5
latter, we have only Appendix Q to the
O.A.G.
Betition, which the Governor does not regard
as establishing the Company's case. The
O·A·G
Governor is satisfied that recent extensions
of bus routes are not uneconomic and are in
the public interest, and whilst on all
occasions willing to consider the views of the
Tramway Company on proposed traffic develop-
ments in the Colony, he cannot agree to accept
them as final arbiters. He does not recommend
reference of the dispute to the Ministry of
Transport, but has under consideration the
erection of a small Commission or Board to
deal with bus fares and similar problems, when
the former come to be fixed by the Governor in
Council upon the completion of the first
three years of the bus concession.
8. It appears therefore that though
the Hong Kong Tramway Company naturally
regret that the coming of the motorbus has
disturbed their previous monopoly of public
passenger transport in Victoria, they cannot
be allowed to cramp the development of bus
services in the Colony when such development
is in the public interest. I think the
Tramway Company have failed to show that the
public interest is as yet being adversely
affected by what they term uneconomic
competition.
In fact the requirement that
new bus services and alterations in bus fares
need the consent of Government is itself a
safeguard both of public interest and of the
legitimate