.  On  December  and  a  communication  addressed  to  the  President  of  the
Board  of  Trade  by  the  Railway  Executive  Committee  gave  a  statement
as  to  the  demands  which  were  being  made  upon  the  railway  companies
on  account  of  the  British  Armies  in  France — ^mentionirig,  also,  that  they
understood  these  demands  were  likely  to  be  largely  increased  in  the  near
future, — and  went  on  to  assure  the  President  that,  provided  a  substantial
abridgement  of  the  existing  facihties  for  passenger  travel  and  the  transport
of  mails  and  merchandise  could  be  effected,  and  provided,  also,  that  the
Government  were  wUling  either  to  exercise  or  to  confer  upon  the  com-
panies certain  necessary  powers,  they  would  be  in  a  position  to  supply
the  number  of  engines  and  wagons  demanded.
