I have read Professor Jackman's very long criticism of my two articles with the greatest of interest and with some relief. In each I tried to say things which appeared badly in need of expression. If this is the worst criticism I must face, then I feel very much more confident of the soundness of my general position. I can find very little in the above article which is not answered in what I have already written. In the main my answer is to ask those readers who may be interested to refer to my previous articles, but there are one or two points which may be dealt with briefly below.

The main assumptions which seem to underlie Mr. Jackman's criticisms of my article in the University of Toronto Quarterly are: (a) that all political and sectional pressures upon railway management would instantly cease if the Canadian National lines were turned over to the Canadian Pacific for administration; (b) that the continuous decline in gross revenues from 1928 through 1933 is, relatively, a factor of minor importance, the more permanent factor of competition between the two railways completely overshadowing it; (c) that a fruitful discussion of the present situation of the railways can be carried on without reference to the general economic balance of the country. In the light of our past history the first of these assumptions rises to heights of optimism to which I dare not aspire. If the millenium is to arrive after the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National lines are operated as one, far be it from me to stand against it.