RAILWAYS AND ROADS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 251, 23 October 1922, Page 4

RAILWAYS AND ROADS.

Last, week the Prime Minister made two important statements about railways! and roads. Mr. Masse? definitely stated.' that no new railways would be beguiJ unless it could lie se<~n that they would be directly productive: ami he expressed himself very sympathetically towards motor transport. When the owner of a monopoly has legislative power to protect that monopoly, there is a danger taat this power may be abused, as it was when the London County Council tried to prevent motor buses competing with its trams. Mr. Massey is wise enough to s«- that motor transport has come to stay, and that t" attempt to handicap it in the interests of the railways would be a retrograde step. He thinks the train will beat, the motor lorry in the end. but in the meantime he is, prepared to facili-ta-te the lorry's competition hy providing it with good roads, and he even says that it. may be advisahle to stop running trains on certain branch lines and use motors in their place. If this is so. it becomes all the more necessary to be most- cautious about building new rail. way lines, and especially short branch lines. The Government, ho" ever, is still considering the legislation that, is necessary to provide good roads for motor traffic. Seeing that it brought down proposals last year, and that it knows the minds of all the parties interested, it really is time it came'to a decision ou tui» queetioa.