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Opinions and Queries

10th July 1953, Page 43
10th July 1953
Page 43
Page 43, 10th July 1953 — Opinions and Queries
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Traffic Disclosures Unwelcome

IT is hoped that the "Sounding Board" will modulate I the key used by " Janus " in your issue of June 26. Possibly distance blurred the score.

There are also good reasons for not revealing details of much of the work which the vehicles of the Road Haulage Executive are doing. It is submitted that neither the Disposal Board nor the Commission can " sell " a large proportion of the traffic being carried by the R.H.E. Further opinion and, if possible, information is sought.

The R.H.E. " absorbed " appreciable blocks of largescale traders' traffic hitherto dealt with on a private

. carrier basis. It still carries much of this traffic on the same basis, as regards rates and movements arrangements. Whilst the publication of these details might result in putting some customers into touch with reliable hauliers, many traders may be strongly averse to such disclosures. For example, the seller of a widely advertised product may resent the revelation that his commodity is actually manufactured by another concern; a manufacturer may oppose similar disclosure that one of his processes is done outside; whilst another may object to the disclosure of his chief markets.

It is this traffic which is most suitable to the small haulier, but a prospective buyer of a unit may not be acceptable to the trader on whose traffic the vehicles have been engaged. Haulier Tom may be notoriously lax as regards maintenance; new entrant Dick may have no managerial experience; whilst the protective measures which buyer Harry could offer may be inadequate. A trader would not be foolish enough to offer substantial traffic to an unknown on anything like a permanent basis. He may have already reached an understanding with an old friend or have decided to carry all or some of it himself.

Conversely, buyer Dick may not have the slightest interest in the present employment of the vehicles, which he actually requires for other work, and presumably he may be but the nominee of a large-scale organization. Meanwhile, is it to be assumed that the railways will sit still, rather vacantly amused by their "new powers "? L. DONSON HOLMES, A.M.Inst.T. West Bridgford, -Nottingham.

Away with Watertight Compartments

IN his haste to prove that I do not know what I am 'talking about, Mr. I M. Birch has hoist himself with his own petard.

Mr. Ernest Davies, writing quite independently, has interpreted the word " control " in the same way as I have, which is not only the accepted sense in business circles, but is the meaning given to the word by the very schedule (13 of the 1947 Act) which Mr. Birch quotes. The first section of that schedule gives as essential to control that the controlling body "holds more than half in nominal value of its (the subsidiary's) equity share capital." How Mr. Birch equates "more than half" with 50 per cent. I cannot understand.

Then, again, when Mr. Birch quotes Section 18 (5) (a) of the 1953 Act, he fails to read it in conjunction with (b), where the Minister is given powers to stop any body directly or indirectly controlled by the Commission from buying another passenger business. Mr. Birch says that 18 (c) does not apply to London Transport. What is his authority for saying so? The London Transport Executive is, by-virtue of the second schedule to the 1947 Act, a body corporate. Would Mr. Birch deny that it is under the control of the Commission? If he will refer once more to the thirteenth schedule of the 1947 Act he will see it clearly stated that "references to share capital include references to capital in the form of stock."

I am aware, of course, that the case of London Transport is not on a par with that of the Tlllings Group, because the bulk of L.T. stock is at present held by local authorities or private investors, who are the successors to the shareholders in the constituent companies of the L.P.T.B. There is, however, nothing in the Act to stop the sale of London Transport if any financial group did happen to obtain control of the bulk of the stock.

However, this is really of no consequence to my main point, which Mr. Birch ignores by the time-honoured device of putting a misleading question. He does not attempt to rebut my contention that the B.T.C. bus companies are run just as well as any others and there is no reason whatever, except political theory, why control of them should pass into private hands.

Mr. Birch ignores the other examples of rationalization which I quoted and asks if I really think that it needed the 1947 Act to bring about the transfer of the Eastern National Midland section to United Counties. To which I rejoin, then why wasn't it done before? The answer, I suspect, is to be found in the fact that whereas the old L.N.E. and L.M.S. each owned a quarter of the shares in Eastern National, the whole of the shares in United Counties (except for a few in private hands) were held by Tillings.

The clue to Mr. Birch's attitude is to be found in the sentence where he says that buses should be run by busmen and not by railwaymen. It will be a good thing for the transport industry and for the country when we can get away from these watertight compartments and look at problems as transport men.

London, W.C.1. AENEAS.

Gentlemen of the Road

Niiiky I be permitted to answer P. W. Holmes (issue iv" June 26), for it would seem that very little of his 28 years at the wheel could have been spent in night driving.

In only 10 years of car-driving experience I have always found the " trunkers' " light signals clear and their driving courteous—far more than can be said for many private motorists;.however, we can, perhaps, blame this on to those with over two decades of driving who have not even noticed how few vehicles of any class have stoplights.

With regard to the only doubt with this code, I have always found that the flash of the pass (or dipped) light means "After you," and the flashing of all lights is reserved for "I'm coming through."

Kirkbean, Dumfries. E. D. FROST.


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