OPINIONS and QUERIES
Page 20
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LUTON REBELLION CREATES A STIR I WOULD like to express, through your columns, my 'thanks to the many hauliers who have written and telephoued to me in the past few days.
The support aRd kind words offered are greatly appreciated, but I would reinind them that I am only one of an ever-growing body of indignant hauliers who are determined to see the injustices of the past 16 years righted. Silly letters to the Press, under false names, will not deter us from our duty.
The description "Multum in Parvo " as applied to me in your columns by a kind contributor, when answering that unknown, unidentifiable ,person "Brown of Leicester," is day by day becoming an apt name for the small haulier, who, flocking to our standard, knows full well that our motto is a sound One, viz., "Honesty. Integrity and Good Faith."
In closing, I Would remind all hauliers that in my opinion their only salvation is through the Hauliers
Mutual Federation, E. B. HOWES. Harpenden.
SEE TO IT THAT FREEDOM IS RESTORED
TO deal adequately with the subject on Which I am writing to you would require more words than are to he found in a dozen volumes of "War and Peace."
Therefore, that thievish rogue " brevity becomes essential.'
For some time past, 1 have watched with interest the tendency towards Governmental control of the transport side of the motor industry. Such control is, at best, the worst and most bureaucratic form of monopoly. I feel convinced that if the present trend of affairs be allowed to have full run, the haulage trade will 'definitely find itself in the position of one large monopoly. If we look carefully into the various seemingly little steps which have been taken from time to time and the greater steps which are presently becoming operative, one ia bound to ask "Where is all this going to lead us; who is going to be carried along in the maelstrom; what is to become of initiative; how many industries, great and small, are involved and what is their future, and how many millions of workers are involved?"
Since monopoly is on a par with mass production, and economy of labour is the chief cOnstitnent of mass production, how many unemployed are going to be created if monopoly in any form is to be allowed?
At the moment, the point which must stand constantly before us is that we must do nothing which will delay, by even one second, the ending of this war by victory, but it is without doubt imperative that every firm, association, body or person in any way connected with sasi
. the haulage in.dustry should prepare themselves to see to it that perfect freedom is restored as soon as hostilities are finished. .
To' be sure of preventing monopoly, strength is required; singleness of action by any one punitive association or body is useless. It would be necessary to have the whole industry, so far as is possible, properly organized; not by bringing pressure to bear from hundreds of units operating singly. At first glance, it would appear almost impossible to have it any other way, but I am quite sure that, faced with determination, any combination of interests, no matter how great, could be officially represented even by one small body.
In conclusion, please let me point out that I pen this letter to preserve, so far as is possible, the individual freedom for which we are supposed to be fighting.
Glasgow, C.5. T. ROGERS, managing director, Kelvin Rubber Co., Ltd.
DOUBTS ON THE QUESTION OF VEHICLE HIRING WITH further reference to the Government Road " Haulage Scheme, I understand that the businesses taken into control are guaranteed their average profits over 1986-37-38, yet 'firms from whom vehicles are hired, are guaranteed no particular revenue. I would like someone to confirm this, for I am in danger, of suspecting the source of my information.
Mr. Frank Lucas, of Brampton, in your issue dated May 28, advises well when he suggests that the hauliers should " organize themselves." It is not too late, and I should like to see more comments in your valuable paper—a paper that has done much in the past for the road-transport industry, and I feel certain that you will not care to witness the funeral service of this "hired section" of the same industry.
If the scheme goes through, (and I see no avoiding it if hauliers sit quietly and accept their fate) one Understands that all the traffic will pass through the unit con
trollers. Where, then, is the hired man's safeguard against exploitation'? Is he to be robbed of that too? Must he be denied the small consolation of looking ahead with confidence to resuming work after the war?
Are the haulage association representatives responsible for the two schemes? Had they any hand in the choosing of the firms that have been controlled? If not, who is and why the preference?
I am at a loss to understand why all long-distance, long-established firms were riot taken into the control and compensated in the same way as the unit controllers. Can those firms hiring their vehicles hope to receive the difference between die amounts earned, and their prewar profits?...
M. V. HALL.
Edinburgh.