The Outlook 503 



them of an amount of suburban traffic for which it might 

 have been difficult for them fully to provide. But any general 

 supplanting of railways by motor-vehicles is as improbable 

 in the case of passenger travel as it is in that of goods trans- 

 port. Motor-vehicles are certain to become still more serious 

 rivals of the railways than they are already, but they are not 

 likely to render them obsolete ; and, taking the country as 

 a whole, the " bulk of the traffic " may be expected still to go 

 by rail, motor-vehicles notwithstanding. 



Although, at the outset, some of the railway companies 

 were disposed to regard the motor as a rather dangerous rival, 

 the most enterprising have themselves adopted various forms 

 of motor- vehicles, alike for establishing direct communication 

 between country stations and outlying districts unprovided 

 with branch lines, for enabling passengers arriving in London 

 to pass readily from the terminus of one company to that of 

 another, and for the collection and delivery of goods. 



In regard, again, to the outlook for the future, important 

 possibilities were foreshadowed by a letter addressed to 

 " The Times " of August 23, 1911, by Lord Montagu of 

 Beaulieu, concerning " Road Transport during Strikes." 

 The hope of the leaders of the then recent railway strike had, 

 of course, been to produce such a paralysis in the transport 

 arrangements of the country that the railway companies 

 would have been forced, owing to the resultant loss, dis- 

 location of traffic, and, possibly, actual famine conditions, 

 to surrender to all the demands made upon them. While the 

 attempt failed on that occasion thanks to the loyalty of the 

 majority of the workers, the almost complete lack of public 

 sympathy with the strikers, and, also, the employment of 

 troops for the protection of the railways there will always 

 be the possibility of a renewal of the attempt. Pointing, 

 therefore, to the large number of motorists in the United 

 Kingdom, and mentioning, also, that there are, in addition, at 

 least 10,000 commercial motor-vehicles as well, mostly running 

 in or near the larger industrial centres, Lord Montagu wrote 

 that, if supported by the Royal Automobile Club and the 

 Automobile Association and Motor Union and assisted by his 

 brother motorists in general, he would undertake in the case 

 of a national emergency to carry out the following operations : 



(i) The carriage of all mails where railways are now used. 



