"RUT AND GROOVE"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2121, 13 April 1914, Page 8

"RUT AND GROOV E"

:!*senebal managers for bmtish railways v'from the unrkd states . ■; "<mt mmemmY at wome • Tlie appointment of Sir. W. 'fhorntai, the general manager of tlio Long Islriwl Railway Company, to tho general niaiiagersliip of tho Oreflt. Kasterii HailWay Company, or, rather, the startling way in which Lord Claud Hamilton (ehaimian of tho company) announced it, has aroused keen discussion, much critieisiiij arid, in railway quarters, not a Fitt-lo rcsentincnt in Kngliuid. Tho clinir»iaji of thv Great Eastern declared that tiiore covild be no doubt thero was a, dearth of rising- talent equal to inidoptaking the lteponsibiJitios of tho goncral nianagcrshipj or of any other big position. The reasons for this wont of capacity Lord Claud found partly in the fact that railways ware "so trammeled by Government legislation and insneotion" as to bo unable t'o work with elasticity in a broad-minded way, and partly through tho obsolete "watcr-tifjht com.partnient" system of mana.geßient,

Ffflo Opportunity." A fiorco controversy and much newspaper correspondence was'evoked by the nbore announcement. Generally speaking, the alleged dearth of English talent was scouted. If it actually exists, the American editors declared, the fault lies in tho failure of British boards of directors to encourage the initiative -and powers of responsibility, of their employees. An analysis of the careers of loading figures in the American railway world shows that in a large percentage of cases .tiiey are men who lave risen from, the humblest beginnings. Tho "Now Yetk Tribune" cafls tho appoiiitm«ait_of Mr. Thornton a "striking incident.-' It says: "An American railway is a true democracy. There is no business in tho world, unless tho American newspaper is osceptod, where ability counts so swiftly and. 'accurately as on oiue of our railways, k England thero is 1 not so ranch any species of favouritism as an. uninspired routine oJ promotion tiiat apparently works to retard really able wen. The free opportunity wijich still exists plentifully m America, despite croakers, 1$ just about our most valuablo national procession," Cases In Defence, Mule tho Gre-at Eastern Railway, according to lord Claud Hamilton, has round it,necessary,to go abroad for a general Manager, many foreign railways have been giad, said tho "Daily News," to avail themselves of tho ability of Englishmen. Mr. H s C. Clear, assistant to Sir Sam Fay, {general manager of the Great Central , Railway, gavo tho following list:— Mr., E. H. Hiley, originally is the service of the North Eastern Railway, now general manager of the Notv Zealand railways. vjMr T, R. Johnsoit, once assistant engineer en the Gr«at Northern, new chief commissioner of the New South Wales railways. Mr. C. H. Penrson -went from tlie Great Central to bo general manager of the ''Central Argentine lines. Mr. H. I'horpe went from the Bame company to bo assistant general manager and chief accountant of the Govern* mont Railway af Ceylon, Mr. W. H. Eitcltfe, also formerly of the Great Central, npty chief accountant of the Ottoman Railway. Mr. J. G. Castles, formerly of tho Great Northern) now traffie manager of tho Great WesfetrA Railway of Brazil. Mr. A. J. Owen j once in tho Midland service, now general manager of the San Paulo Railway. . Mr. tt. W. Garratt, who began on tho North London line, no* locomotive superintendeat of the Litna. Railway (Peru). Mr. B. Barnes, of tfao Great Central, now traffic malinger of the Capo Government Railway*.

too Departmental. A "Former Railway Officer," in tie "Manchester Guardian/ , 'remarks that every British railway js saturated with the. depiirtmiSntal spirit-. This forbids the traffic department to interfere in tho affairs of tho- kcomotiyo department, and vice versa, while the engineering branch lias also its own proserves, Tho lines of division are so finely drawn that, tlw goods department is equally distinct horn tho passenger. As a rule, tho heads of the- various departments are good friends, and work well together, giving nnd taking, nnd the same spirit- prevails among their subordinates. It is not, however, wholly herein that trouble lice (ho goes on). Tho weakness of tho departmental system becomes apparent when tfoo position of general manager, tho chief executive office, becomes vacant. In tho past it lms generally been tho .practice to flromoto the goods manager to tho higher office. It is hard for such a man, after twenty years or more in the .goods department, to be no longer prejudiced. Ho is hardly human if he does not thin): that nflw is his time to secure a good road for certain traffic ho lias iuniMged to secure f rotn a, competitor, but for' which ha has boen unable hitherto i<, obtain a satisfactory timing from tho superintendent of tho lino, who, it must b<s remembered, tabes tho p'nseeßEot traffic.

Tho engineer, should lie be made general manager, is at sea in other aireotions. Ho will ho slow to grasp tho importance of couofliatin-g traders or granting facilities in- order to gain °, r rotam tmfile. Tho solicitor ig woreo sail. But hoik these professsoi)e~ou. {smoOTing and tho law—givo a. roan a breadth of view that is a great asset wlton ho is put at the head' α-f affairs. Which of Three? Each of these representative men— tho traffic man, tho engineer, and tho lawyer—has hie weaknesses. ■ Tito trsflfc man is s 'nt> good" at- getting oat. a scltomo. Ho cttimet, for the life of ]»«, eeo Ikmv a situation can be improvetj except at- a jyrohibitivo cost. H o is m Jiaml at making a- plan and often as bad at reading oiio. Ho lacks iruagiftation and cannot eec how certain changes will

develop. Certain Wrings are.wanted to meet a sifcimtioij, 'but how other benefits eeuld bo obtained is beyond Jiis vision, ibe cHgiueor, on tuo other Irnnd, bi-iiigs to bear vat only a hig breadth of viow, : bat au cxpaneiwo of how ho or others dealt with similar or somewhat siniilaf conditions. Tho engineer lias, however, I find grovo fanlt—]je is estravagant. Ho j ivants io pul'i clown a«d destroy so as to Jnake n fme, lasting job. He caii paid) it necessary; but tho task is distasteful, and ho prefers to provide for the. next j rod oration rather titan simply to. cater : for the present. The lawyer "is in somo ; respects the best jnau of tho three. Ho is a of poaeo as a riflo, and will adjust <Jiffferoniccs, jssy, botWean tho ■o&nipttny a,hd its jnon. Sti lias a lovo for compromiso which will prevent hia rccommeiiding extravagant Kckerass. aiuJ, being far-s.eeing, can determine how for certain steps will benefit his company without raising a trader's 3wstility. The American Way. But in t3)o United Stetes this departnieiit.ai spirit is Hot io he .found—them are sqnaro _ pegs iu roand holes; a man, fit for his job, is at homo anvivhore. Ne,Ji']y every railroad president in the United States has served Somo part of Ins time, on tho permanent way or in the loftqmetivo shops, or both'j wln'cli fitted l)im to ga into an engineer's office. Thence, while sUH yonsig. ; ho would go into tho freight deparl-

Mcwt, and after that into tho passenger department, liMo-niiiig inter an operating ftifltt in mimfJitig Hμ H-oriaiig of ii-aiiis. Jn duo tiiim,' wlicn he is" % years of ag« or .v/i, Ire becomes nn assistant simorisitojidwai. The Kuprintciicfcnfc of un. Amcrfcaii railway is, in U Reuse, a- general, innimgof of a division, and is rosjximifofe for cvwytMßg in tV.at division. TUa track.. Mfttoie.'telcS raphe, stations, buildups are all uner him, fts aro tho ongiHomsn, traintftcn, station «4aff, oio, l'hofe is no specialising ou AmoricflJi faiironfls. Here, then, li< ; s tlte tJiffioroneo between our methods and those i>i Hie t'liital States, and in that w to ho found tho cause of the scarcity of able men of which Lord Ohud Hamilton compkifta.