On Monday the Prime Minister and the President of the
Board of Trade received a deputation from the Parliamentary Committee of the Trade Union Congress urging the Govern- ment to take up without delay the question of the nationaliza- tion of the railways. In the course of a, highly instruc- tive conversation with the Premier the members of the deputation contended that State control would both increase wages, reduce hours, and lower rates of freight, but admitted that the service on foreign systems was not superior to ours, and that the hours were not easier or the wages better. In his reply Mr. Asquith inclined to the view that it might have been well if at the start the railways had been taken into the bands of the State. But at the moment he frankly declared that he did not think the burden of proof placed on those who favoured nationalization had been satisfied. He intimated, however, that he proposed to invite a deputation of railway companies to meet him on the subject, and that the Government might institute an inquiry regarding the experiences of railway- owning States. The matter, which was large and complex, was worthy of full investigation, but it ought not to be on one side only. It should embrace opportunities for hearing all the interests concerned—employers, employees, and the public which come in as a most important factor of the case.
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