Mr Sherman
Sir: 1 did not know that Mr Alfred Sherman is Jewish. Nor did I know, until reading Mr Peregrine Worsthorne's item about him in your issue of 6 August, that he is now tour- ing Central America on behalf of Mrs Thatcher, and (no doubt) at the expense of the taxpayers. All I knew about him was that he is in favour of converting certain railway lines into roads for motor traffic (for which they will be inadequate unless they are widened, at considerable expense).
I have recently returned from a three- week visit to my home town, in the midwestern United States. When I was a child there, my grandma and I could take the bus downtown to the cinema on Satur- day afternoon for 10 cents. Now the cinemas are closed, 'downtown' is a wasteland, and as far as I know there are no buses. All the roads leading into town are now four-lane concrete mini-highways, with 'median strips' in the centre; these roads are lined on both sides with drive-in hamburger stands and steak joints, many of which are constantly going broke and changing hands. Many of the 'shopping centres' have gone bust; their 'discount department stores', as big as aircraft hangars, are closed and shuttered; grass grows through the tarmac of huge car parks, covering what was once valuable farming land.
This all began 30 years ago, with the building of the Interstate highway system. Some economists advised at the time that the money should be burnt instead, but the Interstate was built, fuelling a boom for more and larger motor cars and lorries, as well as destroying public transport and reducing many small towns to wide spots in the road, accommodating a few taverns, petrol stations, and the ubiquitous ham- burger stands. The North Shore railroad, a fast, clean, quiet, electric commuter service between Chicago and Milwaukee, was allowed to close down as a tax write-off more than 20 years ago; the right-of-way is now gone forever.
The Americans thought they had money and space to waste. They were wrong. Poor Britain has a long history of not learning from the mistakes of others. The efficiency of buses, railways and waterways over private cars and commercial lorry transport for moving passengers and goods cannot be doubted. Britain still has a rail network which should be the envy of the world, but it is allowed, nay encouraged, to crumble.
On the page opposite Mr Worsthorne's item about Mr Sherman, Mr Charles Moore writes that 'in most areas it is clear that the Government's aims are negative', and asks 'How long can a government keep up its momentum if its aims are so modest?' Too right. The alternative to a transport policy which is taken out of politics and aimed at the future of all of us will ultimately be the necessity to knock Britain down and pave it. Who is this Mr Sherman? Why does he have the ear of the Prime Minister? Can we not do without him? The fact that he is Jewish means nothing to me.
Donald Clarke
28 Anlaby Road, Teddington, Middlesex
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