The Local Government Board and the Need for Arterial Roads.
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The conference of local authorities and other interested bodies, on the subject of arterial roads, to which we made more than one reference in our issue of last week, had not risen when that issue went to press. We report elsewhere (page eel) some points from the cancluding speech by the President of the I.ocal Government Bearelfand we have now to make brief additiemal comment, by way of supplement to that which has already appeared on this subject (page L:7) ante) in our pages. it is evident that Mr. John Burns is desirous and prepared to accept much more responsibility, both personally and on behalf of his Department., in connection with highway matters. On the two occasions of his addressing last week's conference, it was evident to close .observers that, whilst he essayed to edopt a bantering tone, an undercurrent of suppressed resentment underlay all his remarks.
The appointment of the Road Board, in the year 1010, was not altogether acceptable, we are told, to Burns, and it has to be admitted that the t'atparture was an outstanding example of change of procedure. The Road Board has not. under the Act which brought it into existence, to answer in any way to the Local GovernmentsBoard, and it is virtually uncontrolled in its authority, except by the Treasury and by Parliament itself.
Any such feelings of regret or resentment are, however, we are well .satisfied, prompted byithe knowledge that the Local Government Board is a thoroughly competent -office to carry forward to execution pressing matters connected with highways and traffic which are giving rise to disagreements, as between road-maker and road-user on the one hand, and as between the variety of constituted local and central authorities on the other, yet which sources of disagreement cannot be allowed to remain in their present unsatisfactory conditiou. We fully agree with the generally-expressed view of the conference, to the proceedings of which it was the writer's pleasure to listen -with all attention, that an effective court of appeal, to permit the quick settlement of outstanding and urgent matters, must be rendered available. One of the most-striking of many examples to enforce the necessity for the provision of such an ultimate authority was given by the e lerirman of the Works Committee of the Holbcnn Borough Council. He explained why particular parts o r Holborn, and most of all the portion of that thoroughfare which adjoins Kingsway eei its western side, arc allowed to remain so harmfully and dangerously neerrowe Had there been any authority:such as the Local Government Board, or a Central Traffic Board, to whom the Holborn Borough Council and the London County Council might have appealed, a settlement of their-differeneesin regain to apportionment of cost could undoubtedly have been reached while the opportunity to act was still available. As matters now stand, owing to the erection of costly new buildings up to the old building line, any widen
ing in the future will cost. many thousands of pounds more, and it is, of course, impossible to compute the loss to the community, throughout the interval, whatever it irlay prove to be, by*reason of aeute congestion in that east-west thoroughfare.
We cordially agree with the view or Mr. John Burns that existing authorities should " get together more closely than hitherto, pending probable absorption of each by one another, as subsequent circumstances may determine." Again, in this connection, did Mr. Burns show his keenness for the Local Goveniment Board to receive the appointment. On the important question of cost, Mr. Burns takes the view that each local community must contribute according to its means, and that, if these are not adequate, any such community has the right—" to make representations."
That is not very consoling, but everybody feels that something definite must be done before long. Tho initiation of group conferences between adjoining authorities is to be the first step.
Buried Gas Mains and Other Pipes olf the Underwheel World.
The complexity, not to say complication, of the network of pipes, gas mains, light and power circuits, sewers, hydraulic: mains, telephone conduits, and other members of the neiderwheel world, requires to he examined to be appreeiated. Owners of commercial motors are•oceasionally .subjected to demands for alleged damage to property, without regard for the fact that the owners thereof have generally failed to put their pipes, conduits, mains, etc., far enough beneath' the surface, or for the real legal position in respect of such attempts to recover from legitimate -users of the highway. The presence of these various systems, which are now buried beneath the surfaces of husy streets and roads, involves the constant disturbance of surfaces for repairs, renewals or extensions, at a cost which is known'to he very heavy. According to Mr. F. T. Aman, an excellent pipe subway which runs beneath -Victoria Street, Nottingham, has met all such requirements as those which ate indicated above, for a period of 50 years, without the expenditure of a. single penny for reinstating the Pavement ,chim-ing that period-other than far ordinary wear and tear due to traffic. Kingsway, London, is happily another outcome of foresight which must in the future show equally-advantageous results, and -these will furnish a remarkable. contrast with the average of experience in other London streets. It is stated by Mr. Aman, for example, that the cost of opening and repairing the streets in Westminster alone approaches £30,000 per annum. We hope that readers of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR will at all times give their adhesion and active support to proposals for the provision of pipe subways under existing streets, and so aid themselves and the community at largoby getting rid, ,onee and for all, and by one great effort, of the difficulties which present great—and uncertain—hindrances to all classes of street locomotion.
It is quite true, as Mr. Am.an pointed out in the sl
paper which he recently read before the Li% el-pool Engineering Society, that the necessary powers to enable local authorities to construct subways will have to be granted by Parliament, and that the .cost ,of construction will have to be borne by the local authority as a public utility subject to lump-sum contributions from the proprietors of any gas, water, electric, hydraulic power -or other servces, when such proprietorship does not happen to be vested in the local authority. The old lack of system, winch is monumental, must give way to the claims of organization, but we fear thatit is a counsel of perfection to ask for more than its application to all new roads or thoroughfares.
The Motor Lorry on the Footpath.
An interesting and important ca-se came before the Bolton County Court on the 25th ult. We briefly summarize the facts of this on page 31'z, hut they are of sufficient general interest to meril comment. As the evidence showed, a carefully-loaded wagon was so buffeted in its passage over a notoriously-bad portion of the highway that the load shifted. At one portion of this highway, within the administrative area of the Turton 15,D,C., half the width of the road was under repair, .and the driver was obliged to drive partly on the footpath, owing to the state of the remaining half-width of the highway.
The Council sued for damage to the pathway, by reason of the alleged negligent, driving of the wagon, but his Honour Judge Spencer Hogg decided: (a) that the lorry was properly loaded when it started on its journey ; (b) that the load shifted by reason of the undue state of the road, and not because of negligence of the defendants ; and (c) that the driver was justified in this instance in going on to the footpath. It still appears, therefore, as counsel for the defendants submitted, that when a highway is out of repair, so as to be dangerous or incommodious, a user is entitled to go—even as in -the old days one was to use a field -at the side of the road—on to the footpath. No owner or driver would wish to do this habitually, but it is clear that, in some circumstances, they may do so without breaking the law or incurring liability for any material damage that may result.
The Use of Motors in Times of National Emergency.
The efforts of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, to which we have referred in an earlier issue. to the end that there should be an adjustment by agreement in respect of the services that can be rendered by commercial motors during the -continuance of strikes, is but one aspect of the greater subject of the rendering of such services during times of national emergency. It was at our suggestion that the War Office, several years ago, tested the value of motor. buses for the rapid concentration of troops, and it. is easy to -realize that: London's fleet of motorbuses is ample, on the accepted basis of 20 men with accoutrements, etc., per vehicle, to convey as many as 60,000 infantrymen 100 miles in a maximum of 12 hours from the time of starting. The possibilities of achievement. during and by reason of a national emergency must, we feel confident, be viewed in a completely-different Tight from those in any conceivable industrial emergency. When it is the State that claims the service, that service has to be rendered, and is usually rendered willingly. There .can be no incentive equal to that of participation in resistance of invasion.
We have repeatedly, on the. occasion of successive discussions due to disagreements in different trades, and in different parts of the country, pointed out that owners of commercial motors have to consider their own urgent requirements first, and that they are unlikely to be able to lend or hire their vehicles to nonowners at such times. We are, none the less, as we indicate in the short footnote to the letter from our Yorkshire correspondent, seeking further information from the secretary of the Birmingham Chamber.
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Exceptional Bus-driving.
-■Ve regard the average driving of motorbuses in London as thoroughly exceptional in the best. etymological sense of the word. A correspondent (page 317) directs attention to one of other types of exceptional driving. We have discussed the circumstances with this correspondent-, who is a member of a. well-known motoring family, and himself an expert. motorist. He deprecates censure of the individual driver, and is inclined, we gathe.r by conversation with him, to blame the circumstances of the moment in regard to competitive running on certain routes.
The importance of adequate supervision and regulation of motorbus drivers in thoroughfares of the Metropolis cannot be over-stated. There can be no excuse for behaviour of the kind to which the letter under notice makes reference, and our own observation of the driving of these steam motorbuses in London does lead us to believe that the management of the proprietary company would do well to look into such matters more closely than it appears to do. The individual driver undoubtedly takes his view of competitive duty from the employee next in grade above him, and he in turn from his superior officer, and so on. The owners either know what is happening, or they do not know : they are either accomplices, or conveniently blind ; or, if they are ignorant, it is an urgent matter of public duty that they -should be roused to an appreciation of the risks that are frequently accepted. We certainly commend to them the appointment of a few extra inspectors, a-s it is no easy matter to eliminate reckless driving.
The Effect of the Motorvan on Trade Stocks.
It would be held, we suppose, by a great number of interested people, that we, at all events, should by now be fully a-ware of every conceivable advantage that could accrue from the employment of modern motor vehicles for industrial purposes. In large measure, from the nature of our continuous investiga
tions, this is true. Nevertheless, as the number of industries and trades into which the commercial motor has not made entry becomes smaller and smaller, special and characteristic advantages accruing from service in new or unusual trades are brought,to our notice.
We are not slow boldly to make claims for the capacity of the motorvan, but even we should have hesitated to have claimed that in certain instances the employment of motor delivery enables growing businesses to be conducted in smaller factories than would have been necessary had horsed plant been retained. This would appear to be paradoxical when taken in conjunction with the admitted claims of the self-propelled vehicle as a business getter.
In our " Big Cities " article this week we insta.nee, as a typical user, a cardboard-box manufacturer, and he considers that one of the most. important advantages which has accrued to him is the rapidity with which he can move manufactured stock away from the scene of its creation to the consumer.
This particular class of production is one which is essentially bulky, and makes enormous demands on factory and storeroom space. It is, therefore, of vital importance that as the business increase-s it should be possible to improve the facilities for the disposal of the products, rather than to make further expensive provision for additional storeroom. There is a lesson in this for many other industries and trades. The advantage is ,akin to that to which we have drawn attention in the past, by reason of which the locking up of excessive capital in temporarily disused empties is materially decreased. The more rapid collection of packages and receptacles winch have to be returned to be refilled has effected a saving which is strictly comparable with the interesting one which is instanced now for the first time, in the article elsewhere. in this issue which deals with the experience of email users in Leeds.