540 



The Review of Reviews. 



and these seem to me troubles that, although 

 they exist and depreciate the value of railways, 

 the railway organisations must not be blamed 

 for. 



I do not believe that, with our present know- 

 ledge of methods of transport, railways will die 

 out, as I think that for long-distance haulage 

 they are desirable and necessary ; and if a great 

 deal of their cross-country work was eliminated, 

 you would automatically eliminate great wastage 

 of the life of goods waggons, such as your 

 article sets out, and cause it to lead a more 

 active life than it at present does. 



In regard to the directorship of railways, no 

 doubt in many cases directors are old and past 

 really active constructional work ; but one must 

 not forget that the managers of most railway 

 companies are men of activity and ability, of 

 wide experience, and trained up to the position 

 they hold. 



On the other hand, I agree that your article 

 will be of extreme value in opening many 

 people's eyes, and possibly even of the officials 

 of the railway companies themselves, to the 

 many backward and out-of-date methods that 

 have been, and are, employed on our railways. 



When we come to motor transport, there is 

 no doubt that on this side the development 

 during the next twenty years will be even 

 greater probably than the most sanguine of us 

 believe possible. Meeting, as I do, business 

 firms who less than five years ago were abso- 

 lutely antagonistic to carrying goods by road, 

 but who to-day can show you quite clearly enor- 

 mous savings both in time and money by 

 carrying their goods by motor lorry instead of 

 rail, it makes one realise that practically for 

 everything, except long-distance traffic, the 

 motor lorry will take the place of the railway, 

 and the sooner the railway companies get that 

 clearly into their minds, that there shall be 

 minimum distances over which their goods trains 

 must run without stopping, and the intermediate 

 distances be fed by motor lorries, the sooner 

 they will put themselves into a secure position, 

 which, if delayed too long, will result in other 

 carrying companies coming into existence with 

 motors to deal with the short distance traffic, 

 and the whole of it to be taken away from the 

 railways. 



There is no doubt that many of the rail- 

 way companies are nibbling at the question 

 at the present time. The Great Western 

 has probably done more in this direction than 

 any other railway company ; and I think, a,s a 

 looker-on, they appear to be the most up-to-date 

 and go-ahead railway in this country. 



There is no doubt a combination amongst 

 tradesmen in the different towns up to 50 miles 



apart which will lead to co-operative lorries 

 being run from these towns each way once or 

 twice a day, and thus an enormous amount of 

 goods carrying, which at present is done by 

 the railways, will be diverted to the motor road. 



This is undoubtedly a feature that is coming 

 to pass, and will become almost universal within 

 the next ten years. 



Your suggestion of how motors will save 

 agricultural England is most opportune and 

 practical, and I think your article will be looked 

 back on in years to come as the first that dealt 

 with this great change from railways to motors, 

 that is taking place even more rapidly than the 

 ordinary looker-on realises, and thanks are due 

 to your paper for having focussed the matter 



so clearlV" ~ 



MOTORS AND RAILWAYS. 

 To the Editor of the Review of Reviews. 



Sir, — I do not think that the motor car will 

 ever supersede the railway for long-distance 

 travel and carriage. I agree with you, however, 

 that the motor is infinitely superior to the rail- 

 way train, or any other means of locomotion at 

 present in existence, for quick and economical 

 transport of passengers and goods over short 

 distances, particularly in the case of goods when 

 perishable and it is a question of moving quickly 

 from farm to market. 



During the South African \Mar I had many 

 months' experience as an Army transport officer, 

 both on the road and in connection with the 

 moving of troops and stores by railway, and I 

 have been greatly interested in the transforma- 

 tion of transport arrangements which took place 

 in Tripoli during the Italian-Turkish War. The 

 railway, with its inflexible arrangements, and the 

 slow, cumbersome and usually inadequate mule 

 wagon were replaced by strong, serviceable, and 

 swift motor lorries, specially built by the Fiat 

 Co. for the Italian Government. Soldiers, sup- 

 plies, and munitions of war have been transferred 

 from point 10 point with remarkable ease, speed, 

 and economy. 



The Italian transport officers have demon- 

 strated that even on the trying roads (or lack of 

 roads) which exist in Tripoli, motor transport is 

 immeasurably superior to any other. 



When we consider the usual excellence of 

 English roads we are bound to admit that motor 

 transport, especially in times of emergency, must 

 inevitably take the place of the steam engine and 

 the horse, and personally I think it is only a 

 matter of time for our Army Transport work to 

 be done almost in its entirety by motor. — Yours, 

 etc., 



D'Arcv R. Baker, Managing Director, 

 Messrs. Fiat Motors, Ltd., 



37, Long Acre, W.C. 



