106 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

Road safety is the part of the Minister's work that brings him
most into the public eye. His Department collects and classifies
statistics of accidents, and tries to frame its policy accordingly.
But the efficacy of Acts of Parliament, or of the Minister's safety
regulations, depends largely on the attitude of magistrates. The
best regulations will not help if offenders against them are too
leniently treated; and respect for the law is not encouraged by
the fact that the same offence may be punished by a 40$. fine in
one part of the country and imprisonment in another. The
Highway Code issued by the Minister may be regarded as a
Ministerial addition to the law; when an accident occurs, the
driver's observance, or non-observance, of the Code will go far
towards deciding the case.

Railways have always provided many problems for the
Government, which has had to consider compensation for land-
owners, safety, and the protection of the public from excessive
charges. The first policy of trying to encourage competition was
soon abandoned as wasteful, and in 1921 the Railways Act
compelled nearly all the companies to amalgamate into four
large groups. Once these monopolies were created, it was necessary
to control them. The Railway Rates Tribunal was set up to fix
the charges which might be made, and to prevent unfair discrim-
ination against any particular class of railway-users. The Minister
has some voice in the appointment of Members of this Tribunal,
but he has to consider the right of both the railways and their
customers to be represented. There is also a Board which
considers wages and "conditions, but its Chairman is appointed
by the Minister of Labour. It cannot compel the companies or
their workers to accept its findings, though they have frequently
done so.

Inspectors are employed by the Ministry to see that the
companies take the precautions which the law requires for
safety, and to hold inquiries into accidents.

From time to time Committees set up by the Minister make
recommendations concerning the development of the Railways,