Finance—Public & Private
Railways and the Investor
I Fist) it very difficult to justify the lack of attention which seenis to have been given by the Government to the findings of the Salter Report on Rail and Road Transport. It will be remembered that the Salter Committee was composed of an equal number of representatives of the railways and of their competitors on the road, with Sir Arthur Salter as impartial Chairman. With a Committee thus composed it would certainly not have been surprising if something like a deadlock had been reached or at all events if there had been a strong Minority Report. Instead, however, the recommendations were made with unanimity, and these recommendations were very much in favour of the railways in the sense that proposals were made for a considerable increase in the tax on motor vehicles, and especially upon the very heavy lorries and other vehicles which not only compete severely with the railways in the carriage of goods but do a material amount of damage to the roads over which they travel.
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