RAILWAYS.

149

on all railways. We recognise the danger of making comparisons of
this description, in view of the expansion that has taken place in railways
since 1914, the increase in the volume of business handled and the consequential
 increase in staff and working costs. We have extracted from
the annual reports of the Railway Board the following figures, showing
the increases since 1914 in route mileage, in traffic expressed in terms of
passenger and ton miles, in working expenses and in staff numbers and
cost on the twelve Class I railwavs under examination. namely :—

Route mileage . ve
Passenger miles (in millions) . -
Ton miles (in millions) .. va se
Working gous (in lakhs) we Co
Number of employees (excluding construc.
tion and contractor labour) .. we
Cost of above in lakhs "es
Cost after allowing for increase of 269 in
number of emplovees i.

1913-14.

30.533
15,707
15,213
Rs. 8.129

597,415
Rs. 1,362

Bs. 1.715

1028.20

34.689

20,705
21,209

6,961

751,808
3.798

3.726

Increase
per
cent
over
1913-14.

14
32
39
122

26 .
173

117

These figures cover all staff, superior and subordinate, permanent
and temporary, employed on open line, excluding construction staff
and all contractors’ staff. The 1928-29 figures, however, include bonus
contributions to the Provident Fund and gratuities not debited in 1913-14
and to that extent differ from the pre-war year’s figures. Neverthelesg
the comparison bears out the Railway Board's estimate of the increase in
labour costs and gives an indication of the increase In. earnings of
railway workers since 1914. On the other hand, the index figures of the
cost of living published in the Labour Gazette of the Government of
Bombay indicate a fall in the percentage increase over J uly 1914 from the
1920 average of 909% to an average of 48%, for 1929 and to 229, at the
end of 1930. Although the position of railway workers generally
would appear to have mproved considerably in recent years, as regards
both earning capacity and buying power, the Railway Board recognise
that accepted standards are being raised, and what would have heen
regarded as satisfactory even ten years ago is no longer sufficient. Early
in 1929, therefore, they set on foot a systematic examination of the service
conditions of lower paid employees, with the result that revised scales
of pay for these employees have been sanctioned and put into effect on