X Representative of the Industry for the Gas Traction Committee. '
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THE OFFICIAL Gas Traction Committee appears to be a body which may fairly claim to be in _ . many respects highly representative.. If, 'how-' ever, its composition is studied ineonjunction with its terms oL reference, the result is a suggestion that in one direction at least it is capable of being further strengthened. The purpose of the Committee is to consider and report upon the employment of gas as a motor fuel • the manner inwhich the gas may be sup-.plied, store, carried and used; and the ,steps which thee Government should take to encourage and safeguard the, movement. On the Committee there are a number of experts on fuel oils and on the products of gasworks. There are also engineers and well-qualified representatives of the prospective users of gas fuel. There is not, however, a single representative of the firms now actually engaged in the production of gas " bags, containers and equipMent. .
One can imagine that when the composition of the Gas Traction Committee was under consideration, it was felt that it was not desirable to introduce one or two manufacturers while necessarily exeluding others. In the last few weeks the position has, however, changed very materially. • While agreeing that the _ representation of any individual manufacturer, as sueh, would probably' not be pol:tic, we would point out that it is now possible to secure representation of the manufacturing industry as a whole through the . medium of the Association recently formed. Such a representative would, we s'uggest, be a very valuable addition to the Committee. He would be able expeditiously to obtain from all manufacturers such information as the Committee might require from them. He could put in compete statements, for example, as regards the materials required and used, such statements being needed for consideration either of the suitability of such materials or of the adequacy of the supplies. Again, he could collect information ae to the .class and quality of the labour required to be retained by the Manufacturers if their work is to be effectively carried on.
While the Committee is apparently a reporting and . not an executive body, there can be little doubt that it will really in effect have executive powers, because of its close touch with other bodies in which such powers are unquestionably vested.. It is, therefore, highly advisable that the point of view of the manufacturer Should be put forward' at all meetings, and on all subjects. If this point of view is not represented, it is quite conceivable that the Committee, well, informed as it undoubtedly iS, might devise and Indirectly' put into effect Schemes •which might seriously impede manufacturers for reasons that will not'neae3earily,be obvious to others.• Moreover, we base our, proposal partly on a sound firSt principle. We have here a ComMittee, the, deliberations of which may affect very : deeply the. future of a manufacturing industry. It has for-: tunately become the habit of the Government to call'. industries into consultation in such matters and to: utilize. their ,knowledge, lent merely by the rather inefficient process of hearing evidence, but by giving the industries themselves some influence on the bodies constituted to consider matters whiah concern them.
Thus, for instance, the new Trade Intelligence Department is to have a Committee Of..bifsiness men._TheResearch Department calls .upon the industries, themselves to devise their schemes of research and to • create the bodies for carrying them out. In eery: sphere the right of industry to direct representation' on bodies formed officially is being encouraged. ThereWoutd then be no bad precedent in a free acceptance. of the proposal which we hope will be made by the' Association representing' gas equipment manufacturers, to theaeffect that that Association has as good' a" right as, say, the BritiSh Commercial Gas Associa-tion to have a seat provided for its representative on this Committee. .
Gas Supply From Public Highways.
THE VOGUEOF GAS as a fuel for motor • .vehicles is going ahead. The development,' , like old Father Time, refuses to .be arrested. _Now we ha,ye• the Institution of Municipal and,, County Engineers sitting in solemn conclave upon the subject of feeding gas bags from street standards. And not in any hostile spirit either, because ' municipal authorities are feeling the pinch of petrol shortage and acknowledge that either their vehicles. Must be• adapted to gas or be laid up indefinitely. Mr. J.A. Brodie, the engineer to the City of Liver-, pool, described howthe' municipal fleet of 40 four'. and six-tonners is being converted.
He also related that he had advised the City Fathers to provide. plant compressing up to 2000 lb.per sq. in. to meet the. request for the high-compression system. And the supplies are being drawn from standards set in the streets—not the main arteries of. traffic but convenient by-ways--the standards being . set in such a way .as to offer no obstruction to,, pedestrians. He suggested that borough and civic-: authorities would be wise if they facilitated and did not obstruct vehicular transport developments. Mr. Stilgoe, of' Birmingham, followed in a similar strain and narrated what the Midland city was doing ha this direction, while Mr. H. T. Chapman, the county' surveyor of Kent, and others considered the topic under discussion from a similarly Tiberal-minded point of view. .• . This is all as it should be. Unless. gas fuel be:. : comes more easily and readily obtainable' by.the way, side, the transport of the country must be ireperilled. Virtually it is now a ease of gas or nothing: and the community, when it is truly faced by the alternative, will promptly see that progress is assisted and not curbed. Gas has come to stay as a fuel for motor vehicles, especially those engaged in. heavy Work. To-day the flexible container holds sway : possibly tomorrow it may be the high or low-compression cylinder. Therefore it behoves the authorities responsible for the maintenance dour highways carrying the ebb and flow of motor traffic to see that such vehicles can be re-fuelled in the simplest manner.
Organization of Farm, Motor Manufacturers.
OME LITTLE TIME ago we referred to the great need for the creation of some organization that
• . could fairly be regarded as representative of British agricultural motor manufacturers. We . are very glad to learn that steps are DOW being taken Which will, we trust,lead to this highly-desirable resulk Hitherto, all efforts to that end have been baulked, chiefly by the reluctance of the various groups of which this industry is, or will be, formed to accept any degree of fusion.
This reluctance is due to a lack of intimate relations, in the past, between the groups in question. One is formed of firma that have always been known simply as makers of airicultural machinery—not self-propelled—or else of steam ploughing or traction engines. The second is recruited from the ranks of motorcar and particularly commercial-motor vehicle manufacturers. The third is composed of the builders of stationary oil and gas engines, now entering a new field.
Lack of touch between these groups has engendered suspicions which we feel convinced are groundless. Collaboration at this juncture does not represent an opportunity for one party to profit by the brains and experience of another. The pooling of a great deal of information would, no doubt, benefit the industry as a whole, but it need not form any part of the programme of a,representative body.
Such a body, would find plenty of occupation for a long time to come in studying the future prospects, and endeavouring to frame, and afterwards to ensure the adoption of, a policy that will 'meet the circiuristances in such a way as to establish the home industry on a sure foundation, and. enable it to face competition. To Aaieve this, the first need appears to be a working agreement between the various organizations of which the sections of the embryonic industry are at present ID embers.
A Policy Wanted for Reconstruction.
THIS BRIEF CONSIDERATION of the position of the agriculturartnotor industry brings us •• naturally to the subject of industrial reconstruction generally. It cannot be expected that the Ministry formedto handle this matter includes upon its own•staff men' Who are qualified to deal with the subject in all its aspects without reference to the indastries which are themselves concerned in it. In such circumstances, the common-sense .policy for the Ministry to, adopt. would involve calling manufacturers' organizations into consultation.
The Minister has, we believe, already discussed matters with the Federation of British Industries, and N.rith the representatives of individual industries that are adequately organized. He will almost certainly pursue this line of action, since no other reasonable course appears to be open. Thus, if he wants the Opinion of the electric industry he can obtain it by 020 reference to the British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers' Association. The views of the engineering industry as a whdle could be fairly fully expressed by the British Engineers' Association, and those of the British motor industry by thr, Assneiation of British Motor and Allied Manufacturers, which is now very representative, and has certainly been giving careful consideration to all these matters. When we conic to the agricultural motor industry—which cannot be confused with the motor industry, because of the individual character 'of the problems which_face it, and its intermediate position between at least three industrieS---we find nobody to be consulted. At any rate, a suggestion to consult any one existing body would immediately arouse the antagonism of others and detract from the unanimity of the views put forward from various,quarters.
Later on, it may very well become even more essential to every industry to be possessed of a representative organizat . At the time when concerns first re
turn to their mai work there will still be a shortage in imports and home supplies of many essential materials. Such supplies as there are will have.sto be allocated to the best dvantage, and who more capable of performing this duty than the manufacturers themselves, provided that they can act as one united body ? Broadly speaking, we believe the tendency will be for the Governmentto delegate more and more authority to the industries" which are suffi
• ciently well organized to bear it. These will be the industries which will stand the best chance of favourable treatment, and, consequently, the need for "organizing grows more and more acute.
Passive Resisters and Coal-gas.
N CONVERSATION recently with a number of coal-gas enthusiasts, we have been not a little
disappointedto hear repeated on more than one occasion the suggestion that coal-gas, under certain circumstances, is not being given its fair and proper chance, and-that this effect is traceable to the dislike of not a few drivers to the employment of novel de-. vices. A few such cases have come under our direct notice, not solely in connection with coal-gas but when other novelties of construction have been_ on trial. Drivers and mechanics of this class are undoubtedly passive resisters, and, while not risking their reputations by openly damning every and any new contrivance, they have made little or no effort to overcome the• invariable difficulties with which such improvements or variations are initially attended. A man of this class will 'be constantly discovering small failures, and, instead of making light of them and doing his best to put them right unaided, be will, as a rule, Magnify_ their importance and will covertly hint that it is only what one should expect from this or that modification. '! What the gov'nor wants to fool about with this idea for I daunts" This is actually what has happened in special cases, which, as we have said, have already been brought to our notice, and it is a very insidious form of opposition. It is difficult, indeed, to bring the blame to the passive resister. He is usually cunning enough to cover up his opposition, in such a way as to avoid detection, and certainly tio, avoid definite blame. There appears little cure for such a state of things other than the detection of definite instances and their eradication either by the dismissal of the offender or by reading to him a sufficiently sharp lesson to warn him that vou pay him for his aid and not for his hindrance.