Parliament on Wednesday, and as we think most wisely, refused
to alter the decision of the Committee charged to inquire into and settle the question of London "Tubes," and therefore all the pending schemes will come to an end. At. far as we can gather from the evidence, Mr. Morgan's firm was not well treated by its rivals, but that is not a ground for Parliament granting it special privileges. We note at Mr. Morgan, jun., a member of his father's English firm, complained to a reporter of the St. James's Gazette of
the hostile attitude of the English Press to the Morgan pro- posals. This is regarded as a sign that people did not realise that what Messrs. Morgan are anxious to obtain is not a triumph for America but commercial profit. We agree that this is their desire, and that the suspicion of the Morgan schemes shown by a part of the British Press is often unreasonable, but we cannot help regarding it as most natural. When Mr. Morgan formed his Atlantic Shipping Combine the American Press almost universally applauded his action as an American victory and a defeat for England. We heard nothing but delighted expressions as to "successful invasions" and "splendid triumphs." Such bellicose phraseology is, of course, all nonsense, and entirely unsuited to the world of trade, but it was sure to inspire newspapers and their readers here with the idea that Mr. Morgan was a kind of mercantile marauder, and that his victories are our losses. If Mr. Morgan is hurt by this unreasonableness, and anxious to remove its cause, he should begin by persuading the American Press to adopt the language of sense and reason in regard to his so- called victories and invasions.
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