14 MAY 1927, Page 2

We have suggested previously that the Government ought to have

declared that the Charing Cross Bridge scheme was decided upon, and that the inquiry by experts should concern itself with the design and cost of a bridge which must be built in any case. The Prime Minister's declaration on this subject did not exclude the belief, which is now fairly common, that there will be no decision as to whether there is to be a new Charing Cross Bridge at all until the experts have reported. It would be a fearful mistake to let London be caught napping. Ten years hence (when Charing Cross Bridge might be in working order if it were begun at once) Londoners will know what to say of our present manage- ment of affairs if they find themselves congested in ways that need never have been.