February 12, 1903] 



NATURE 



347 



The following are the Royal Commissioners : — 



Sir David Miller Barbour, K. C.S.I. , K.C.M.G., chairman; 

 the Earl Cawdor, the Viscount Cobham, the Lord Ribblesdale, 

 the Right Hon. Sir J. C. Dimsdale, Bart., K.C.V.O., Sir J. P. 

 Dickson- Poynder, Bart., Sir R. T. Reid, G.C.M.G., K.C., Sir 

 Francis J. S. Hopwood, K.C.B., Permanent Secretary to the 

 Board of Trade, Sir J. Wolfe Barry, K.C.B., F.R.S., Sir G. C. 

 Trout Bartley, K.C.B., Mr. Charles S. Murdoch, C.B., Mr. 

 Felix Schuster and Mr. George Gibb ; Mr. Lynden Livingston 

 Macassey will act as secretary. 



It will be seen that the reference to the Commission is 

 very wide, and the Commissioners will have before them 

 a task of no small difficulty and complexity. There can 

 be little question but that the time was ripe for the 

 appointment cf a Commission, and it is to be hoped that 

 the intricacy of the problem will not unduly delay the 

 presentation of the final report, which, judging from the 

 names of the Commissioners, may be confidently relied 

 upon to fugiish valuable suggestions for evolving order 

 out of the^Jresent chaos. 



London is said to have lagged far behind the large 

 towns in other countries in its development of facilities 

 for transport and locomotion. Whether this is due to our 

 natural inertia in the application of the latest engineering 

 developments or to the much greater difficulty of the 

 problem in London, it is a fault which results in some 

 advantages. Now that we are awake to the necessity of 

 speedy and thorough reform, we are able to look round at 

 what has been done elsewhere and select the methods which 

 seem most suited to our special requirements. In this 

 respect, the Royal Commissioners will have an abundance 

 of material from which to choose. On the one hand they 

 will have to consider the various methods of constructing 

 tramways and railways, and on the other the means for 

 relieving the congestion of the ordinary horse and motor 

 traffic. Although it is probably recognised by all that elec- 

 tric traction has proved itself to be far the most suitable 

 for urban and suburban tramways and railways, people 

 are by no means in such close agreement as to the best 

 methods of construction. The success and popularity of the 

 Central London Railway have led many to suppose that the 

 solution of London's traffic problem lies in the indefinite 

 multiplication of "tubes." The experiences of the past 

 Parliamentary session have, however, clearly shown that 

 we cannot look forward to any such simple solution to be 

 provided by private enterprise alone, and the fiasco which 

 then occurred has emphasised the desirability of holding 

 an aulhoritati\e inquiry to suggest some definite line ot 

 development even if only in reference to this point. The 

 deep-level railway, however, possesses many obvious draw- 

 backs, such, for example, as its lack of ventilation and its 

 unsuitability for coping with short-distance traffic. Some 

 of these might be avoided by the adoption of the shallow- 

 subway railway or tramway, so strongly advocated by 

 the London County Council, and this, at any rate in some 

 localities, would go far towards satisfying the needs of the 

 public. In addition to these, there is the overhead railway 

 to be considered, and also the possibility of developing 

 and extending the use of surface tramways. 



The Royal Commission will have to consider, not only 

 the relative merits of these different types of railways, but 

 also the very important question of intercommunication. 

 It is in this respect that progress by undirected private 

 enterprise is least satisfactory, for it may be said that the 

 most essential point is the provision of a number of inde- 

 pendent units, each satisfying the wants of the district it 

 particularly supplies, but yet forming a part of a definite 

 and connected whole. Such vexed questions as what type 

 of junction is best, which is the best method of charging, 

 and many others of minor importance, all have to be 

 considered in relation to this point. The appointment 

 of a central authority with power to deal with questions 

 such as these as they arise in the future, as is suggested 

 in the second paragraph of the reference, cannot fail to 



NO. 1737, VOL. 67] 



have a beneficial influence on the orderly and systematic 

 development of traction facilities in London. The problem 

 is, of course, considerably complicated by the existence 

 of several railways already, with which any new scheme 

 will have to fit in ; but if this makes it impossible to. carry 

 out an ideal arrangement, as could be done if we were 

 starting with a clean slate, it need not prevent the Com- 

 missioners from framing a satisfactory scheme. 



The Commissioners are asked to report on the means 

 of locomotion generally, and the railway and tramway 

 question is only a small part of the traffic problem. 

 Even with the diversion of as much traffic as possible to 

 suitable railways, the London streets would still be con- 

 gested. Let us hope that some means will be found for 

 so regulating the horse traffic that it will become possible 

 to make the most of the great advantages which are 

 afforded by mechanical traction— whether by the private 

 or public motor-car— and by the bicycle. The bicycle has 

 already become, and motor-cars are rapidly becoming, a 

 necessity, but the state of the London streets at present 

 does not allow the capabilities of either to be used to the 

 best advantage, and to this may be largely ascribed a 

 part of our backwardness in the development of the 

 engineering and technical side of the subject. Whether 

 or not it may be found feasible to reserve certain roads or 

 parts of roads for motor traffic, as suggested by the Prime 

 Minister a short time ago, must remain at present an 

 open question. Provision of some sort will have to be 

 made, either in this way or by altering the methods of 

 regulating traffic, to enable the mechanically propelled 

 vehicle to properly perform its share in expediting 

 London transport. 



The whole question of London traffic is bound up 

 with many side issues of the utmost importance to the 

 community. Of these may be mentioned the housing 

 question, the solution of which is certainly only to be 

 obtained concurrently with the solution of the transport 

 question. The breaking up of the streets for gas, water, 

 electric light, telegraph, telephone and the many other 

 public services also bears very directly on the locomotion 

 question ; it is, indeed, one of the County Council's chief 

 recommendations for their shallow-subway tramways 

 that they will afford also a means of getting over this 

 difficulty. The decentralisation of factories and work- 

 shops also depends largely on facilities of transport and 

 locomotion. These and many other kindred problems 

 will doubtless receive the consideration of the Com- 

 missioners. Lastly, the very important questions of cost 

 and finance will have to be dealt with, since these form 

 the touchstone by which the merits of any scheme will 

 have to be finally tested. 



Although we have only been able to touch on a few of 

 the subjects with which the Commissioners will have 10 

 deal, enough has been said to show that they have before 

 them no light task, and no one will feel surprised if it 

 occupies them for a long period. The extreme urgency 

 of the question makes it desirable that their report 

 shall be forthcoming with the least possible delay, and 

 still more that, when it has been presented, it should be 

 immediately given practical application by the necessary 

 legislation. There is no fear that on the scientific side of 

 the subject any difficulties need be anticipated. It may 

 be safely said that our engineers are capable of coping 

 with the practical difficulties of any scheme that may be 

 recommended. The difficulty lies, not in providing con- 

 venient means of transit— these, and many of them, are 

 ready to hand— but in providing the facilities for their 

 utilisation. Short of establishing a service of aerial cars, 

 there is probably nothing in the way of "means of 

 locomotion and transport" which modern engineering 

 cannot provide, and this being the case, it is to be hoped 

 that we may look forward to London being in a few years 

 the first, instead of the last, of the large cities in its transit 

 facilities. MAURICE SOLOMON. 



