The Burtonport line was opened for traffic in 1903.  From the first, its management, to say the least, was faulty and illiberal.  So early in its history as 1905 an inquiry into its working was found to be necessary, and I was asked by the Board of Works to undertake the inquiry.  I did so, and I had to report unfavourably, for “facts are chiels that winna ding.”  For some time after my report things went on fairly well, but only for a time.  The Board of Works were, by Act of Parliament, custodians of the public interest in the matter of this and other similar railways, and a long-suffering and patient body they were.  From time to time they complained, protested, adjured, threatened; sometimes with effect, sometimes without.  Years rolled on and matters grew worse.  Loud public complaints arose; the patience of the Board of Works exhausted itself, and a climax was reached.

The Railways Ireland Act, 1896, provides that where any railway, constructed under that Act, or under other Irish Light Railway Act, had been aided out of moneys provided by Parliament, the Board of Works might, at any time, appoint “a fit person to inspect and report upon the condition of the undertaking and the working, maintenance and development of the same,” and if such “fit person” reported that the undertaking was “not efficiently worked, maintained and developed” the Privy Council might then make an Order appointing a manager or receiver of the undertaking, with such powers as should be specified in the Order.  The powers thus given are, it will be observed, certainly drastic.

In April, 1917, Sir George Stevenson, K.C.B., the Chairman of the Board of Works, asked me would I make such an inquiry for them into the Burtonport line, and, considering myself a “fit person,” I gladly answered Yes.  Sir George Stevenson was Tom Robertson’s successor, though not his immediate successor, as another George (Sir George Holmes) came between.  He (the reigning Chairman) was, in 1892, appointed a Commissioner of the Board of Works; and in 1913 he attained the position of Chairman; and the chair it is generally conceded has never been better filled.  He has the advantage of continuous experience of Treasury business since 1886, and possesses an exceptional knowledge of all matters, local and otherwise, affecting the development of State Railways in Ireland.

My inquiry I may, I am sure, without immodesty, say was thorough and complete.  On the 7th of May I presented my report.  The facts which I found were such that only one conclusion was possible—­the line was not in good condition; was not and had not been efficiently worked, maintained or developed.  I will not harrow my readers with a description of its condition.  One little quotation from the summing up in my report will suffice to indicate the state of affairs, and, to the imaginative mind, present a picture of the whole.  “Everything has for years past been allowed to run down; the direction and management have been characterised by extreme parsimony; and the disabled condition of the engines is undoubtedly due to lack of proper upkeep, which must have been going on for years.  The state of the permanent way shows a want of proper maintenance; and the condition of the stations, buildings and of the carriages speaks of neglect.”