W. W. Hoy, State Ownership and Operation of Railways. A Digest of the Evidence Given before a Commission of Inquiry in South Africa (London: Railway Gazette, 1919).

In large private railways there is practically, the same stability of employment as on a State railway, except that anything in the nature of ‘slacking’ is liable to result in dismissal. A private manager can promote a capable man without regard to seniority; but a State concern has to step guardedly in discipline matters. Minor complaints are, therefore, frequently debated in Parliament purely on political grounds. It is obviously impracticable and undesirable for the machinery of Parliament to be utilised to perform the functions of Appeal Boards already in existence. The principal means of ensuring relatively cheap railway transport is by economical construction, maintenance and general working. Waste or extravagance in capital or current costs ultimately results in higher traffic. The administration of the Union railways is, therefore, concentrated upon development, and a large amount, not merely of waste energy, but of actual stoppage of necessary reforms has disappeared.