EXHIBITIONS AND THE BOND.
Page 27
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By "The Inspector.'"
NOWTHAT the 'balloting has taken place for the two great Olympia Shosyss that are the outstanding fixtures for the fall of the present year, a great many of us have, necessarily, in this way, had reminders of the whole exhibition question. There are certain considerations in this connection, as to which it would :appear to be useful to promote 'discussion.
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The present writer has, for some while past, held that a, definite attempt has not, to his knowledge, hitherto been made to ascertain from the commercial vehicle user what is his opinion of the exact utility of these well-organized exhibitions and shows. They cost the industry a, great deal of money and a very great deal of time. Generally speaking, it appears to have been established that members of the industry— at any rate, the manufacturing members of the industry—considered that Olympia Shows are worth the' trouble and expense of organization, but there is little doubt that the exhibitors at the recent Royal Show at Derby were in a large measure dfstinctly disappointed with the results. This conclusion was reflected in no unmistakable terms at recent sectional meetings of the S.M.M. and T., and,' indeed, it has been seriously suggested in certain quarters that, in future, the manufacturer shall confine himself entirely to one exhibition a year, and that to be at Olympia. In other words, some discussion is now taking place as to the desirability of cutting the Royal Show out of the Bond in future.
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I, personally, think it woeld be advantageous if correspondence could be initiated in the columns. of The Commercial Motor, not only from manufacturers, but from users as to their opinions with regard to the utility of exhibitions -generally, taking into account the cost, the time expended, and the location of the proposed shows. It would be most instructive to learn what the user thinks-of the utility of the Royal Show and similar agricultural shows, and we should specifically benefit if we could hear such opinions expressed, both by users of steam wagons and tractors, and by char-a-bancs and lorry owners. The farmer, as a whole, does not show any energetic in terest' the lorry, as such, although, of course, he has now risen to the occasion in the matter of agricultural tractors. This whole exhibition ',question cannot be barked; it will be all the better for free and frank discussion. The user should have his say, although it only indirectly affects his pocket. * * The occasion, at the present time, is auspicious, because there is evidence of a considerable breaking away from the stipulations of the Bond. For instance, there is a considerable group of steam-wagon manufacturers, a group including very nearly all the principal manufacturers of this class of machine who do not sign the Bond nowadays and who are, therefore, at liberty to exhibit as and when they. like, their sole penalty being secondary choice and slightly increased expenses if and when they desire to show at the Olympia display organized by the S.M.M. and T. In other words, we have now arrived at a position where any independent exhibition that is at all pretentious can be pretty certain to organize a, fairly interesting display of mechanical transport units by appealing suitably to the not inconsiderable, number of makers who are not Bond-signers to the S.M.M. and T. This is highly detrimental to the Bond-signers, particularly those who make steam wagons, electric vehicles, and so on. Moreover, it is misleading to the public, who are allowed indirectly to presume that such exhibition is necessarily more or less representative of all that matters in mechanical-transport manufacturing circles. There is the example, for instance, of the Roads and Transport Exhibition that is being promoted for the fall of this year. The list of vehicle manufacturers who are stated to be intending .exhibitors is quite a, prominent one, and yet none of them is a Bond-signer. Bond-signers are not permitted to exhibit there ; they may not want to, it is true, but the Bond is not effectively working if any considerable body of prominent manufacturers of mechanicalhaulage plant is left outside its provisions. There are a dozen or more Manufacturers of lorries and wagons listed already as exhibiting at the Roads and Transport Exhibition, which is unauthorized so far as the S.M.M. and T. is concerned and that is a position that wants looking into very carefully indeed.
* * Then, again, there is the question of demonstrations and exhibitions for which applications are made by the organizers to the S.M.M. and T. for permission for the Bond-signers to show. On a recent occasion a demonstration of this kind, which amounted to an open-air one-day exhibition, received this permission from the S.M..VI. and T., but direct : invitations to participate were not sent to all the Bontleigners. It was difficult to ascertain what programme was pursued by the promoters in selecting the names of the people who were asked to participate, but it is a fact that one manufacturer, who had not felt justified in giving renewal' instructions for advertisements in Connection with a journal that was not unidentified with the promoters of the exhibitions, was not specifically invited to participate, and, when he did expresehis desire to do se, he, was informed that there was no room, although the exhibition in question was held iii the open thoroughfare. The firm in question quite rightly felt itself entitled to be considered amongst the leading manufacturers in this country. Similarly, assuming the continuance of the Bond, if the Society receives application from an exhibition or ,demonstration and gives such permission for its Bond-signers to appear, it should be stipulated that the price of such acquiescence is that all the Bondsigners shall without favour or preference be given a formal invitation to appear and particiPate, and shall have strictly equal chances with others of turning 'such exhibition to account. Any suspicion of favouritisa-n or preferential choice in the matter of appearance, on account of non-compliance with advertising and publicity demands or any similar stipulation of that kind, at exhibitions or demonstrations authorized by the S.M.M. and T. must be firmly ruled out. There is no gainsaying that, at the present time, there is a great deal of dissatisfaction in respect of the whole of this exhibition question. Manufacturers are determined to cut out as many exhibitions as possible—this is a perfectly clear statement, and one which it based on definite and recent inquiry. The desirability of tightening up regulations, to prevent unauthorized and scrappy exhibitions all over the place, is one which is of interest not only to manufacturers, but to users, agents, and dealers throughout the country.