GREAT TRANSPORT SCHEME

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 207, 27 May 1919, Page 8

GREAT TRANSPORT SCHEME

.DEVELOPMENTS IN BRITAIN ALL MAIN LINES TO BE ELECTRIFIED

Tho transport system of Great Britain is in ,i statu of chaos and r/ 11 ite of meeting tho demands which afro going to be inado on it, said Sir Eric Geddcs recently in the House ol' Commons in explanation of tho far-reaching powers for co-ordination and reform which he is seeking under the Ministry of AVavs and Communications Bill. The importance of the transport problem was urged in forceful terms. Sir Eric painted a gloomy picture of tho position of tho different classes of undertakings included in tlio BilL Municipal tramways, which were earning 7 pur cent. on. their capital, wero tho'onlv bright 'spot in tho world of transport, but tlicy wore excluded from the Bill. Railways to-day showed a loss of from 3 to 4 per ccnt.; canals were working at a loss and were heavily subsidised; roads were costing the country ,£20,000,000 a year; and non-railway-owncd docks were earning a bare- 3 per cent. , , Plunging into tho more general considerations suggested by the Bill, tho Minister argued that, whereas in the past private-interest had mado for dove opment it mado for colossal waste to-day.

Case of the Railways,

Ho took first tho caao of the railways. It was uitc impossible for them, m lus | judgment, to go on for, another two or three years in tho position they weie m to-day. What if the simplo process ot putting up rates were adopted? It would mean an increase of 70 to 80 per cent., and that was unthinkable. Then there was the problem of tho 700,000 privateljownod railway wagons One of the first acts of the Government, if the Bill were passed, would be to acquire these on fair terms Tho transaction would moan. a •saving of more than 20 per cent. _m ompty haulage and reduced shunting. Tho Bill would enablo tho Government to in-_ troduce ' economics and standardise throughout. Perhaps tho greatest saving of all would cane from the. introduction of electricity with heavy locomotives into h light railways, of which there ■ were now only 836 miles in existence Sir Uric Cieddes pointed to the possibility of their development along the lines adopted in the rich districts of Northern France and Belgium. . . Sir Eric C-ieddes took special pains to justify his proposals for the inclusion of docks and harbours. He was perlec.lv clear in his own mind that it the} were not put under the Transport Min-istry-the Government could not ensure tho great economies which would have .to be effected if calamity was to be averted. Ho reminded tho House ot the altcinative; the dock authorities had already deposited Bills for largely imimii? rates bv 0G to 100 per cent Ihci o wa« no suggestion, he explained, of wmmg out the Dock Boards. They were, howfivei', controlled by men whose interest was chiefly a local one, i"i.d 10 w0 ! 11 ]' despair if these great terminals, which ought to bo considered from the pom; ot viow of the transport system as a.whole, were left out of the, scheme. Turning to electricity, Sir. Luc Tathe, startled members by referring to the time when tho-tain lines of rai'way been electrified. That should be don. promptly, he added, and it womd be undertaken if the Bill became law.

Government's Intentions; Towards the end of his speech Sir; Erw Glides gavo an indication of the intenlions of the Government: plated a first period ol two yeaio, at the end of which the temporary powei, would all lapse. Dunns; these two vo° rs. he insisted, the Government niu»l endeavour to lift Hie dead hand oft deXmient. At tho end of that period Iho Government would have, to come back to the House for permanent powers and in this connection he announce 1 the elimination of the proposal to pioccfld bv Order itt Council. He suggested that it was early da\s to sav how the railways tftmld be organised fe H* future. If. however as seemed inevitable, there was bound to be a certain amount of unity oi contiol in London.' the best way would inobablj. be to set up a Chief Comm.ssioner ■<w possibly other Commissioners lieie aim to divide the country into non-eonipeli-live zones will. District partly elected from the district, paill}. appointed by the Government, and paitlv drawn from Labour. \h docks, lie felt yery strongly that the port authorities in thei great ports and commissioners in the smallei ports in charge of groups should have some central body in London viewing the transport problem as a whole. Canals, he thought, would have similarly to bo dealt with by a Commission no , had arranged that there sl )°V]4, ® a separate Department of the Ministiy for Roads, and;ho was ma■ t0 _ nnnounco (hat its head would be Bnga •dier-Genoral. H. P. Maybury, who had served under him in France.

_ "Full Speed Ahead." , The Bill passed its second reading with flying colours. The opposition which once threatened melted away, uO far from trying to impede the Government. tho House of Commons gave it the signal "Full Speed Ahead fortius, the first of its great reconstruction mensures.