164 The Right Hon. Lord Montagu of Beaulieu \ V. [April 3, 



and a half hour or two hours — and visits to the county town, or to 

 the seaside or mountains in the neighbourhood, are now possible. 



Easy communication also encourages good manners. A lady can 

 now call upon her neighbours with greater ease, and social life in the 

 country is fast reviving, and is becoming pleasanter in consequence, 

 for distance is disappearing as locomotion is becoming easier. 



Against these favourable tendencies must be put the one dis- 

 advantage, although it is temporary in character, namely, that houses 

 and cottages on or near the main roads during the summer are 

 suffering greatly from dust. But the removal of this regrettable 

 feature is only a question of time, and I must express my firm beUef 

 that the concentration of so many able minds upon this problem will 

 shortly result in the invention of a durable and dustless road system. 



Somewhat closely connected with the subject of the development 

 of the country by motor cars must be mentioned the fashion of 

 touring which is now so much in vogue, both at home and abroad. 

 Up to five or six years ago people only knew the immediate locality 

 in which they lived, and except they were ardent hunting men or keen 

 cyclists nothing above ten or twelve miles away was, as a rule, visited. 

 But now the more distant counties, the landscapes of the west of 

 England, the mountains of Wales, the lakes of Cumberland, the dales 

 of Yorkshire, the beauties of the Western Highlands, which were 

 only dimly visible from a train or occasionally through the medium 

 of cumbersome horse vehicles, are within the reach of thousands. 

 The true tourist, intent upon picturesque scenery, and not upon 

 speed, can feast his eyes and regale his senses in a month or two of 

 touring in any locality which he chooses to select. In consequence, 

 the old roadside inns of England are beginning to revive, though as 

 yet they are still behind the standard of similar accommodation in 

 France. But the demand will, in course of time, create the supply, 

 especially if the better hostelries are taken in hand by careful manage- 

 ment combined with enterprise. The wayside hotel in future should 

 prove profitable to the owner also. As a Frenchman once said to me, 

 " You have the most beautiful scenery in England, but you have no 

 accommodation ! " He was right. The facilities which the motor 

 car provides for touring in one's own country (without touching upon 

 the question of touring abroad) are also providing railway chairmen and 

 boards with much food for thought. This new and sensible fashion 

 of making journeys is leading to a great increase in road travelling. 

 Eailway companies are also endeavouring in many instances to give 

 motor-bus facilities to localities distant from stations, and such 

 services have been widely established. This, indeed, is a feature of 

 modern railway development. The Great Western, one of the most 

 progressive of our systems, has been especially courageous in this 

 direction, and has now over 100 motor buses running in connection 

 with its excellent railway services. These have now so firmly fixed 

 themselves in public favour that when the local authorities refuse to 



