vi History of Inland Transport 



troversy following the close of the Royal Commission of 

 Inquiry in the autumn of 1911. 



Incidentally, also, allusion is made to the rise of Bristol, 

 Lynn, Liverpool, and various other ports ; the early history of 

 the textile industries, the cutlery trades, the iron trade, the 

 salt trade, and the coal trade is briefly sketched, while the 

 facts narrated in relation thereto should enable the reader to 

 realise the bearing, throughout the ages, of State policy 

 towards the general question of transport. Finally, the 

 present situation and the future outlook are brought under 

 review. 



Even as these pages are passing through the press new 

 developments are occurring which confirm the suggestion 

 I have made, on page 470, that " in the dictionary of trans- 

 port there is no such word as * finality.' " 



While it is still true that the electrification of the London 

 suburban railways has not been generally adopted by the 

 trunk companies, yet the scheme in this connection announced, 

 on November 18, 1911, by the London and North-Western 

 Railway Company (see page 507) supplementing the action 

 already taken by the London, Brighton and South Coast Rail- 

 way Company in regard to some of their suburban lines, is 

 significant of a growing determination on the part of the great 

 railway companies to defend their own interests by competing, 

 in turn, with the electric tramways, which have absorbed so 

 much of the suburban traffic of late years. 



Following closely on this one announcement comes another, 

 to the effect that a new company is about to set up, in the 

 Midlands, works covering thirty-four acres for the construction 

 of a type of petrol-electric omnibus for which great advantages 

 over the earlier motor-omnibuses are claimed. (This, presum- 

 ably, is the vehicle which the Tramways Committee of the 

 Edinburgh Corporation, as mentioned on page 470, propose 

 to watch in preference to deciding at once on a system of rail- 

 less electric traction.) 



