A BRANCH of the NUR recently laid the blame for
the present state of the railways on the travelling—or, rattler, the non-rail-travelling- Public, who, it asserted, are not giving the neces- sary support. Commenting on this in an editorial, The Times argued that people who provide the Community with its goods and services are not en- titled to expect charity when the goods and ser- vices are no longer required. The same moral might be applied in another case reported in The. Times the same day : of a valuation court which halved the assessment on the Somerset County Cricket Club because of its 'continuing period of financial stress, which is largely due to the lack of public support.' Would these valuers have reduced the rates on business premises for the same reason? I think not. My own view is that if county cricket has so far sunk in the public estimation that it can only survive by means of a continuous intravenous drip from the Pools it should not be kept alive by subsidies at the expense of other ratepayers.
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