ROAD TRANSPORT MATTERS IN PARLIAMENT.
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A Review of the Work of the Session. Licence Duty Concessions. Highway Legislation. The Proposal to Abolish the Ministry of Transport. The Vehicles Lighting Bill. Russian Oil and the Government.
By Our -Special Parliamentary Correspondent,
TIARLIAMENT adjourned on July 29th and the session will be resumed on November 8th. During the last six months many matters, relating to road transport have been raised, although none of them was so fateful to the users of commercial vehicles at the Budget of last year. Mr. Churchill, in this year's Budget, has made a concession to farmers by reducing the rate of duty to the owner of a vehicle used solely for the conveyance of the produce of and of articles required for the purposes of the agricultural land which be occupies and for no other purpose. An amendment was made to meet the occasional assistance given by one farmen to another and to give rebates to Scottish farmers who iad been paying a higher rate than English farmers owing to a differing interpretation of the law. A special scale was also scheduled for travelling showmen's vehicles.
An attempt to •introduce a more gradual scale for commercial vehicles generally was unsuccessful, being opposed on the ground that it would cost the Exchequer over £500,000. The second raid on the Road Fund; amounting to 112,000,000, met with• much opposition. Altogether, the Treasury has taken some 127,000,000 from the Road Fund during the last two years for general charges on the Exchequer. It is doubtful, whether such inroads will again be permitted, in view of the large body of public opinion opposed to the policy. pursued these two years. Mr. Churchill was prudent enough, after his large haul Of 112,000,000, to promise that the Road Fund would be left alone during the existing Parliament. This gracious gesture, after seizing upon 127,000,000 to help to square his Budgets, was Acute de mieux, accepted by his criti,es as reassuring and the agriculturists were further appeased by a promise that the grants for maintenance of Class 2 roads would be raised from 25 per cent. to 33i, per cent., whilst £250,000 (the balance over and above the 112,000,000 which stood as the reserve of the Road Fund) would be used towards the cost of raising maintenance grants for scheduled non-classified roads from 20 per cent. to 25 per cent.
The McKenna import duty of 33gi. per cent. was extended to tyres. Little was beard of the suggestion that a petrol tax should be reintroduced. The matter is still "under consideration," and some people have advised letting the matter drop, lest some ingenious Chancellor of the Exchequer should be persuaded to use it as an additional instead of an alternative method of extracting money from road users.
Road Traffic Legislation.
COLONEL ASHLEY, disappointed, like everybody A./else, with the long delay in finding Parliamentary facilities for the passage of a comprehensive measure dealing with road traffic, published his proposals in draft for the purpose of discussion by the interests affected. It is hoped that the Bill proper will be introduced next session. Meanwhile, the vehicle lighting proposals in Part 2 of the draft Bill were embodied in a private member's Bill introduced by Mr. Lougher, which was read a second time and a few weeks ago considerably amended in the Standing Committee. The Bill has the support of the Government and as it has passed the report stage may become law this year.
Several other private members' Bills have been introduced. Mr. Lansbury brought in the Omnibuses Bill to enable local authorities to provide and run omnibuses within and without their own areas, but there is no chance of its proceeding beyond second reading this se.ssion, The Roadside Petrol Pumps Bill, to legalize the setting up of petrol pumps at the roadside and to empower the local authority to decide which of the existing pumps should remain or be abolished as obstructions, has made no progress and has been dropped. A similar fate attended the Highways Administration Bill, which provided for larger administrative units for highway purposes and the maintenance and improvement of district roads by county councils.
Roads and Bridges.
THERE has been a slowing down in sanctioning new road schemes of first-class importance, although the report of ,the ROyal Commission on Cross-river Traffic and the decision of the Government to make a 75 per cent. contribution towards several of the projects recommended will probably lead to the building of a new two-decker bridge at Charing Cross, with appropriate approaches, the extensive repair of Waterloo Bridge, the building of the Ludgate Bridge, the carrying out of the important Victoria Dock Road scheme, and other improvements. Reports from experts as to the cost of the Charing Cross scheme are expected in the course of a few months and negotiations between the Ministry of Transport and 'the London County Council with regard to the Victoria Dock Road will shortly begin.
The policy of the restriction of London bus routes and services has been temporarily in abeyance, important reports having been laid by the London Traffic Advisory Committee, in which the co-ordination of London passenger traffic of all kinds was recommended. The Committee has since been in consultation with the different interests and will shortly make its detailed report to the Minister of Transport. London traffic has been further eased by the one-way device and the removal of the crawling taxicabs from some streets during certain periods of the day. During the session Parliament heard a good deal about London taxicab fares, which the Home -Secretary reduced from is. to 9d. a mile, the element of competition by two-seater taxicabs having failed to materialize.
A small technical committee was recently set up by the Home Secretary to consider the conditions in respect of design, etc., which a taxicab must fulfil before being allowed toply for hire and to report whether the regulations require alteration. Repeated representations have been made about the emission of sparks and smoke from steam vehicles, but In spite of the attention of the police having been called to the matter very few eases have been reported.
The insistent demand for the freeing of tollgates and bridges and the abolition of level-crossings continued, but the initiative rests with local authorities, who, in face of the expenditure' entailed, are,slow to act. Some months ago a start was made with the experiments in road surfacing which the Minister of Transport was empowered to undertake under the Roads Improvement Act, 1925. These experiments are now being conducted on the Barnet by-pass and elsewhere.
The Future of the Ministry of Transport.
NE other outstanding feature of the session was the announcement by the Chancellor of the Ex-chequer that the Government intended to Introduce 325
legislation to make an end of the Ministry of Transport as a separate Department before March 31st, 1928. Much opposition has been aroused. In criticizing the decision of the Government, which .was apparently based on economy reasons (although there is a shrewd guess that other reasons were involved, such as the inconvenience to the Treasury of another Department having control eta. i20,000,000 a year Road Fund), M. Snowden, en: ex-Chancellor, declared that it was doubtful if the saving would exceed £10,000 a year. Several motions were put on the paper declaring against the abolition of the Ministry, but opportunity for full discussion has not arisen. The Prime Minister indicated that the Government adhered to its intention, but it is conceivable that opposition may be sufficiently substantial to prevent the abolition of the Ministry at so early a date as March 31st next. It is argued with considerable truth that the abolition of the Department would be a retrograde step injurious to the special interests of road transport, which now plays so large a part in many aspects of national life.
Road Transport Lighting Bill.
ON the eve of the adjournment Mr. Lougher's Road Transport Lighting Bill was brought forward at a late hour for consideration on report. No amendments were moved and the stage was purely formal. Mr. Lougher then moved the third reading, but opposition arose and at about 11 o'clock the debate automatically stood adjourned until the autumn sittings. Mr. Lougher reminded the House that after many amendments in Committee there was a unanimous wish that it should receive facilities for third reading.
Major Crawfurd objected to: the Bill going through without members fully understanding what it contained. He had just received a copy of the amended Bill, and he made a strong protest against the attempt to rush the Bill through the House with practically no discussion. He asked whether the A.A. and the R.A.C. had been approached and had given favourable answers regarding the Bill. Mr. Lougher having indicated that they had been approached, Major Crawford said he believed an amendment had been made providing that vehicles used in connection with agriculture should carry only one light and that at the front. If that was accurate, an important point was raised. One of the main purposes of the Bill was to provide for greater safety on the roads, but if they were going to lay it down that for every class of vehicle except one lights must be carried both at front and rear to prevent accidents, the precautions were rendered nugatory if they made an exception of one class of vehicle which moved at a slow pace, which were often heavy and of very considerable bulk, and which were found in secend-class and minor roads that were narrow and net Straight_ This class of vehicle was found in the country lane which turned and wound between hedges and was the most dangerous type of road in the country. The amendment altered the character of the Bill entirely. This was a very important Bill and he thought it strange that.an attempt should be made to carry the third reading without discussion after substantial alterations had been made in Committee.
Colonel Ashley pointed out that the Bill received the unanimous support of the Standing Committee and there was only one division, although there were 80 amendments. The A.A. had been consulted by Mr. Lougher and he understood that all their wishes had been acceded to. The concession to agricultural vehicles had been agreed to without a division and the Committee was unanimously in favour of the Bill. He hoped, therefore, the House would give it a third reading.
Mr. Kelly said they were not told whether other associations than the A.A. had been consulted. He wanted to know whether the National Cyclists' 'Union or the Cyclists' Touring Club had been ,consulted. It looked as if those who used motor vehieles imagined B23 that the roads were made for them alone. Mr. Kelly was speaking at 11 o'clock when the debate on the third reading stood adjourned.
Danger of Sparks from Locomotives.
MR. LANSBURY called the attention of the Minister of Transport to the destruction on July 22nd of a baker's shop and cottage in the village of Kennford, near Exeter, by fire caused by sparks flying from a road locomotive. He alleged that last year two other cottages in the same village were damaged through a similar cause, and suggested that the transit of locomotives should be prevented unless they were provided with chimney screens for the prevention of such occurrences. Colonel Ashley stated that accidents caused by motor vehicles were not systematically reported to him, but he was aware that sparks emitted from road locomotives in some cases constituted a danger to property adjoining the roads. He had not at present powers to make regulations prescribing the use of spark arresters or other similar contrivances in road locomotives, but clause 23 of the draft Road Traffic Bill would give such powers.
The Six-wheeled Omnibus.
THE Home Secretary stated that one six-wheeled Omnibus was licensed early in June as an experiment and it operates between Victoria and Crickiewood Broadway, but it is not yet possible for the police to express an opinion as to whether the vehicle will prove satisfactory.
Widening of Ferry...Lane.
REFERENCE was made by Major Crawfurd to the 11/delay in the widening of Ferry Lane, Tottenham, Middlesex,. it being stated on behalf of. the Ministry of Transport that no fresh development had occurred during the last two months. Major Crawfurd said that apparently the Department had given the Tottenham Council an undertaking to support the scheme provided it was started within two months of permission being given, but the Ministry of' Health' was standing in the way by withholding permission. The Minister of Transport being absent, Viscount Curzon promised to bring the matter to his notice. Mr. R. Morrison _then pointed to the increasing use of this road as one of the main roads to 'Southend, the occurrence of a very serious accident a short time ago, and the likelihood of more accidents if the widening were held up. Viscount Curzon admitted that there had been several serious accidents.
Metropolitan Street Accidents in June.
TIIE number of accidents in the streets of the Metropolitan Police district during the month of June, 1927, which were known to the police, was as follows ;—Fatal accidents, 92; no;-fatal accidents involving personal injury, 4,500; accidents involving damage to property only, 5,699—total 10,291. The total number of persons killed was 92 and injured 4,863.
Russian Oil.
MR. A. V. ALEXANDER asked the Secretary to the Treasury whether the oil purchased by the Shell Transport and Trading Co., Ltd., from the Soviet Government at the request of His Majesty's Government was sold by the company to His Majesty's Government, and if so what amount was paid, or was the company paid a buying commission. Mr. It. McNeill said he understood that at the time of the trade agreement with the Soviet Government in 1021 a verbal request to the effect mentioned In the question was made to the Shell Co. Any purchases made in pursuance of this request were not made on behalf of the Government and none of the oil was sold by the eompany to His Majesty's Government. The remaining part of the question therefore did not arise.