Mr. Walter Gammons Deals With the Renewal of the Railway
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Attack on Road Transport and implores Traders Not to Put All Their Eggs In One Basket PERHAPS your readers will be interested in the following cablegrams exchanged a few days ago:— " Gaminog Finsquare London. Canadian Government considering adopting agreed charges regulation. Kindly cable immediately effect of. same on British motor transport industry.
"Automotive Transport Association of Ontario."
Reply :—" Railway agreed charges having disastrous effect on British road transport, as intended. Many traders sacrifice future advantages for immediate temporary benefit.
" Gaminog."
It amazes me that traders do not realize that the idea of agreed railway charges is to cripple road transport, and that when they have served their purpose they will be withdrawn as a necessary corollary.
It is even more amazing that traders should readily succumb to any railway bait, in spite of having been caught teveral times on the concealed hook. To-day we hear of prominent traders stating that" in view of what is happening in the licensing courts I would not sign that
(Salter) re port again." Some Licensing Authorities say "we little thought that things would work out like this." Quite so, but surely they had sufficient warning?
Railways Entitled. to Monopoly?
As I affirmed over and over again, the idea behind the Salter report was to annihilate road transport, and what better confirmation could we have of this than the attitude of the railways in claiming that the Act of 1933 did prohibit Bouts-Tillotson, etc., from functioning and that the railways were entitled to their " intended " monopoly.
I reiterate, the true aims, objects and intentions of the railways are now frankly admitted by them ; moreover, traders freely admit that they have been caught, but despite all this there seems no limit to their gullibility ; they close their eyes and swallow whatever is dropped into their open mouths, as readily as young birds in a nest.