Report of the Channel Tunnel Competition

THE vexed question of the Channel Tunnel is obviously of gigot interest to many readers of the Spectator. Both those who wish to have the opportunity of travelling by it, and those who consider its use would lessen their individual pleasure and its existence would be a menace to England's welfare, feel equally strongly about it. A little more than half the competitors do not ever wish to travel by the Tunnel if and when it is constructed.

The case against the Tunnel, except for the rather misty argument that no one knows what changes our national psychology would undergo were we materially linked to the Continent, was a romantic and sentimental one. The Channel Tunnel would be smelly, stuffy, dull, and terrifying. One competitor pictures the Tunnel as " something very damp and stuffy, with water trickling down the sides, and a roof festooned with seaweed " ; others, suffering from claustro- phobia, are afraid of a hold-up and even of being buried alive ; almost everybody seems to feel the Channel Tunnel would lessen the fun of travelling. But the most passionate appeals against this idea are from the hearts of those who feel themselves descendants of a proud seafaring race, " if Britannia is to continue to hold the Trident, we Britons must be seadogs, not earthworms " ; or, again, " if a Britifther has not the grit to face one hour at sea, is he fit to belong to our island heritage ? "

It was not easy for either the supporters or opposers of the use of the Channel 'runnel to give many economic reasons for their opinions, as so little is known of the cost of con- struction that it is impossible to foretell what passenger or freight charges would be. But one contributor points out with a certain logic, that if railways do not pay now, why should a new and expensive railway pay in the future ?

One half of the prize of five guineas is awarded to Miss F. M. Griffiths, 34 Harborne Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, for her entertaining poem, " If and When " IF AND WHEN

WREN the Straits are underspanned

Strand to strand, (If and when) And the further shore is won By an easy little run, Shall I travel by the Channel Tunnel then ?

I shall not.

And for this sufficient reason- I disapprove such treason To Sentiment, to History and Tradition.

Consider the impossible position Of the wandering patriot : Can his heart within him burn As his footsteps homeward turn, (Vide Scott) When he's simply being shot Tow'rd his own, his native shore Through a bore ?

Through a darksome, murksome, irksome, ugly bore ? Can his manly bosom swell (As it ought to) crossing over, At the first soul-stirring sight Of the dear white cliffs of Dover ; Or his eager gaze " discover Sunny spots where friends may dwell " If in subterranean night, - Far below our " silver streak," Batlike, ratlike, he must sneak From Fancy's faery flight What a fall !

And consider this as well- That Britannia's primal charter Bade her rule the restless main : Has she failed us ? Not at all !

Then why disturb her reign ?

Why traitorously burrow

'Neath her ancient " moat defensive,"

And force the dame to barter Her trident for a spade ?- A trident that has made Our fiercest foes afraid And our Empire so extensive.

And what of Father Neptune ?

Can we say that we have kept tune

(Continued on page 297.)

With the pally songs we've Rung him in-the peak If, because his watery furrow Is uneasy For the queasy, Or to satisfy a lust for going fast, We take to undercutting him at last Good. sooth I it were amiss thus To make our isle an isthmus A hanger-on to Europe by a thread. Strike me dead.! ' If I'd travel. by the.Channel Tunnel theni If or when.

The reasons put forward in favour of travelling by the Channel Tunnel are practical rather than romantic. There is, of course, a cri de coeur for the Tunnel from those who suffer from sea-sickness, from mothers of large families, from invalids and from those for whom time saved is money saved. It was surprising that no one mentioned perhaps the most obvious advantage of a London-Paris journey by the Channel Tunnel, that it would be possible to go to bed in one's sleeper at Victoria and get up after an ordinary night's rest to a day's work or pleasure in Paris. There is as yet no night service by air. Other more philanthropic persons genuinely feel that by travelling by the Channel Tunnel they would be helping England's industrial position. But the reason which is most eagerly stressed is that the Channel Tunnel would be a great gesture of peace, a sign that we were neither afraid of peace nor of war, and that we were prepared to hold out a very material hand to France and the Continent.

The other half of the prize is awarded to Mr. J. W. Hodgson, The Cascades, Bonsall, Matlock, for his comprehensive entry on why he is in favour of travelling by the Channel Tunnel

If and when the Channel Tunnel becomes an accomplished fact, I shall most certainly travel by it. The idea has been long in the air ; when the idea has been translated into a railway track beneath the sea, then surely it would be difficult to advance any convincing reasons why it should not be used. The reasons why I personally should travel by the tunnel are various.

1. I should welcome the project at the present juncture of things for it would give a much needed stimulus to trade, would set the wheels of industry revolving, and would afford employment to thousands who now are standing idle in the market place, because there is no man to hire them.

2. The Tunnel would make the journey_ to France swift and comfortable in any sort of weather and would do away with the inconvenience and possible physical distress of a rough sea passage. It would much reduce the troubles and discomforts incidental to present methods of travel.

3. I should welcome the tunnel as a means of helping to break down our insular prejudices and . dispelling our. parochial . notions ; of opening our eyes by more frequent intermingling, to see the " foreigner " as we call him to be a brother man of the same flesh and blood as ourselves ; of extending our knowledge of other nations ; of expediting and developing commerce, of bringing the world into closer co-operative relationship ; of creating generally a neighbourly atmosphere of good will, and making more remote the possibility of the intolerable calamity of a recurrence of the clash of war. On these grounds and others I would rejoice to see the projected Tunnel materialize into the splendid accomplishment of the genius of man, marking a big advance in the path that leads to the highest interests of the race, and I, for one, would gladly avail myself of the opportunity to travel by train under the sea, from our tight little island to the fair land of France.