The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1920-09-06

The London Saturday Review, con-
| sentative, discusses the railroad prob
lem in Great Britain as follows:
We have been told authoritatiyely
that the British railways are insolvent;
| that they are run at a loss OF about
| 100000 pounds sterling per week. and
| that they can be saved only by increas-
ing fares and freights very greatly.
any such increase in charges will help
the railways out OF their difficulties.
Railroads Not indispensable.
After all, they are no longer indispen-
sable. great and permanent increase
IN charges may lead to the permanent
disappearance Of part of the traffic, and
for another part OF 1t to recourse to
canals, coasting steamships and roads,
Tourists and travellers for a short
distance Will In any case undoubtedly
extent. Heavy goods. such as coal,
may In growing quantities be forwarded
by canal and by sea. Lastly, "A great
portion Of light and valuable goods,
upon which the railway freight Is par
ticularly high, will In future be deliv-
cred by motor lorry Mr.. Clewes, the
traffic manager OF Lipton's, stated on
the 2lst OF July before the rates ad-.
visory committee OF the ministry OF
transport that his firm had been send
Ing goods by road, because they found
this method cheaper. The competition
OF the sea ship. the barge and the
motor road vehicle with the railway
Is already very successful. However.
road travel and transport are only in
their infancy, and bound to be vastly
improved.
viii Turn to New Mode.
as soon AZ an adequate number OF
quantity of luggage are available the
public will turn to the new coaches
exactly as they turned from the incon-
yenient suburban railways to the motor
buses. Similarly business men will
turn to the motor lorry for handling
freight.
The forwarding OF goods by railway
takes days, and sometimes weeks. |
They must laboriously be taken to. |
and fetched from the railway. Thus
the railways cause delay, and the load
ing and unloading by three sets of por- |
ters. checkers. bookk eepers, etc, lead |
to vast amount OF unnecessary labor |
and expense. Besides. during the hand |
ling considerable portion of the goods |
is apt to be damaged or stolen. Exactly |
as the motor bus Is superior to the rail- !
way, because 1t takes a man from his |
front door to his Office. SO the motor
lorry Is superior to the railway In the |
takes them rapidly from the sender's |
yard straight into the warehouse OF
the recipient.
The English railways cannot possibly |
survive, II transport by road. canal and |
sea is cheaper for large portion of
the traffic than transport by rail-unless
indeed, the ministry of transport |
should deliberately try to hamper and
destroy It's more efficient competitors.
acting exactly as the postoffice did
when It strangled the telephone In the
interest OF the telegraph. Perhaps the
idea OF giving the railways an artlh-
cial monopoly was at the back of Sir
Eric Geddes' mind when he proposed
that his department should control, not
merely the railways, but the canals,
roads and docks as well. At the begin
ming the telephone was considered to
he n luxury. II was therefore allowed
to be strangled. However, the nation
will scarcely allow any conceivable
government to cripple Its industries and
trade, just to keep. an inefficient rail-
way system alive.
Only Long Distance Traffic.
The railways can count in future only
on long distance passenger traffic. In
which they are superior to motor cars,
and on the carriage OF bulky goods
which cannot possibly he sent by road.
but may be forwarded by canal. or by
sea. The problem, therefore, Is howl