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News and Comment.
This journal is extensively read by the heads (A many wealthy commercial houses,
Topical Subjects.
Our leading articles this week deal with the following topical subjects : (I) " Taxation Investigations" ; (2) " Sheffield Motorbus Terms: id. per Omnibus-mile Diminishing to Nothing" ; and (3) " Middlesex County Council and Local Tolls."
Cheaper Petrol.
As from Monday last, the. retail price: of petrol has been reduced by ld. per gallon all round. It is now officially quoted by the big distribitters. at: No. 1, Is. td. ; No. 2, Is. Od. ; No. 3, Is. 5d. This is obviously the -first step of a series which will follow as the result of the big concerns' decisions to meet the competition or the several new sources of supply, but primarily to counter the berzole developments.
Shrewsbury's "Royal."
We acknowledge with gratification the numerous messages of congratulation which, have reached us upon the manner in which we concentrated upon the county of Salop and the counties of Wales, in connection with our Royal Show C;eitio and Report numbers.
The Editor personally regrets very much, that his close attention in London to the preparations for opposition, before the House of Lords, to the Middle.sex County Council proposals for motorbus taxation prevented his paying even a short visit himself to the Royal Show this. year. He very much
missed the accustomed opportunity of meeting many friends of long standing, and of making new ones.
" Swan " Spirit.
We wish to make clear that " Swan" spirit, which is marketed by the British Petroleum Co., Ltd., for gas plants and vapour lamps, is of a specific gravity of about 0.680, and not of a heavier gravity than ordinary Shell spirit, A Bulky Load by Maudslay.
Thi a illustration herewith shows a very interesting and •gtill further use to which the commercial motor has been put. It depicts a gas container being transported per Mao.iislay from Oldham to Layton, in Essex. The container was manufactured by the Oldh.am Gas Meter Co., Ltd. and weighs three tons 10 cwt. As dimensions are 12 ft. in diameter and 10 ft. 6 ins. high. The enormous size of the consi ruction will be fully realized tition making comparisons with the houses shown in the background of the picture.
The .direct journey by road between the two places is about 230 miles, but during the transit many detours had to be effected in order to avoid certain bridges which would have been met with in the
direct route ; traffic considerations also had to he observed. It will be seen, on close examina
tions, that several branches of trees came off worst in the struggle during part of the run. The time taken on the journey, from when the container was loaded on the lorry in the Gas Meter Co.'s yard to when it was delivered at Leyton, was two days.
The transportation was satisfactorily carried out by Central Motors, Oldham, Ltd. in addition to running several goods-carrying vehicles, this company possesses a Beet of chars-a-bancs
A Lancashire Bridge Recoils
My. struction. Compton Hall, AL Inst.C.E., county bridgom
for Lanes., writes to invite our co-operation with him in giving publicity to the fact that Sankey Canal Bridge, belonging to the L. and N.W.H., which carries the Liverpool and Warrington main road over the Widnes and St. Helens canal, is undergoing reconstraction. This bridge carries much of the heavy traffic between Liverpool and Manchester, as well as subsidiary traffic from other centres in north and west Lancashire to the south-east of the, county and Cheshire. The existing bridge is of the swing pattern, and only about 12 ft. wide, whilst its strength has for years been known to be inadequate. It. was only after prolonged negotiations that the County Council was able to settle an agreement with the railway company to take the bridge over and reconstruct it, this satisfactory arrangement, having been concluded under special powers which the Lancashire County Council obtained in the year 1908.
The tenders for the construction of a bascule bridge, worked electrieally, show that the new bridge will have a width of 40 ft., and that it will be capable of taking the heaviest types of Lancashire traffic. Unfortunately, however, reconstruction will occupy something like six months, and. the diversion of traffic over an adjoining timber swing bridge will not include heavy motor traffic. Nothing can cross this temporary bridge which exceeds five tons in total weight ; the approaches to the makeshift bridge are very awkward, and the passage of trailers has been prohibited. Hence,. all the heavier traffic will be required to take alternative routes, and the best choice is through Huyton or Prescot, St. Helens, Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows, and Leigh, from Liverpool for Manchester,
or turning to the south at Newtonle-Willows if from Liverpool for Warrington.
The county authorities intimate that they regret the temporary inconvenience, which is unavoidable ; large coasting schooners come up the canal to a point above the bridge, and it is therefore nupos. sible to put up a temporary fixed. bridge, whilst the cost of a temporary swing bridge, of such a strength that it could take all the traffie that at present uses the road, would be prohibitive. It is, of course, only at the cost of such temporary inconvenience. that the benefits of improved bridge construction can be obtained, and owners in the district will no doubt be ready to recognize this fact.
Parliament's Intentions.
Various questions were put in the House of Commons, during last week, in respect of official investigations with regard to motorvehicle construetion and motorvehicle taxation. Mr. Herbert Samuel, M.P., in reply to Mr. Kellaway, repeated the intention of the Government to appoint a Joint Select Committee to consider the general question of contributions to road expenses by the owners of motor and trolly omnibus services. As to the question of requiring owners of other heavy motor vehicles to pay a larger contribution than now to the cost of roads, this was receiving the attention of the Treasury. In reply to a further question to Mr. Kellaway on the 1st inst., Mr. Samuel stated that he hoped it might be possible to begin the investigation, at the hands of a Joint Select Committee, during the present session of Parliament.
Mr. Lloyd George, when receiving a deputation from the Association of Municipal Corporations on the 3rd inst., dealt. very directly with the subject of control by the State in relation to grants. This deputation was primarily concerned with points in respect of votes concerning education, but Mr. Lloyd George's remarks cannot fail to be equally applicable to control when grants are given in aid of road construction or road maintenance. He could not understand why any municipality should object to control, and he particularly remarked : "The taxpayer was for the first time entering intn a sort of partnership, and bringing in a very sebstantial amount of cash, a-nd he thought. he was entitled to have a vote in the management which was proportionately adequate to the amount of contribution he made. On behalf of the Government he accepted the principle of a large discretion to local authorities, but there must be central control."
n12 New Registrations.
Rolled Rubber Tyre Syndicate, Ltd. (£20,000), by Messrs. Colyer and Colyer, 1, Clement's Inn, Strand, W.C. Conway Jenkins, Ltd. (£5000), 175, Piccadilly, W. First directors: C. Christopher, F. C. Jenkins, and F. Atkinson.
The Gavin-Armour Steel Wheel Corporation, Ltd. (E110,000), with its offices at 34, John Street, Bedford Row, W.C. Alfred Dawson and Co. (Rush mere), Ltd. (£5000), to acquire the business of haulage contractors, etc., now carried on by G. Fish and A. Dawson, at Whitton, Suffolk.
C.M.U.A. Proceedings.
A meeting of the Gene:al Committee of the Commercial Motor Users Association was held on Tuesday, the 30th June.
Present.—Colonel R. E. Crompton (chairman), Colonel T. J. Kearns, Brig.-Gen. S. S. Long, Messrs. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith, T. B. Browne, F. R. de Bertodano, E. E. Rudge, W. Wolsey Junr.,
• Herbert Cannon, G. Arnold, W. Wig.an, D. S. Kennedy, A. Redgrave, W. G. Lobjoit, H. Lyon 'rhornson, E. W. Rudd, and F. G. Bristow (seeretarY).
Parwje Committer.—Mr. T. B. Browne presented the report of the Parade Committee. Mr. G. W. Watson had been re-appointed inspecting engineer, and it had been resolved to hold the Parade again on Whit-Monday, 24th May, 191b, in London.
Joint Committee of Mechanical Rood Transport Associations.—Me. E. S. Shrapnell-Smith reported proceedings of a meeting of the Joint Committee held on 12th June.
Manchester Corporation. Bill (8ession 1914).—The question of making a vote to support opposttion to the proposal of the Manchester Tramways Committee to pay 2d. per mile run to certain authorities in respect of projected motorbus services was considered, and correspondence was reported with the Manchester, Liverpool and Counties C,M.IT.A. It was resolved that a donation of £20 should be made to support the opposition.
Finance.—The report. from the Finance Committee on the question of the revised Legal Defence arrangements was received. The Budget for 1914, showing an excess of income over expenditure, was received from the Finance Committee and adopted. The financial statement for the month of May was received and considered satisfactory.
New Hem hers.—Twenty new members were elected.
The Motor Trade Association and Restraint of Trade.
In the House of Commons on a recent occasion, Mr. Chiozza Money asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention had been directed to the fact that the Motor Trade Association, pursuance of its policy of conserving the minimum resale prices scheduled in its lists, had published the names of 42 firms from whom their members must withhold all goods manufactured by them, and whether he would consider the advisability of introducing legislation to prevent such a.bnses.
Mr. Robertson (Under Secretary): I have made inquiries, and am informed that the members of the Association are not under an obligation to withhold all their goods from the persons named in the list, but only such or their goods as they themselves desire to protect, and have for that purpose included in the protected list of the Association. I understand that any member of the Association can regain his liberty to supply any of his goods, so included, to these or other firms by withdrawing such goods from the protected list.
Mr. Money also asked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the multiplication of agreements in restraint of trade made between combinations of manufacturers and combinations of retailers, devised to maintain artificial prices against the the Board of Trade were collecting details of such agreements, and, if so, whether he could publish them as a Parliamentary Paper.
Mr. Robertson : The Board of Trade have not undertaken any systematic collection of such particulars as my hon. friend refers to.