Page:Hine (1912) Letters from an old railway official.djvu/34

 Q. Then, it is a sort of breeding process?

A. Yes, sir, that’s it.

Q. To go a little further, has your company any patents on improving human nature?

A. No, sir, we don’t claim that.

Q. Is it not a fact that your officials and employes are average citizens recruited and developed about like those of other roads?

A. That is hardly a fair way to put it, but I suppose they are.

Q. Why isn’t it fair?

A. Because it leaves out of account the acknowledged efficiency that comes from having men well treated and contented, and better instructed than others. Some farms make more money than others because the old man gets more work out of the boys.

Q. Then your road has officials who can radiate more divine afflatus than others?

A. I didn’t say that. We do the best we know how.

Q. What is organization?

A. Why organization is—let me see—why, organization is the name we use for the men—the people, the forces we hire to run our road. It is hard to give a concise definition. I might ask you what law is.