The Premier Omnibus Company.
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We frequently hear guesses hazarded as to which of the existing or projected omnibus companies will gain pride of place in the new state of affairs that has overtaken London street locomotion. We are told, too, that some of the older companies have been caught unawares by an apparently unpremeditated combination of sudden developments; but there are many who perceive that there will soon be yet one more demonstration of the proverbial saying--" all is not gold that glitters." There is no denying room to fresh operating companies, in regard to which sundry promoters are even now in active consultation. It may, in fact, be accepted as accomplished that L5,000,000 sterling will be invested in the new vehicles, for use in Greater London alone, within three years from to-day, The principal horsed-omnibus companies have stopped their purchases of horses to replace those worn out, and one of them has already had recourse to the auctioneer in order to accelerate the inevitable change. Extra capital has been invited and subscribed to buy mechanical plant, in quarters where the bare suggestion would have provoked merriment little more than a year ago; yet much of this volie-face by the owners of oldtype vehicles has been executed on the quiet. Policy has dictated a questioning spirit in public, or a diplomatic protest that wise and cautious men of ripe business experience were not to be hurried in the matter : but all the companies alike appear, none the less, to have done their very utmost, according to their own peculiar ideas of selection and organisation, to secure a big share of the motor pie. It is, indeed, a case of " Needs must when the de'il drives."
The travelling public has said, and the decree has gone forth in no uncertain voice, that it will no longer endure the horsed omnibus. It is not asked whether the motor omnibus will pay or no. The enthusiasm for it is spontaneous, and altogether independent of speculative interest. Let any who question this observe the waiting crowds at any busy picking-up point : the popular conveyances of a few months ago are allowed to go by, unnoticed and discarded, if there is any chance of a motor's arrival. Saving of time, greater cleanliness, superior ventilation, an easier motion, and lower fares, are some of the attractions which account for the debacle that finds expression in diminished receipts; and
it is as a consequence that one great company is a loser by nO less than L500 a week at the present comparatively early stage in the great fight upon which all are entering. The
older London undertakings have no choice before them : it
is a fight to the death. Their patrons are not concerned with profits. What they are demanding is the more rapid
establishment of motor services in all directions, and the interval which would fairly cover depreciation of the existing animals and vehicles is denied the perturbed secretaries and managing directors. If they move slowly, so as to see locked-up capital gradually rendered available for invest. meatin the modern locomotion, new companies will become more and more securely established; if they place large contracts for early delivery, in order to compete with the newcomers, the depreciation of their present stock is made ruinously heavy. Truly they are faced with a choice of two evils, and it is from these adverse factors that the several new companies which have been formed during this year derive their greatest strength. At the same time, no more grievous error could be made by the latest concerns, which evidently believe they are already on the high-tide of prosperity, than to hold those now in possession too cheaply. Time spent in that occupation known as " rigging the market" is seldom compatible with sound and sustained business management : such procedure savours too much of the man who seeks a speculative profit and who does not pay due regard to those who have subscribed his flotations.
The public has resolved to have motor omnibuses; the world and his wife have set to work to provide them. It may be a simple and inexacting pastime for a couple of Years, or for so long as there are plenty of horsed omnibuses from which to draw passengers. But what of the day, assuredly looming in the not far distant future, when it will be motor against motor ? The public possesses intuitive judgment, and apparently difficult comparisons have a knack of establishing themselves fairly accurately in the mind of the man in the street. Already some motor omnibuses are coldly ignored because their failings have been detected, and how much more will this be the practice when this indefinable sense of " mechanical feel " is more cultivated? We foresee, as a clear issue to be settled, say, in five years, that struggle which will precede a working arrangement on the grand scale. Annihilation will alternate with absorption during the interval, and the two redeeming features will be—(a) improved travelling facilities for the public, and (b) large orders for British manufacturers. There will be no premier motor omnibus company in London this side of 'gm. It will be the equivalent to a game of see-saw : one up, the other down. The impelling force will be public demand, which wots nothing of working costs, and the harbinger of success will be sound management. No more interesting branch of contemporary events presents itself for study and examination. There is not only a single battle to be fought, ; it is a campaign.