PRE-BUDGET ARGUMENTS AT C.M.U.A. LUNCH.
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Many Points Advanced for the Government's Consideration. The Presentation of "The Commercial Motor" Cup.
THE National Council of the Commercial, Motor, Users Association with its meeting and the annual luncheon of the association takes on a fairly strenuous day's work, for the fact that the arrangements may all run smoothly does not imply that mental stress has not been incurred—rather is it true that the smoother the flow of business and argument the more thorough has been its preparation. We need only deal here with the public side of the day's affairs, namely, the luncheon, which, held at the Savoy, was very well attended, the gathering seeming to us to be larger than in any previous year. The president, Mr. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith, C.B.E., was in the chair and conducted the proceedings in a businesslike manner.
A Representative List of Guests.
The speeches were good and to the point. Chief among those present were Lieut.-Colonel the Right Hon. Wilfrid Ashley, Colonel Sir Henry M'Mahon, 'Major General the Hon. Sir J. Newton Moore, Sir Sydney J. Chapman (Permanent Secretary, Board of Trade), Councillor S. P. B. Bucknill (Mayor of the City of Westminster), Sir Gerald Bellhouse (MM. Chief Inspector of Factories, Home Office), Sir Robert Donald, Sir Robert B. Bird, Bart., Sir John Hunt, (Town Clerk,. City off Westminster), Mr. Cyril W. Eurcomb (Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport), Lieut.-Colonel H. S. Turnbull (Commissioner of City of London Police), Sir John E. Thornycroft, Mr. Frederick Palmer, (President, Institution of Civil Engineers); Mr. Edmund Dang-erlield (managing director Temple Press Ltd.) and Mr. Roland Dangerfielcl (director of that company, who are the donors of The Commercial Motor Cup), Mr. J. R. Brooke (Secretary Central Electricity Board), Sir Henry Jackson, Mr. I. G. Gibbon (Assistant Secretary;. Ministry of Health), Col. C. H. Bressey. (Chief Engineer, Roads Department, Ministry of Transport), Lieut.-Colonel VaughanMorgan, Lieut.-Colonel J. R. Davidson, Mr. F. L. D. Elliott. (Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police).
The New Imposts on Road Transport.
Mr. Shrapnell-Smith, in proposing the toast of His Majesty's Ministers, gave the Minister of Transport a number of points for the consideration of the Ministry and of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. and he showed that the association Was keeping in close touch with the Government through the Ministry of Trans port. Many things had happened 'since the last luncheon towards this consummation, as, for instance, the general strike, which gave the members in all of the divisions opportunities to assist the Government. The Budget called for a great deal of fighting and its effect as from January 1st had been that, whereas the average tax on all goods vehicles was formerly £21 Os. 6d., it is now £28 us. 6d., an increase of 36 per cent. On hackney vehicles ,the average tax used to be 133 18s. 6d., it is now £46 19s., or 38.4 per cent. advance. Actually, these figures do not tell the story so far as the goods vehicle in particular is concerned, for the great increase in numbers has been in vehicles of small capacity and this tends unduly to lower the average. The advance in some of the categories of commercial motor vehicle is over 50 per cent, and in one case is as much as 100 per cent.
It is sometimes contended that it is cheaper for the highways for goods to be transported in a number of smaller units than in fewer large units, as, for instance, in five one-ton vehicles rather than in one five-ton vehicle. The speaker held that this was not proved, because, after all, space in the highways costs more than strength of roadway, The draft Road Traffic Bill came up for the president's consideration. He said it was agreed that the highway and traffic laws of the country called for codification, but in the draft Bill there are so many clauses that necessitate careful discussion that the association was holding its opinion fcir the present. A difficult question was that of the need for bringing railway-owned bridges up to the strength of the highWays on each side, for it is useless to build strong roads if a bridge over a railway is maintained at the strength that would only carry the traffic of 50 years ago.
The Railways' Budget Propaganda.
With regard to the Budget of 1927, the country had been flooded with railway shibboleths, such as that the road introduced unfair competition, that the railways Paid too large a share of the highway rates, that road transport was subsidized at the expense of the rate-" payer and that road signalling is also conducted at the cost of the same class. The president contended that the railways have 'failed, in many instances, to meet the requirements of the community: cheap fares are due to bus enterprise. Inthe matter of goods transport, the railways had been considerably shaken up, as is shown by the neW crop of "exceptional rates" quoted during the past few months. The railway contribution to the highway rates means onefiftieth of a penny per ton on the goods traffic. As to free signalling, that is done in the main by the A.A. scouts and the R.A.C. guides.
The fact than an analysis of the ownership of vehicles shows that the proportion owned by individuals and employed for moving their own goods has risenfrom 35 per. cent. to 65 per cent. (the balance being owned by haulage concerns) is an indication that manufacturers and factors are now doing their own transport work because the railways have failed to meet requirements.
The Minister's Reply.
Colonel Ashley thus had a great deal to face, but he did it well. He showed, however, that in all the matters raised really earnest consideration was being given by the Ministry, the relation of the railways to the road being a difficult problem. He showed, too, that the Ministry is not sitting idly in the matter of bridges, but is endeavouring to meet the needs in the country. New bridges over important rivers and on the new arterial roads and over railways are being built, so that a great deal is actually being done. He gave his reasons for publishing the draft Bill and asked for criticisms soon, and he concluded with an expression of sincere thanks for the wonderful assistance given by the association and its members in the general strike.
In an interlude, The Commercial Motor Cup won by Carter, Paterson and Co., Ltd. in the recent London Parade, was presented to Mr. Herbert Paterson, who gracefully acknowledged it, saying they had strived fer years to get it and that the parade encouraged the owner, the engineer and the driver to turn out their vehicles in a state that was a credit to themselves and to the association. To Driver T. W. G. Jude was handed the Shrapnell-Smith Cup and to Mr. R. Burgess was given the C.M.U.A. engineer's medal.
8ir John Thornycroft gave the toast of the association, to which Major-General S. S. Long replied in a speech largely statistical.