Compensation Demands in Respect of Impressment Effects.
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We dealt at some length, in our issue of the 1st ult., with the situation at that date in respect of the consequences for owners whose fleets had been in part or totally taken away from them for war purposes. On earlier dates (issues of the 27th August and 3rd September), when the effects of impressment had been less marked and less unequal, .we had supported the view that owners who had not registered might well be satisfied with list prices. The injustice of invoice prices, to which we at the same time directed attention, required but little examination to make it obvious. We mentioned certain instances of injustice which had been referred to us by owners.
We have now to deal, after an interval of some weeks, with further circumstances which have arisen, and to which we again direct the attention of the Commercial Motor Users Association. That body, if it intends to make good its position as the champion of the interests of users, will undoubtedly be obliged to take some action in the matters which are now being brought before it by ourselves and others.
The removal of passenger bodies from large numbers of chassis has placed the greatest hardship upon many owners. The useless bodies occupy large gar age space, to the exclusion of its utilization for revenue-producing employment. Not only is the capital invested in these bodies rendered of no value for an indeterminate period, but the whole superstructure continues to lie both idle and under depreciation, as well as subject to insurance.
A second important factor in the situation, and one which has only developed in detail since the earlier weeks of the war, concerns the increases of price which manufacturers are rightly demanding for new vehicles. We examined the manufacturer's right to higher prices in our issue of the 20th August, and
supported the view that an overall increase of 10 per cent. was fully justified by new factors. That antici
pation has been justified by later events, and it re mains so justified to the present day. Notwithstanding this state of affairs, the owners who have been deprived of their vehicles have frequently been prejudiced financially by their inability to secure replacements either at old list or old invoice prices. Both the foregoing sets of circumstances, which are typical, bring about the undesirable result of benefit for the community as a whole, for war purposes, at the cost of particular individuals. That is not an equitable position, and it is one that has developed bv disregard for essential principles of acquirement.
We prefer not to deal further with incidents connected with valuations of particular chassis, for such disagreements concern matters of fact ; the remedy in respect of them lies with the owners, by appeal to the officer commanding the respective military district, or through the County Court. The broad questions which remain for the C.IVI.U.A. to consider are those of compensation hereafter for individual owners who have been made to suffer for the good of the country, and who have in some cases bad their moans of livelihood taken from them. We ca
have nothing to write against the course which was adopted by the War Office at the outset when it decided upon the commandeering of commercial-motor vehicles on a large scale. The evil effects of that course, however, may well be lessened, and we hope that the weight of the C.M.U.A. will be thrown into the scale in favour of the establishment, in due time, of Compensation Courts to make good basic losses under the heads to which we have referred.
There are precedents for the remedy in other directions which now entirely support the procedure that we have outlined, and particularly from the records of the Government's dealing with railway companies and shipowners. The railway companies have been assured of their previous profits, and the test in each case has clearly been that of market value, whilst a. committee of experts and officials is going into the details of all charges, claims and expenses, so far as shipowners are concerned. The out-of-pocket charges, as well as the consequential losses, all of which have so far been borne by individual owners of commercial motors, should in very many eases be transferred to the broad shoulders of the taxpayer as a whole, that is, to the nation. Compensation for individual losses is a wellestablished principle in the conduct of several departments of the Army and the Navy. Why should it be excised and excluded from the proceedings of the Mechanical Transport Committee ? We see no valid reason. What does the C.M.U.A. intend to do ?
Reciprocating or Turbine Pumps?
A battle royal has been. fought, both in Committee and the full Council, at Edinburgh, in respect ef the comparative merits for practical fire-brigade purposes of reciprocating and turbine pumps. Influences of the most deeply-founded nature were brought to bear upon advocates of the competing types, and the struggle has been a prolonged one in every sense of the word. The calling-in of Professor Hudson Beare, M.InsiaC.E., with a 1i-few to the making of impartial and independent tests, failed to settle the controversy. It has at last, after repeated postponements, been concluded by open vote of the whole Council, with the result that one order goes to makers of the older type, the reciprocating, whilst a like order is placed with a maker of the new type, the turbine.
We are glad. from both conviction and observation, thus to be able to record the failure of those who would push the claims of the reciprocating pump to extremes. Both types have their merits, but the opinion of the heads of the London and many other important brigades is markedly and unequivocally in favour of the turbine pump. Edinburgh, which has for years been regarded as the stronghold of the pro-reciprocating school, has been unable to withstand the forces of evidence and testimony from outside. We deal briefly, on page 178, with the discussion which resulted in the decision to which we refer. Mr. Bruce Lindsay, a member of the Edinburgh City Council, has been persistent throughout in his tenacious support for the newer type of pump.