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C.M.U.A. : FIRST PROVINCIAL MEETING.

15th June 1920, Page 11
15th June 1920
Page 11
Page 12
Page 11, 15th June 1920 — C.M.U.A. : FIRST PROVINCIAL MEETING.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

A Gathering which Marks an Epoch in the Association ot All Commercial Motor Users.

THE DEVELOPMENT of decentralization in the ranks of the Commercial Motor Users Association may be said to have 'made its second great advance in the course of the proceedings. at Blackpool a week or Co ago., When the first provincial meeting was held, and we hold firmly to the opinion that the meeting marked an epoch in the career of the Association. Enthusiasm in the provinces has received an impetus, and we can see it growing rapidly apace, if care is taken to post each division-in which it is decided to hold one of the provincial meetings of the year', with the lessons learned in the conduct. of earlier meetings. Thus, one of ate lessons of Blackpool was the need for a very thorough canvass of the users of commercial motors in. the whole of the division, in order to secure their attendance in large numbers at the public meeting. The meeting itself should be followed by a campaign extending over some weeks, with the. object of bringing into the fold of the Association every potential member.

Sir Henry Maybury's Presence.

Another lesson from BlakkpooI is the great advantage accruing to the movement of the presence and Active interest of a big man in transport. It was a pronounced score to have persuaded Sir Henry P. Maybury, Director-General of the Roads Department of the Ministry of Transport, to: attend, and to be the chief speaker at the public meeting, and one of the principal guests at the public dinner. Sir Henry made a great impression—greater than he imagines, in fact. His wonderful tact, his charm of fli.a,nner, his obvious' earnestness and equally obvious knowledgeof an intricate subject, of which his listeners only knew one side, and not all, as he did, carried' conviction, and gaVe immense pleasure to all who had the privilege of listebing to him. Incidentally, he has made it difficult for the.Association to maintain the high level they have set, for the men who can score a success such as that gained by Sir Henry are not numerous.

The North-Western Division is the strongest of the C.M.U.A. centres outside of London and the Home Counties, being a combination of the three former associations of commercial vehicle users established at Manchester, Liverpool, and Preston. Its chairman is Mr: R. C. Reynolds, and its hon, secretary is Mr. Joseph F. Kitchen. It returns representatives to sit on the National Council of the Association, and its control 'is more than usually experienced and qualified, because transport difficulties in Lancashire are great and proportionate to the vast volume of transport in the county.

The councillors assembled at BlackPool on the Saturday morning, some having arrived overnight, and others coming in by early-trains on the Saturday, the southern contingent of 22 travelling through the, night in sleeping saloons specially provided by

the L. and N.W.R. The first businss of the day was the meeting of the National C uncii, the pro ceedings of which were, of course, private, but a

new precedent was -set in the admiss. n of four -representatives of journals elosely con eeted with, or interested in, transport. It is a,p ece,dent which we urge should be followed in futur, , as tending to a clearer understanding of the aims aind chjects, and the proceedure of the National Coureil.

Mr. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith, CB.-E., the chairman of the Association, who occupied the jhair, was able

to announce that his Majesty the King had been graciously pleased to grant his patronage to the Association. Mr. Shrapnell-Smith asked permission to make clear the position arising out of his acceptance of the appointment of Director-General of the London Housing Bonds Campaign. He; remains faithful to the subjects on which he desires to concentrate—motor transport and motor fuels—and he has only agreed to devote part of his time for the next few months to the 'Bonds Campaign. It was reported that the appeal to the House of Lords in the case of the Weston-super-Mare U.D.C. v. Henry Butt and Co., Ltd., was due for immediate hearing. The sum ,of .29,020 has been subscribed and guaranteed towards the 216,000 required, and further sub, scriptions and promises are required. Theiextensive agenda for the meeting, showed that the interests of all commercial motor users are _onost/olosely watched by the National Council, and that no action on the part of any authority calculated to be injurious or -vexations is allowed to pass without representations on the subject being made to somebody higher up in the scale of aiithority.

Those present were Messrs. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith, C.B.E.' W. G. Lobjoit, 0.B.E., J.P., Walter Worsey, Juni., E. W. Rudd R. C. Macdonald, J. G. Wall, L. G. Oldfield, W. ircDowall, E. P. Beavan, and W. F. French, all of London ; E. G. Guest, Edinburgh; R. C. Reynolds, Manchester ; D. Prattley, Burnley . IL Houghton, and C. Le M. Gosselin, Preston; V. T. Lalonde, Weston-super-Mare; J. J. Wilkins, and W. G. England, Barnsley; C. R. Whitnall, .R. W.

G. Barnett, S. R Kitchen, and J. Harper, Liverpool ; A. Cl. Bloomer, 'Warrington; F. H. Wort, J.P., Salisbury ; W. Webb, Southampton; and F. G. Bristow, general secretary.

The Mayor of Blackpool's View of Road Transport.

Following the meeting of the National Council, which, of course, was the focusing point of the gathering at Blackpool, the chairman and committee of the North-Western Division entertained the Councillors and the guests to luncheon. Mr. R. C. Reynolds, who presided, welcomed the visitors, and in particular, the Mayor oA Blackpool, whose presence would undoubtedly bring the municipal authorities inte closer touch with the commercial vehicle-users.of'the district, creating that confidence in.inotor transport which could:only be to its good. The Mayor expressed his conviction that the only alleviation of transport congestion to which, for some time, it wouldbe, possible to 'look, was motor transport. The railway companies, he said, seemed helpless in dealing with the .existing congestion. When one was dealing with the railway companies one found oneself up against "impossibilities" ; they promised this they. promised that, bait the trucks that are promised never come forward. Two months ago BlackpoOI bought two railway trucks in order-to expedite the transport.of some cement from the south; they had been delivered somewhere, but had never reached iBlaekpool. He gave the visitors a sincere welcome to the town. Mr. Shrapnell-Smith

also spoke to the pleasure. it gave the Association that Sir Henry Maybury had been able to spare time to eomes down, and said that the C.M.U.A. would unfailingly stand behind all developments of transport calculated to be of benefit to the community. At the public meeting which followed, an open invitation bad been given'toair who were interested in road transport. Mr. Reynolds presided and called on Mr. Shrapnell-Smith to exolain the constitution and aims of the C.M.I.3.A. The latter said that it was a most united organization. The country was partitioned into 12 divisions, each sub-divided into areas. He told of the patronage granted by Ids Majesty, and then dealt with the matter of taxation of motor vehicles, contending that, on the whole, the best possible treatment had been secured for motor transport, although, in securing unity, there had been many difficulties to face, for they also had sections in which the vehicles covered only a short ag.gregate mileage. He explained the attitude of the Ministry of Transport towards road transport., saying that the Ministry has no intention, or desire, to develop independent transport schemes in opposition to private enterprise, the attitude of the Ministry being to assist road transport and not to control it. He explained the position in the matter of road classifieation, dealt with the need for road transport men to take an active interest in the Institute of Transport, and then touched on some of the activities of the C.M.U.A., such as the "Extraordinary Traffic" case, the efforts to secure fairer treatment for steam vehicle users in the matter of smoke emission and saner action on the part of the police in the examination of driver's licences, number plates, etc., making out a good case for membership of the Association.

The Views of the Ministry of Transport.

Sir Henry Maybury, then called upon, said that he was voicing the opinion of his Minister when he said that he has great hopes for and confidence in the futute of :road transport. No one could say that his sympathies were with railways and not with roads. The Ministry would do all in its power to forward the. welfare of road transport, which. would only have itself to blame if it were dominated by the railways. He dealt with the difficulties of the local authorities in.their attempt to maintain their roads and said that public funds would, in future, bear 50 per cent, of the cost of first-class roads and 25 per cent, of the cost of second-class roads, and he repeated his statement that there would be no prohibition of heavy traffic on third-class roads. Generally speaking, local authorities recognize the needs of heavy traffic and do not put unnecessary obstruction in the way, but costs have gone up, and, without money, it is impossible to have the roads for vehicles to run on. There are 94,000 miles of roads controlled by rural district councils, all of whom are badly hit. One• urban district council, where.a penny rate produces only £34, recently found itself faced with an expenditure of £i3Ooo to replace a road damaged by omnibus traffic. What could such a council do? The Ministry must find the money and then transfer the road • to the local county council. He showed that tramways also are badly' hit., and that much of the wear of the track was due to heavy motor vehicles. He estimated that shortly there would be 750,000 motor vehicles -on 'British roads, and that, eventually, we shall beat the American proportion of vehicles to population (now 1 to 16) and that we should have one motor vehicle to 10 or 12 persons, and roads good enough for them.

Sir Henry said that the Ministry will never start new services until it has exhausted private enterprise. With regard to a •revision of axle weights, speeds, eta, whatever is consistent with public safety and public opinion will be /adopted and everything possible will be done to encourage the transport industry. As. to "Extraordinary Traffic," he had very mixed feelings, but he said that, when all motor users of the 'roads are called into contribution the existing law on this vexed subject would be a thing of the paet.. He assured his audience that he would do his best to see that his people held the balance fairly between local authorities and users and helped forward, in every possible way, the great industry in which his hearers were conoOned.

Pleasure After Business'.

At the public dinner on the Saturday evening, the toast of the C.M.U.A. was proposed in felicitous terms by Sir Henry Maybiu-y and responded to by Mr. Shraihnell-Smith, that of the " Xorth-Western Division." proposed by Mr. W. G. Lobjoit and responded to by Mr. R. C. Reynolds, that of the guests proposed by Mr. 0. Le M. Gosselin and replied to by Ir. J. J. Wilkins, and that of the chairman. proposed by Mr. Leo Swain, to which Mr. ShrapnellSmith suitably replied. The speeches were excellent, rich in thought, witty and pointed, and exceedingly well delivered. In fact, a high level of oratory was reached, and it was a pleasure to listen to every one.

On the Sunday, a party of forty was conyeyed in eliars-aebaries and cars to Windermere, where they were the guests of Mr. Tone Birtwhistle, J.P., to luncheon, his steam and motor launches taking the guests for serun of about.. an hour on the lake in ideal

weather conditions. Early in 1 the summer, such a trip is a • real delight, and every member of the Party enjoyed it. The first provincial meeting of the C.M.U.A. may be written down a pronounced success, and the chairman of the Association, the chairman and officers of the Division, and the general secretary are sincerely to be congratulated thereupon.


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