The New Minister of Transport
Page 43
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FOLLOWING the resignation of Mr. Herbert Morrison, there was much speculation as to the appointment of the new Minister of Transport, and some time elapsed before the nomination was announced. Mr. Percy John Pybus, C.B.E., M.I.E.E., Liberal M.P. for the Harwich division of Essex, has been appointed by His Majesty the King. Immediately prior to taking office he was in New York and was recalled, leaving that city on September 2nd.
Amongst his various activities he was chairman of the Power and Traction Finance Co., Ltd., and until recently chairman of the Phoenix Assurance Co., Ltd. ; he was also connected with the English Electric Co., Ltd., of which concern he was a-director. His age is 51 and he has served on various public committees and Royal Commissions, amongst them being the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, the Development Advi sory Committee, the Unemployment Grants Committee and the Committee on Industry and Trade.
He has written a number of articles on social and labour subjects. In the present political situation it seems highly probable that other matters will take precedence over transport questions for the time being, so that it may be several months before the general public will be able to assess his merits as Minister of Transport.
No easy task falls upon his shouldens, for the transport world is passing through a stage of transition, and he has to occupy the shoes of one who has displayed outstanding energy and has achieved much ; more, in fact, in as many months as certain of his predecessors did in a corresponding number of years. Ignoring all political questions, Mr. Morrison's record was, on the whole, a successful one, and it is to be hoped that Mr. Pybus will deal with a complicated situation to the best interests of the country, and those of tile road-transport industry in particular.