* * * A Board of Management would be appointed
consisting of seven members who would be chosen for their " business capacity." Mr. Morrison hopes to secure Lord Ashfield as President of the Board and he could not possibly make a better choice. London owes to the brains and energy of Lord Ashfield a wonderfully efficient and cheap pas- senger service. It is believed that Lord Ashfield is " not unfriendly " to Mr. Morrison's scheme. If so, he is as generous as he is capable, for the rejection by the present Government of the joint scheme which he had worked out with the London County Council for pooling the London passenger services was distinctly summary. Public ownership vitalized by business brains in the management, instead of the usual dignified circumspec- tion of Government officials, might well be a profitable alliance. It is obvious that only under a monopolistic system of some sort will the congestion in London become amenable to treatment. It is essential, however, that the spirit of private enterprise which served London so astonishingly well in the pre-congestion period should be preserved. The same principles ought to be applied to the Post Office.
