Show SECRET BOOKKEEPING How England Transportd Troops and Supplies In South Africa To debit the Imperial Government with the usual traffic charges upon troops In passenger trains and upon food forage and guns would have not only entailed an Immense amount of bookkeeping but It would have put on record for the guidance of disloyal persons the movements number and J destinations oC our soldiers and a complete com-plete betrayal of the weight and destination desti-nation of the guns and supplies hurried to the front On this account if was agreed between the Government and railway that the latter should charge so much per truck or carriage per mile i and that there should be no per capita charges for troops or animals except for the few that went by regular passenger pas-senger trains No weight of goods were recorded the only care being to see that the maximum carrying capacity of the trucks was not exceeded In future wars this method will be copied because It combines economy with a secrecy which Is valuable beyond be-yond computation I did not verify the figures but have heard that the prices charged against the Imperial Government are equal to a penny per man per mile threequarters of that sum for a horse and five farthings per ton per mile for supplies The railway department Is said not to be losing or profiling unduly by thin arrangement Julian Ralph in London Dally Mall |