"POLITICAL DISHONESTY."
[To THE EDITOR Or Ton " SPECTATOR.")
Stn,—Your revised charge is now that the Progressive Party on the L.C.C. were guilty of "political dishonesty " in 1914 because they "desired to assist the tramways at the expense of the omnibus companies." Who would suppose from this that the omnibus companies have been constantly " assisted " nt the expense of the tramways! The L.C.C. trams paid before the war £86,000 a year to local rates for the use of their lines. besides laying and maintaining a large section of the adjaeeot road suiface. The motor-guises paid nothing Tor the use of the roads, but so damaged the surfuee provided at the expense of the trona that an additional .220,000 a year was neeessary for cement grouting. In addition, the trams paid £31,000 a year for the widening of streets, which the motor-louses proceeded to use without contributing a farthing. In the pre-war period to whirls you refer, the L.C.C. trams carried fifty-two million passengers a year at workmen's fares—an infinite benefit to the working classes, to their employers, and to landlords, house- owners. and shopkeepers in' the outer suburbs. The motor- 'buses carried none. They bad the monopoly of the City streets through the action of the City Corporation, which gave them the most regular, most constant, and therefore most profitable section of London traffic. At the time you mention, November 11th, 1912, Sir John Been, the leader of the Progressive Party, specifically denied that they had any antagonism to the .moton'bua. "Bet," he said, "in view of the experience of the past few years they think it is time to ask for fair play for the trame." Your loot sentence prevent* me from going into details, but the fade I have given will show which service was, In fact, "penalized."-1 am, Sir, &o., It. S. P.
[The omnibus oompanies pay rates and lane like the rest of us. We fail to see why they ahouid be specially rated because their competitors, the trams, are run at a lose. What the publics wants is the fullest possible service from both omnibuses and trains. Tho Progressives never grasped this elementary foot—Be. Spectator.]
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