COMMERCIAL MOTOR•
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Recognized in Business and Military Circles as the Leading Journal.
The Authority on all forms of Motor Transport. Largest Circulation.
J 1 Conducted by EDMUND DANGERFIELD.
1 14th February, 1918.
War Finish.
LAST WEEK we published an article by a regular contributor, which was in effect a plea for careful consideration as to whether the new quantity era of manufacture that has now been inaugurated in this country is not likely in the end rather to relapse into our persistent British method of producing only the best, in face of the fact that it is not always tho best that is wanted. _.The best in point of quality is by no means always the most suitable. We, in this great country, have been slow to realize what is good enough in much of our manufacture. We have preferred to insist that the best in quality, the most finished, but not necessarily the best in design, is what people must buy. The world's trade will be disputed, with the resumption of international economic relations, with a keenness incomparably greater than anything that has gone before. We , shall have in our designs and sPecifications to produce what is good enough for the requirements that have to be met, rather than what is necessarily better than competitive products. There will always be a certain restricted market for the very best, but it will be what is‘near enough that will sell in quantities. And the whole new economic situation, difficult as it is at present to diagnose it with any exactitude, will mostly certainly call for quantity production above all other considerations. i Most of us are familiarwith the grade of work which is styled "war finish." We have seep machine tools and other requirements boldly painted with the inscription. It appears from the very size of its lettering-to be intended as an apology for the absence of "spit and polish." Is there not a very strong case, in a great majority of instances, for its continuance'? Reputations are as well founded on suitability as on exclusiveness. The Ford is at least as well known as the Rolls-Royce. Mr. Edwin Orde, the president of the North East Coast Institute, at a recent meeting, well defined "war finish" as "careful distribution of material and the economical use -of spit and polish."
Why is not that broad specification good enough for "peace finish" in many of our productions? Let us get the essentials beyond reproach, but waste no time in useless finish. In that way can production be , speeded up and the widest markets covered. There is no charter for slipshod methods in such a proposal ; there is no suggestion that inaccuracy is desirable. There is rootii for endeavour in this direction by the various branches of the commercial-vehicle industry. The designer and the works manager are primarily concerned. There • is nothing inconsistent with the production specialist's ideas in that we shall not waste time in "spit and polish." lb may necessitate an extension of his jig and tool staff, but that spells quantity production. .
Where we produce one vehicle now, we want to produce two to-morrow. If we are to hold our own in the coming war, we must at least maintain the productive pace of to-day, and, if possible, with improvements in material facilities; greatly increase it. As one means to that end, we should at least consider how far it may be expedient to "war finish" peace-time productions. ...
The Lack of Efficient Non-skids for Solid Tyres.
W E ARE NOW in the middle of the season during which; even in normal times, when road . cleaning organizations were fully available, and despite the energetic measures as a rule projected by up-to-date road surveyors and highway authorities, the wherewithal for alarming skidding is generally apparent. With many 'road surfaces now left entirely to their own devices and to the kindly services of occasional sharp downpours of rain, there are all the elements of danger from serious side and front slipping at the present time. There is an article published in this issue reviewing this position, with certain allusions which are now almost ancient history. Our contributor makes the point that practically no progress has been made in this direction for the last eight or ten years, and this in itself, essentially true as it is is a remarkable fact. The Royal Automobile Club, in February of 1907, carried out some tests with a view to discovering effective slip preventers. The search was partially effective, but only in the case of pneumatic tyres, and the position is-much the same to-day.
Has it to be admitted that the solid-tyred vehicle is entirely dependent upon the skilful handling of the steering wheel for any immunity it may enjoy from uncontrollability on slippery roads? Surely some device will ultimately.be produced which shall do away with this undesirable :characteristic. Front-wheel brakes promised well at one time, but they were practically abandoned on account of several structural difficulties, one in particular being that of keeping them differentially adjusted.
Undoubtedly the four-wheel-drive class of chassis construction will receive much impetus from its wartime adoption. The effects of the success of these models on active service is certain to be seen in some post-war designs for commercial machines. It will be interesting to notice if this has the result of rendering the modern rubber-tyred lorry more controllable in certain circumstances than is the present-day rear-driven type. Nothing short of some such drastic modification of design ais this would appear to offer much remedy for the defect cif liability to skid.
The Threat of Railway Control.
IN RECENT ISSUES of THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR there have appeared contributed articles from various sources, all of which are unanimous in anticipating great danger to the development of motor transport from railway interests. If it were merely a matter of the railways endeavouring to maintain their own position and, to induce the public to patronise them rattier than read vehicles, on the grounds of superior efficiency or economy, we should have no complaint to make. This would be simply fair competition`, and we should be among the first to admit that for the carriage of certain classes of goods over certain distances the motor cannot compete with the railway. If, by the removal of terminal delays or by . effecting improvements in organization, the railways can enlarge their sphere of superiority, credit will undoubtedly be due to them, and it behoves those who are interested in the development of the commercial ;motor to keep up their end by similarly effecting economies and improving their vehicles and their methods.
Straight competition is one thing, but an attempt on the part of powerful interests to suppress fair competition is quite another thing. The railways recognize in the motor vehicle a dangerous rival. There are two ways in which they may endeavour to neutralize that rival's efforts. One, as already stated, is by internal improvement resulting in stronger competition. The other is by the less straightforward, but possibly more • effective, method of getting control of the rival, not in order to utilize him, but in order to suppress him.
We have all heard of agenciesheing taken up for the ,purpose not of selling the products of the firm represented, but of preventing sales by controlling them in the interests of some other firm_ By such methods a -powerful group of manufacturers might damage a possible rival. The case in point appears to be on the • same footing, but upon an immensely greater scale. Railway influences have spread their tentacles every where. If a proposed law does not commend itself to the railways, there is a very good chance that it will be thrown out. At any rate, there will be many people who will not have the pluck to support it.
In Parliament, and, for that matter, in the Cabinet. itself and in Government Departments, the railway influence is extraordinarily prominent. What more probable than that this influence may be exerted to throttle a rival in its infancy, quite regardless of the_ fact that any such action would be highly detrimental to the best,interests of the community ?
Opinions may differ as to the possible utility of canals, but they cannot differ as to the validity of the historical evidence to the effect that in this country the canals have been killed mainly by the deliberate scheming of the railways, rather than by their own inherent inefficiency. If the latter was so great as to condemn the canal system, in any case, why did the railways go to the expense of getting control of canals which they have never shown the slightest signs of utilizing properly ?
If we admitethat the inherent drawbacks of canals are such that their competition 'could never have been dangerous, then we only strengthen our reasons: for believing that the railways will use all possible subterranean methods of undermining the road transport movement. Their action in the case of what was, perhaps, an obviously inferior competitor was fairly drastic, and, on moral grounds, fairly questionable. 018 That being so, what is likely to be their action in respect of a competitor that is admittedly very dangerous and very progressive? If we have to expect from the railways not merely fair competition, but the exertion of hidden influences, it becomes apparent that the need which has always existed for a Parliamentary party in support of road traction is now reaching the stage of extreme urgency. We can fight open competition by organizing our own businesses and improving our plant ; but all this is useless against the class of competition that works behind the scene, pulling strings the movement of which brings about legislation which, when examined is found to have a cumulative restrictive effect on a certain development.
Unquestionably, the railway interests want watching from this standpoint, and it is equally beyond question that at present we do not possess the ability to watch them. We are, for example, almost entirely in the dark as to the degree to which the railways may have indirectly influenced the constitution of the new Road Transport Control Board. Anyone can see that road motor interests have not been working unfairly in this or in any other direction. The result, apparently, is that these interests are ignored even when it is perfectly obvious that they ought to be recognized.
' There must be some reason for this lack of recognition, occurring as it does, again and again. Are we to put it down to sheer stupidity in official quarters ?
This -seems hardly reasonable, since in practically every Government Department we find nowadays some recognition of the value of expert advice in specialized spheres. If it is not stupidity, it must be some influence that is being constantly exerted to prevent road transport from being properly represented. If this influence is not connected with the railway, from what source does it originally spring?
The Gas Permit Regulations.
0 N ANOTHER PAGE of this issue we are able to give the Iregulations under which gas permits may be issued. So far as commercial vehicles and public service vehicles are concerned, there seems to be no reason to anticipate difficulty in obtaining gas permits in the case of vehicles which yet have to be converted to run on either or both fuels. The matter of the extent of the emergency ration, as a result of representation, has now been treated on a. more reasonable and practical basis. As at first devised, the emergency ration was so small as to be futile, the net effect being to prevent the conversion of vehicles for the alternative fuel instead of the opposite effect desired to be aimed at. In the case of hire cars and taxicabs, and particularly the latter, we fear, however, that the four-gallon ration of liquid fuel is still on the small side. It will, we f eel sure, take a good deal of pressure and persuasion to get taxicabs running on gas. Omnibus proprietors are left with a free hand, and owners of commercial vehicles will be required provisionally, in return for a gas permit, to surrender one-third of their present allowance of petrol in respect of those vehicles which it is proposed,to convert The remaining twothirds should well meet the needs of the case, particularly as there is no restriction upon the quantity of gas which may be used. In the event of there being any uncertainty about supplies of gas, we would urge the advisability of an early discussion of the'position with the manager of the local gas undertaking.