by the Railway Conference Association in 1913, but the narrow-gauge railways were not very enthusiastic about an arrangement which put four hundred thousand rupees annually into the pockets of their colleagues and gave them nothing but the honour and glory of having deprived the Post Office of a portion of its earnings. Until the last few years the Railway Mail Service was by far the most unpopular branch under the administration of the Post Office. The pay was bad, the hours of duty were long, the work was trying and the discomfort of the old postal vans baffled description. In the hot weather they were like ovens and, being closed in with sorting cases, it was difficult to get a through current of air. The lighting, provided by indifferent oil lamps, was injurious to the sight and did not lend itself to accurate sorting. The sorters started life on Rs.15 a month; they could not ordinarily hope for more than Rs.60 at the end of thirty years' service, and the result was an inefficient and discontented body of men with not a small proportion of rogues. Since the beginning of the present century the immense importance of the Railway Mail Service to the proper working of the Department has been recognized. Salaries have been greatly increased, and the best sorters are picked for appointments as inspectors and Assistant Superintendents. The vans have been improved, and the bogies in which the large sections work are comparatively comfortable. They are fitted with electric light and fans, and work is carried on in them under the most favourable conditions. In the old days a continuous duty of twelve hours in the train was an ordinary occurrence, and it is not a matter for surprise that men, exhausted by hard work and travel in a temperature of 110 degrees, made absurd mistakes. The length of the beats has now been reduced, rest houses have been provided at the out-stations and every man gets a sufficient time off duty upon his return to head-quarters. The new conditions have attracted men of much higher qualifications and position, and it has now been found possible to entrust the R.M.S. with almost the whole sorting of the Post Office. In important offices sorting for the outward mail is usually performed in a mail office at the railway station, the great advantage being