BRITISH TRAFFIC 575 



appointed a "grievance-hearer" (Feb. 1912) to inquire into minor complaints. The 

 extension of a branch line of the Great Northern Railway north of Enfield to Cuffley and 

 beyond, is opening up a new residential district for London. Other railway enterprises 

 include the reopening (April 13, 1911) of the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Light Railway 

 from Shrewsbury to Llanymynech, after lying derelict for thirty years, and the opening of a 

 line (July I, 1912) I? miles long, connecting Holywell, Flintshire, with Holywell Junction 

 station on the L. & N. W. line from Chester to Holyhead. An extension of the electrification 

 of part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway system was opened in March 1911 between 

 Maghull and Town Green, and a scheme for the electrification of the Manchester, South 

 Junction and Altrincham line is in hand. A bill was promoted in 1912 by local landowners 

 for a railway between Richmond and Reeth in the valley of the Swale, Yorkshire. 



Canals, etc. The final report of the Royal Commission on Canals and Inland Navi- 

 gation has received much attention in the midlands; and a Midland Waterways Associa- 

 tion, representative of all the towns and interests concerned, has been formed to press 

 forward the scheme of the Commission for improved water communication with Hull, 

 Liverpool, London and the Severn ports. A committee has also been formed to pro- 

 mote the, restoration of the Warwickshire Avon as a commercial waterway. 



London Traffic. In 1910 the mileage of tramways in London was 139.48. Motor 

 omnibuses have practically superseded the horse omnibus; in 1899 there were five motor 

 omnibuses licensed by the Metropolitan Police, while in 1910 this number swelled to 

 1,200, and the number has greatly increased since. The streets of London extend to 

 2,151 miles. In some of these the congestion of traffic is exceedingly severe. The 

 number of accidents and consequent agitation in parliament and elsewhere in the autumn 

 of 1912 drew the serious attention of the Home Office and other authorities to the mat- 

 ter, and it was considered whether statutory powers should be created for the limitation 

 of the number of public vehicles in certain thoroughfares. The recommendation 

 of the Royal Commission on London traffic in favour of a Traffic Board for London 

 was strongly revived, but did not receive the support of the government. 



Practically all the drivers of motor cabs in London struck in October-November 191 1, 

 and the dispute was settled by an arrangement, the principal points of which were that 

 the drivers should retain " extras," which are chargeable by statute upon passengers, 

 and that " observers," whose duty it was to report to the cab companies any defalcation 

 on the part of the drivers, should be abolished. A further dispute arose in March 1912 

 with the drivers and two of the companies, and a settlement was only effected on 

 April 1 5th; and at the end of the year another strike took place. 



The Piccadilly, the Baker Street and Waterloo, and the Hampstead " tube " rail- 

 ways were amalgamated as the London Electric Railway Company in 1910, under the 

 control of the Underground Electric Railways Company; the fusion of the latter com- 

 pany with the London General Omnibus Company (which has absorbed a number of 

 competing omnibus companies since the introduction of motor traction) was subsequent- 

 ly arranged, and in November 1912 it was announced that it was intended to amalgamate 

 the Central London and the City and South London " tubes " with the underground 

 system, and the London United Tramways with the Metropolitan Electric Tramways. 

 Thr; chairman of the Underground company is Sir Edgar Speyer. 



Road Board. Under the Development and Road Improvement Act (1909) the Road 

 Board was created for the improvement of roads and the administration of a grant for 

 that purpose, consisting of the proceeds of duties on motor spirit and of part of the 

 duties in respect of carriage licences. The Commissioners appointed in May 1910 were: 

 Sir George S. Gibb (chairman), Lord Pirrie, Lord Kingsburgh (Sir J. W. Macdonald), 

 Lord St. Davids, and Sir Charles D. Rose, Bart. The Board has power to act on its- own 

 initiative or through existing highway authorities, and has already carried out much 

 important work, not only in the direction of improving roads but in such other directions 

 as inquiry into the best forms of road-crusts. 



One proposal, which has attracted wide attention and was the subject of a conference in 

 February 1912, under the chairman of the Board and including representatives of the Board 

 of Trade and local authorities interested, is that of a new approach to London from the west, 

 extending from Hounslow to the West Cromwell Road, and avoiding among other crowded 

 points the narrow High Street of Brentford. The cost was estimated approximately at 



