There is much to be said for the Bill, but
it obviously needs careful discussion. There are objections to giving a railway expert like Sir Eric Geddes the sole control of all means of transport. He will have a natural and perfectly hottest bias in favour of railways, just as the omnibus director or the owner of motor-lorries will be biassed in favour of roads. For our part, we incline to think that the future is with the road, and we should be sorry to see the Road Board abolished without a guarantee that the interests of road users were fully safe- guarded. There is no doubt that the railways in the past gave us an example of that rare thing—a wasteful competition. Though the State will probably give the passenger a more uncomfortable means of travelling, it might very easily effect numerona economies. In any case, we incline to believe that the nationalization of the railways has become inevitable, because the State itself is the proper authority to control the workers in the industry upon which, above all others, the national life depends.
