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Significant of the ;new regime jn the.
Railways Department is the;^esi|natiqn
3f;the Chief Mechanical Engineer. Mr.
Rushton^has given 49 years of service
to the State, rising through the various
engineering. grades to the high post
which he is now vacating.. He may be
justly regarded as a victim of the system
which brought our railways. to a point
of unprofitableness, ' if not of' ineffi
ciency, where only .drastic action could
restore . thfem to a paying -and modern
basis. . Like the ?Commissioner and
other leading officials of the department,
the Chief Mechanical - Engineer was
never 'given an opportunity to develop,
by the study - of- modern engineering
methods and larger systems abroad,
the abilities which entitled him
to -the promotions that he received in
the service. Probably if a more en
lightened jSolicy had been pursued by
successive Governments in that' regard,
there would have been no need to send
to America for an expert to reorganize
and modernize the ? railways.. '»Vhile
study abroad is no substitute for natural
ability, even the highest engineering
talents cannot be fully developed with
out actual contact with men and
methods in wider fields of operation. The
system being what it was, it was inevit
able that a, stage should be reached
kwhere the introduction of new blood
into the department alone could solve
the problem. Even with Mr. Webb in
charge the necessity for educating by
travel the principal officials will
not. entirety disappear; and doubtless
the Chief Commissioner would be the
first to advocate that his leading assis
tants should be enabled to profit by
study on the spot of British and Ameri
can systems. It is essential that long
views should be taken in relation to
this important State1 enterprise, and
that the service, having been placed in
sound working order, should be hence
forth maintained in a thoroughly upto
date condition. The necessity for Mr.
Rushton's resignation ? is . regrettable, but
he has ho doubt recognised that changes
of the kind now in progress cannot.be
effected without personal sacrifices. The
retiring officer has the consolation of
having given long and faithful service
to the State. .
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