East Indian Railway: 1906 History of the EIR - Chapter XII
Note: This is a sub-section of the East Indian Railway
The History of the East Indian Railway by George Huddleston. Published 1906 by Tracker, Spins and Co
CHAPTER XII. APPOINTMENT OF GENERAL SIR RICHARD STRACHEY AS CHAIRMAN - HIS VISIT TO INDIA.
ON the 10th of October, 1889, General Strachey was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors, and immediately decided upon a personal visit to India. Accompanied by Sir Alexander Rendel, the Consulting Engineer of the Company, he sailed in January and arrived in Bombay on the let February, 1890.
General Strachey remained in India until the middle of March, and during his six weeks' stay dealt with many important questions. He instituted an enquiry into the routine of the Company's work, by appointing a committee to investigate the manner in which all departments were conducted; the general object being to simplify procedure and expedite the transaction of business without impairing efficiency. He gave his attention to the train service, and particularly to the transit of goods, directing that immediate steps should be taken to improve the speed of trains, and that "at all events one despatch shall be provided to carry goods of the higher class directly to Cawnpore," for in those days there was no direct service between Calcutta and Cawnpore, and merchants complained bitterly of the unconscionable time their consignments took in transit. He arranged for sanction to the sinking of trial pits to test the quality of coal in the Jherriah coal-field, with a view to the opening up of that field by extending the Barrakur branch line, which then terminated at Barrakur, across the river. He attended meetings of the Chamber of Commerce, both in Calcutta and Cawnpore, and originated the idea of a local Consultative Board. He studied the question of coal rates, and modified the terms under which sidings to mills and collieries were constructed, so as to make them less burdensome than they then were. He re-opened the question of constructing the Grand Chord line, and of putting in additional branch lines as feeders to the main line; reviewed the position in regard to the opening of the Kidderpore Docks, and dealt with numerous other important issues under consideration at the time.
This visit of the Chairman to India was in fact attended with far reaching results, but above all, it gave the Government of India, the servants of the Railway Company, and the public who were its constituents, a very clear indication of what his future policy would be. It was at once recognised that a new regime had set in, and that, as General Strachey remarked at the time, "with the advance of knowledge and experience many changes had become desirable which should not be deferred."
In 1889, the Head-Quarters of the Traffic Department were at Jamalpur, an out-of-the-way station on the loop line, where for months together a merchant was never seen. One of the first acts of the Home Board, after the appointment of General Strachey as Chairman, was to direct that the Traffic Manager should make Calcutta his future Head-Quarters, so that he might "be more in touch with the merchants and traders of Calcutta than is now possible, distant, as he is, some 300 miles from the port." The move was not a popular one with the Traffic Department, and many arguments were advanced against it, but the wisdom of the change soon became apparent and was naturally insisted upon. One can hardly conceive now how the traffic business of the undertaking could be managed from any other place than Calcutta, where the Head of the Department is not only in constant touch with the mercantile community, but is in the same building as the Agent, the Chief Engineer, the Chief Auditor and other officials of the Company, and of the Government, thus effecting a great economy in time and correspondence.
It was in 1889 that the enormous possibilities of a development of the coal trade first attracted serious attention. Steamer companies trading to the East were beginning to realize the advantage of utilising local sources of supply, instead of importing Welsh coal to Indian ports; the rapid extension of Indian railways opened up a growing field for the consumption of Bengal coal, while mills and factories realized that their requirements were only limited by the excessive railway freight charged.
The British India Steam Navigation Company, having large interests in seagoing steamers, represented that they were anxious to establish, at several ports, depots of Bengal coal, in replacement of the Welsh coal they had previously used. The Government was anxious to secure more favourable rates for the carriage of coal for the consumption of State railways, and, in fact, claimed that all such coal should be charged at the minimum permissible rate. Simultaneously with this, the mill owners of Cawnpore were agitating for better terms for the transport of their coal, while other influential people were advocating the expediency of reducing the rates on the cheaper classes of fuel, in view of the probable development of brick burning. Certain concessions were at once made, a rebate of 16 per cent. on the then tariff was granted on exported coal, and a rebate of 10 per cent. on rubble or slack coal. But General Strachey recognised that it was no time for half measures: it was evident to him that the whole question would have to be very carefully considered, and his policy became clear, when, during his visit, he declined to agree with the Government claim that coal for the use of State Railways should be carried at a lower rate than coal for other railways, or, in fact, that there should be any differentiation between rates allowed to any particular class of consumers.
This question of coal rates was indeed one of the most important subjects raised during the Chairman's visit to India, and, although no immediate settlement was then come to, beyond the settlement of certain general principles, still the basis was laid for the consideration of the coal tariff as a whole, and this, coupled with the projected opening up of the Jherriah coalfield, and of the Kidderpore Docks, laid the foundation for the enormous traffic since developed.
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