Who Demanded Haulage Control ?
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AANY comments, some not by any means flatI V /tering, have been made concerning the Ministry of War Transport and the Minister; Lord Leathers, in connection with the scheme for longdistance haulage and its development ; but are the critics correct in thus allocating the responsibility? We think not. So far as our information leads us to believe, the idea originated in the Cabinet, and the Minister and his Ministry are merely the instruments which—possibly to their dismay—have had to put the system into effect, whether they and the officials concerned believe' in it or not. It is only fair to the latter to put forward this point of view, because, front our knowledge of a number of them with whom we have come into direct contact, they are keen, reasonable men with a due sense of their responsibilities, and it must be rather galling for them to have to "take. the rap" for something which they have not put forward on their own initiative.
Now, as regards the actual source of the idea that a large part of haulage must be controlled, to whom in the Cabinet can we look? There are in it only two Ministers with anything like a comprehensive knowledge of road transport. These are Mr. Ernest Bevin and Mr. Herbert Morrison. We are not inclined to consider the former as being responsible, unless he has changed his views very considerably during the war years ; therefore we are left with Mr. Morrison, who, as we all know, is a strong advocate of nationalization in some form or another, and has quite recently expressed himself most forcibly on this subject.. He is a man of undoubted ability and strong personality,'. and it may well be that he was able to sway the Cabinet, or some committee of it, into taking the somewhat drastic step which it has.
This makes us all the more doubtful as to the true reasons for this extension of road-transport control, as we are firmly convinced that the saving of fuel, rubber and vehicles could have been quite easily achieved without the infliction .upon the industry of a host of new officials and a burden of regulations, restrictions and low rates for carriage and hire. These .are not steps which lead to efficiency and economy.