The Post Office's Lapse
The performance of the Post Office, which is usually so good, has in the last fortnight been so unbelievably bad that it is reasonable as well as charitable to believe that there must be some undisclosed cause to account for it, at least partially. What official, or officials, whether of the Post Office itself or of the unions concerned, was responsible for the down-tools- when-the-sirens-go policy that prevailed till the beginning of this week is unknown, and it perhaps serves no useful purpose to probe into the question now. At any rate a change, most clamantly necessary, has been announced, and it remains to be seen how far the announcement will be translated into fact. The strain on all forms of communication, telephones and telegrams as well as post, is no doubt tremendous, but not greater than the need to keep them at the utmost degree of efficiency possible. It is only when communications begin to break down that we realise how completely dependent we are on them in every department of the national life. Postal workers are not asked to do more, or to take greater risks, than all indus- trial concerns of any importance are doing in the present crisis, but they must certainly be asked not to do less. Government departments may be expected to give a lead to private business, net to lag conspicuously behind it. The present phase of the Blitzkrieg found the post-office and road-transport concerns in London, and to some extent the trunk railways, wanting. There are welcome signs that by this time a marked improvement, notably in the decision that buses and trams shall not stop at the first alert, has set in
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