Unscrambling an Omelet

To the House of Commons last week Prime Minister Churchill sent the first of the long-awaited Tory proposals to undo six years of Socialist nationalization. In a brief but explosive White Paper, Churchill proposed to return to private ownership Britain's long-distance trucking business. "A dangerous avenue," muttered the London Times. "Vague and . . . thoroughly reactionary," objected the Manchester Guardian, and "very bad politics." Poorly planned, added the influential Economist.

The government planned to sell to private bidders some 40,000 long-haul trucks and a network of garages and depots which the Laborites bought up at forced sales for $224 million over a four-year stretch of their reign. The Tory government could not hope to get back anywhere near that amount. For one thing, perhaps $70 million of the purchase price went for the good will built up by the former private owners--an asset the Tory government can hardly sell back.

However badly drawn the Government's White Paper was, it was hardly fair to blame all the difficulties on the Tories. Labor did its considerable best to throw a spanner into the works. "This proposed policy cannot possibly last," declared Laborite Herbert Morrison. He warned would-be purchasers that they may not own their newly acquired trucks for long, and may not get as good a price if & when a Labor government buys the trucking business for a second time. Denationalizing, under such circumstances, was plainly like trying to unscramble an omelet.

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