Defend Your Department.

“I want you to feel that that is a job worth while, and though I hardly expect you to go out, as did the disciples of old, and preach the gospel of railways to all and sundry, I urge that you should never let a chance go by of defending and speaking for the Department. If criticism arises anywhere, the thing to do is to carry it on and endeavour to bring others up to a true sense of the position. I feel sure that, if that is done by our 19,000 employees, we shall get somewhere.

“This is a case for combined effort. I say definitely that no man can put the railways where we would like them to be in public esteem. This can only be done in two ways. One: By organised effort right throughout our service; and two, by personal association with the community. On this point each of you has a share with the management, and a corresponding responsibility. I thank you. too, for the work you have done in the past year. I have made many calls on you that might, at times, have appeared unreasonable. But you have never failed to respond. You have done great work under very difficult ‘change-over’ conditions, and I hope that the present year may be one of just reward to all.”

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