Money paid. £64,962,000 1.235d. per ton-mile Station to Station. = 372,000,000 tons, hauled for money paid = 41.9d. per ton Station to Station, say nearly 3s. 6d. per ton Station to Station. N.B. The above figures exclude live cattle and cartage. APPENDIX III CORRESPONDENCE THE following are the copies of a correspondence between the New Transport Company and Mr. W. F. Marwood, Sir Herbert's Jekyll's successor as chief of the railway department of the Board of Trade. They may be instructive to the reader. In the course of the correspondence, Mr. Gattie asks the Board of Trade to accept or amend his figures. If his figures are not the closest approximation to the truth to be arrived at, it is the duty of the Board of Trade to oppose the dissemination broadcast of such mischievous statements with a statement of its own. Copy.] BOARD OF TRADE. WHITEHALL GARDENS, S.W. DEAR SIR, Referring to your letter of the 22nd and 24th April, on the subject of your scheme for transport reform, Mr. Buxton asks me to say that he regrets that the pressure of business will prevent him giving you the personal interview you ask for. If, however, you would care to call on me at some time convenient to yourself, I should be happy to see you and discuss matters with would wish to see me, perhaps you If you. you would kindly let me know when you propose to call. Yours faithfully, (Signed) W. F. MARWOOD. A. W. GATTIE, ESQ. Copy.] MAY 15, 1912. W. F. MARWOOD, ESQ., Board of Trade, SIR, Whitehall Gardens, S.W. I am obliged for your letter of the 13th instant, and note that Mr. Buxton is too busy to see me. I am, of course, aware that Mr. Buxton regards the whole subject of Transport of secondary importance. I am, however, obliged by your invitation to discuss the subject with me, and I send you, under separate cover, copies of four lectures in which I have dealt with it. A perusal of these will show you my reasons for differing from your Department in the opinion that " railway arrangements are excellent." Should you decide to adhere to that general statement, I propose to ask you, (1) Whether it applies to the increase in ratio of railway expenditure to railway gross receipts? (2) Whether it applies to the mobile efficiency of railway goods wagons ? If you will kindly refer to my lecture at the London Chamber of Commerce and the appendix thereto, you will see that a railway official puts that efficiency at 3 per cent., absolutely confirming, in that particular, my own figure. As it is absolutely essential to any discussion to start from some point of agreement, may I ask you to accept or amend my figures? In dealing with this matter I wish to point out that London coal merchants' railway wagons are shown to be mobile in the winter months for 5 per cent., and in the summer months for 4 per cent. You will understand that the coal merchant owns wagons for his minimum requirements, and augments the number of vehicles he needs by hiring the same from the railway companies during the winter months. Now, if it is true that the privately-owned wagons (nearly half the total number) are mobile for 4 per cent., it follows that the wagons owned by the railway companies must be mobile for very considerably less than the average figure of 3 per cent. I have no wish to split hairs on this point, and I shall be most happy to adopt any hard figure you may care to advance. I am, however, convinced that the only useful manner of discussing this subject is in the light of exact figures and authentic statistics. It was from this point of view that I urged, four years ago, the necessity of a judicial enquiry into railway administration. I was, however, told by an official of your Department that such an enquiry was " unnecessary, undesirable and unconventional." Now, however, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has admitted that the present state of affairs is very wasteful. How wasteful, however, no one can tell him. I am therefore in hopes that, after you have heard what I have to say, your Department will reconsider the decision they came to four years ago. I will now turn to the consideration of the congested condition of the traffic of London streets. In order to discuss that subject with the best advantage, I suggest that the Blue Books of the Royal Commission on London Traffic be placed upon the table; they are somewhat bulky and will cause me inconvenience if I have to bring them. You will, if you are so kind as to read my recent speech at the Royal Automobile Club, see that I quoted from those Blue Books and arrived at an estimate of the cart and van traffic of London. The figure I gave I believe to be an under-statement, namely, 100,000 carts and vans. I shall be obliged if you will amend this figure, if you think necessary, and substitute a figure of your own choice, which I shall have great pleasure in accepting. The next point is to consider the amount of work which has to be done by these vehicles in a day. Mr. Edgar Harper has come to the conclusion that 80,000 tons would be all that need be catered for. This figure, again, I would ask you either to accept or amend. you The fourth point I would like to discuss with you is that of the vested interests threatened by reform, and I trust that will think I am in order in dividing these vested interests into two classes-the legitimate and the non-legitimate. The former of these I feel can be adequately safeguarded to the advantage of everyone. With regard to the latter, I hold very definite opinions, and it is with regard to these that I think judicial enquiry, having full powers of cross-examination under oath, is absolutely essential. It must, however, distinctly be understood that the proposals of the New Transport Company do not include any scheme for the nationalisation of railways, nor is it sought by the New Transport Company to obtain any compulsory powers over the other railway companies whatsoever. The only compulsion we desire to exercise is economic compulsion; the only monopoly we claim is that already safeguarded by His Majesty's Letters Patent. I feel a friendly discussion of the above matters between us may have very useful results. I shall be therefore glad if you could make it convenient to receive me at your office on Monday, the 20th May, at 11 o'clock. Yours faithfully, (Signed) A. W. GATTIE, Chairman. I am directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant on the above subject, and to state that it will receive attention. Mr. Gattie requests me to say that he will be pleased to be at your office at 3 o'clock on Monday next. |