But never more shall we
travel together, at home or abroad. A year ago, at the age of 82, he
passed from among us on the last long journey which we all must take.
_Requiescat in pace_!
CHAPTER XXVIII.
VICE-REGAL COMMISSION ON IRISH RAILWAYS, 1906-1910, AND THE FUTURE OF
RAILWAYS
In previous pages I have spoken of the manner in which the railways of
Ireland had long been abused. This abuse, as the years went on, instead
of diminishing grew in strength if not in grace. The Companies were
strangling the country, stifling industry, thwarting enterprise; were
extortionate, grasping, greedy, inefficient. These were the things that
were said of them, and this in face of what the railways were
accomplishing, of which I have previously spoken. Politics were largely
at the bottom of it all, I am sure, and certain newspapers joined in the
noisy chorus. At length the House of Commons, during the Session of
1905, rewarded the agitators by adopting the following resolution:--
"_That in the opinion of this House, excessive railway rates and
defective transit facilities, generally, constitute a serious bar to
the advancement of Ireland and should receive immediate attention from
the Government with a view to providing a remedy therefor_.
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