OPINIONS and
Page 31
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
UERIES
AN "OLD TIMER!' RETURNS TO HAULAGE As "egular reader of your valuable journal, I welcomed your leading article entitled " Cufting. ' Excess ' Haulage capacity.," which appeared in your issue -dated 'August 31.
I am one of the unfortunate hauliers whose businesses were closed down at the -commencetriznt of the war, and who are now finding it airriost impossible to obtain permils for new vehicles to enable us tO get going °nee aga in. . ,
On being discharged from the Services a little over a yen ago, I applied for my first permit. It was refused, and I was forced to purchase a used machine at a ridictilously high price, and one which I would never have eniPloYed 'in pre-war days: I again applied, this time .enlisting some help, and was successful. Wishing to put my business on its normal footing, I niade application for a furthet permit, but, after waiting a considerable time, I was again refused. The grounds for this were that new. vehicles are being reserved kir replacethent purpose§, and The Commissioner did not consider that the traffic position warranted more vehicles. This means that had I not been foolish enough to offer my services in the early days and had stopped at home to run my fiedE, I could-have had new vehicles to replace those which had become too old to operate:. or even have added to the number in service, as has been dorle by many of those who have remained in the haulage indtistry. Whilst .I appreciate that for new operator s or those Who are running additional vehicles, it would seem Bard for them to lose their defence permits, I consider it to be a still greater grievance for people who have been in the business for a long time and are then baulked by this extra haulage capacityWhich has been made available.
SE. Helens. • DISGUSTED.
A. CALLFOR FREEDOM. FOR ALL • HAULAGE OPERATORS VOLTR. leading article, " Cutting ' Excess ' Haulage Capacitye" in your Issue dated August 31, ca,nnbt, be.
• allowed L to pass • unchallenged.. If ever an article Was inspired by . the influence of big -,business and vested interests .surely this is it. Things have come to a prettypass indeed When our own trade journal supports a policy for the retentiaii of haulage by a "clique, by same old gang; a policy that would ban the entry of hew blood into the industry. What sort of progress: 'is it that denies a Man the right to become master A his chosen profession simply because he was not born a few. Years sooner? Is this 'what you call free enterprise? , Is this how you would uphold our inherent right, this freedom we hear so much about? Have we sacrificed so much to rout a Hitlerlsm' when all the time it is :within our midst?
• How many pre-war small operators who were called to the colours were not forced to. sell their businesses because such businesses could not exist. withouttheir personal control? 'Do you 'uphold a system that would condemn such men to final banishment from the industry, deny them the right -to _earn their livelihoods in the trade Which, in many cases, probably is the Only one they -know? What a glorious reward forservices rendered!'
.Rate-cutting '.and' price-cutting are things that have • „been with us, in every trade, since time immemorial. We di) not-condone them,13ilt our OWn'experiente has taught us thatsome, of -.the, ol&establisliedelarge.. and.. wealthy'
haulage concerns of the present day were amongst the biggest rate-cutters of all, prior to 1939. Thern small operator, to run his business properly, cannot afford to cut his rates; but the large competitor can do to for ju,st as long as it takes to run the small man off the road. ft has been done before. Simple, legislation, strictly enforced, could prevent a recurrence of any such abominable practice. And the " necessity," because of the danger of rate-cutting, to deny any individual the right of.entry into the industry' wouldecease to exist.
Another aspect is the buying and selling of businesses for what is, to many of uS, fabulous prices. We all know that it is not really the vehicles the buyer. wants. They are often decrepit and only a burden to him. Nor is it the "business," which may or may not be practically non-existent. It is simply and solely the licences 'for which the extortionate price is asked—and paid. We all know also That strictly speaking, such deals ail illegal. Yet they are being done day in and day out Surely a system which lends itself to such a racket should not be tolerated by sensible and right-thinking people.
" Preferential treatment " is an obnoxious phrase. It stinks to high heaven of graft and corruption. Surely a rnan should: be judged on his merits. Let every man stand or fall by his own endeavours. Let •us cut away from the Outmoded and putrid system Under which our industry and incidentally, the whole country sweats and struggles. Let no man be barred. Let there be •fair competition throughout, with equal treatment for all Those who do not know their job will fall; but they will have none to blame but themselves. The wise and the experienced, will remain and the industry will be all the better for it. This, in my humble opinion, is progress.
London, N.6. J. G. STANLEY.
PRESENT MOTIVE POWER WILL NOT BE SUPERSEDED THE letter from Mr, R. Hinds on the subject of atomic power in your issue dated-August 31 pron-qatS me to make the following observations :- First, to release such energy may require an enormous quantity of apparatus, and it seems that it will be unlikely, if not impossible, for 'a,, road vehicle to carry it. I should like to be told the weight of an atomic bomb compared with its weight of " fuel." I will guess that it is in the nature of several hundred pounds to a. few grammes. Secondly, the gentle release of the energy wduld doubtless need even more apparatus; when dealing with atom's it is easier to create a Niagara than a trickle! Every motor engineer knows what a problem it is to meter the small fuel charges for an oil engine—a duty which demands what is probably the highest example of engineering skill, the injection pump. How much more difficult it would be to meter the subenicrescopic cha,iges of atomic matter.
As I see it, 'the future of atomic power will lie in the creation of a sort of super power station in which the complex apparatus could be economically maintained. This could turn out its energy over the existing Grid system; our vehicles could then be driven, as Mr. Hinds suggests, bycompactly stored ,electric power. I still think, however that motor vehicles, as we . know them, have come to stay. Other methods of propulsion may be developed, but will not altogether dis place those now used. HArDN D. SMITH. St. •JAary Cray., .