The New Australian Tariff.
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IN THE INTERESTS of Empire trade, we feel it incumbent upon us to draw • attention to the in, evitable consequences of the new Customs tariff imposed by tbe.Commonwealt.h of,Australia, so far as it affects motor vehicles. .
Many of our readers will be aware. that, hitherto,, British chassis have entered Australia free of duty, „receiving a preference as againsti,oreign chassis. In the new scheme this preference is still apparently maintained, but, instead of British chassis entering free, they are liable to a paynient of 10 per cent, as against a general tariff duty of 20 per cent.
The duty is payable on the homoconsumption value and not on the selling value of the vehicle in Australia. This home consumption value must be given in the currency of the country of export, and, when assessing the duty, the Australian Customs adopt the gold standard rate of exchange. Thus, 'for instance, in the case of an American vehicle retailed at horne at the price of 2,724 dollars, the duty is aSsessed at the nominal rate of 4.85 dollars to the E instead of the present rate of about 3.89 dollars. Thus duty is payable only on £582 instead of 1700. At 40 per cent. this means a payment of E112 instead of 1,140-.--.a difference of very nearly £30 in favour of the American product. .
It is apparent, thN, that this method of assessing the duty has the effect of largely counteracting theintended scheme of preference in favour of British goods. Moreover, at the present time, British prices are necessarily high, so that it is to be feared that the effect of the new scheme will be to make many Australian buyers regard the prices of the best products as prohibitive when the duty has been added. Any such tendency would certainly react to he detriment of British trade with the Commonwealth.
Incidentally, the scheme, for similar reasons, must give the American the equivalent of an enormous preference as against the French or Italian vehicle, .practically abolishing the competition of either of these, except by the rather complicated method of first importing them into Great Britain and then exporting from stock in Great Britain and quoting in British currency.
We suggest that the, whole matter is one to which the Commonwealth Government sheuld give further consideration, with a. view to modifying the method ofassessing the duty payable.
We also feel very strongly that serious consideration should be given to the advisability of reverting to the old system, under Which British imports were admitted free of duty. Under the new scheme BrYcish vehicle bodies are charged slightly less than ioseign bodies, but, in all eases, the rates are high, genevally amounting to 40 per cent, or more on the British products. The duty on tyres imported into Australia frein Great Britain is 25 per cent., as against a general tariff of 40 per cent.
Considered as a whole, the scheme must surely retard the adoption of motor transport in Australia to the detriment of the development of that great Country.
Left-band Control is Wrong.
WITH REFERENCE to the present discussion as regards the, desirability of the left-hand driving position on motor vehicles, it is at least clear that any objections to this system must -be magnified if it be applied to large confunercial and public-service vehicles. .
The principal point against the left-hand drive is, ofcourse, the difficulty .of signalling to following traffic. This difficulty is not serious in the ease of a private car, whose 'driver, if he is the car owner, generally has a friend seated by his side, who can readily signify his &sire to turn or swing out to the right.
The difficulty is more considerable in the case' of a closed ear ciantrolled by a paid driver, who probably has no' one occupying the seat alongside of him. It is more serious still in the ease of a comparatively slow-moving vehicle, for that reason the more likely to be overtaken, especially if this vehicle has a bulky . body, rendering it impossible for the driver to take any steps to indicate his intentions to following' traffic. It is, of course, conceivable that some regulations might' be made, rendering the fitting of a mechanical signalling arrangement compulsory, but this would be an annoying complication and expense.
As to the general question of the left-hand driving position en motors of any kind, it is clear that the objections to the position which-, having due regard to the rule of the road, is the inferior one, are increased in this country owinz to the very large nuinbes of bulky trade vehicles in use.. The driver, seated to the left., is at a disadvantage when he has overtaken and desires to pass any such vehicle, beoanse he is, compelled to draw out on to the wrong side of the read to a much greater extent before he can see round it. Thus, one must conclude. that, altogether, the left-hand position, is undesirable on commercial and public-service vehicles, and the presence of these vehieles in large numbers on our roads renders it. all the more important that the whole question of discouraging the left-hand control on any class of motorcar should be carefully considered.
A Wise Selection and Re-election. _ THE RE-ELECTION of Mr. H. C. B. tricierdown as President of the Association of British Motor Manufacturers for his third year of office is a matter of interest to all who are concerned with commercial motor vehicles, as indicating the prominent positions which the representatives of this section of the industry naw hold in the motor industry as a whole.
It goes without saying that the manufacturers choose as their elected leader a man who, in their opinion, possesses an exceptional degreeof initiative and breadth of view, and it is satisfactory that they should turn to the commercial motor industry for such a man. and should further, show that they were justified in doing so by re-electing him.
Undoubtedly, Mr. Underdown has done a very great deal to make the Association of British Motor Manufacturers the powerful body that it has now become. We believe that he has been largely responsible for the satisfactory conclusion of the negotiations that have been so long proceeding between the Association and the S.M.M. and T.The final settlement emphasizesthe general opinion that the coexistence -of the tw'o bodies as separate units is a necessity and should be a permanency.
Another piece of work of the utmost. value with which Mr. TJnderdown has been prominently associated is the formation of the Motor Manufacturers' Researeh Association. This is now an accomplished fact, and the Association has begun work with adequate financial resources and very influential backing. Distinct from re-search, but allied withit is the subject of standardization. In respect of this matter, we are far behind our friends in the United States. Our organization for standardization in the motor industry has, we believe, been far from 'perfect in the past, and the result has been only very gradual progress.
We look with 'confidence to,the Assonation and its presidentto. accelerate a movement of primary importance if the British industry is ever to gain that share of the world's markets which is becoming-daily more and more necessary to its continued prosperity.
London's Bus Developments.
THE DECISION of the Local Legislation Committee of the House of Commons, on the proposal (.1 the London County Council to link up the dead ends of its tramway. system in the central area of London, is almost certain to'be Upheld in the House' itself and in the House of Lords, for the proposal is an eminently practical one. The dead ends of Lenelon's tramway system have, hitherto, been linked up, in a measure, and wherever there was a defined stream of traffic between t;ine dead end and another, by the buses of the LO.O.C.' but no one could contend that the linkage was absolute. It was really a deflection to and, again, from a parallel cable. With through tickets and connecting vehicles; the tram service of London will undergo a genuine
development. ,
Our own belief is that the tramway and the tramcar have been rendered obsolete by the rubber tyre and the internal-combustion eogine, but so much money has been sunk in tramway undertakings that it inflow unreasonable to expect that they can all be serapped. We deahowever, foresee a rapid development of the employment of motor omnibuses by trainway organizations, and, eventually, the tramcar, with its definite limitations, will be displaced by the independent and more flexible vehicle.
In the meantime, the greatest possibility exists of co-ordination, more or less complete, .between all the c4 passenger-carrying services of the Metropblis, in which the tramway system can play a. there impertant part than has hitherto been possible. .
We can quite understand that the L.G.O.C. is not-. enamoured of the scheme, as it introduces a rival .and competing system in the central area, .where traffic is-offering at almost all hours of the day. But, the public will benefit, because it is almost at any tinie, possible to stand on the kerbside in the central area and be refused admission to bus after bus. We believe the service in London can never catch up to public demand, for the very provision of extra travelling fa-cilities only serves to develop the travelling faculty..
Finish for the Fields—Is the British Farm Tractor Too Well Made?
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HENEYER THE British engineer turns his hand to a new job. he generally displays -a . tendency to Inish off the article that he makes rather better than is actually necessary. All through the history of motorcar construction this haa been the -case. .
British manufacturers have always "sho-wn a preferende for making highly finished. products if their facilities would.allow them to do so, and the market "would permit;' and, even in the face. Of an unmistakeable demand for a motorcar in which costly exterior finish.-la absolutely reduced to the minimum, the majority of manufacturers have persisted in turning rout a better finished article than many buyers really want. It seems almost as though this matter of high 'finish ha a become an incorrigible British habit.
In the case of heavy vehicles the. tendency is also displayed to a certain extent. There are instances' in which manufacturers seem. to be endeavouring to Make their lorries a kind of heavy equivalent to, a Rolls-Royce car and while they no doubt derive a great amount of Eesthetic pleasure from so doing, it is quite an open question whether it is the wisest course to adopt when the -.commercial vehicle user wants a vehicle for utility purposes and for that alone.
The manufacture of farm tractors. is a comparatively new branch of the industry into which motor manufacturers ate entering, and, like every other British product, these farm tractors are particularly well made. Some of them display a very high standard of engineering skill, and their design is excellentand their finish a .source of delight to the critical engineer. It is very doubtful, however, whether it will be appreciated nearly so much in the agricultural communities to which the tractors go. In the agricultural machinery world, the American manufacturer long ago discovered the fact that, providing he made a machine which w.ould satisfactorily do the work required, he could substitute . paintwork inpretty eolours for external 'mechanical finish. Providing the working parts of a ma-chine were finished well enough to stand up to their work without .rapid wear, there was no need to ensure a clean and smooth exterior to the. castings, and other structural parts of the machine. A gaudy coat of paint appealed snore
to the farmer's eye. .
Moreover, appearance is not the only factor which enters into the question.. Agricultural machjnery is, probably, subjected to greater neglect a-nd greater exposure' to weather than any other class of clechani-• cal product. Against the ravages of weather, paint is an excellent protective, and as an antidote to neglect, robustness of construction and simplicity of mechanism are the only safeguards. Thus, when the manufacturer who has been accustomed to -making motorcars or motor lorries or high-clans engineering work of any description embarks upon the production of farm tractors, he must realize that he is tackling an entirely different problem, and that the criterion of value is entirely different _from that by which his former products have been adjudged. Especially is this the ease in regard to external finish.