THE C.M.U.A. DINNER AT NOTTINGHAM.
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Mr. A. R. Atkey, M.P., on Modern Developments.
MEMBERS of the National Council of the Commercial Motor Users Association, who met on October 4th and 5th at. Nottingham, were the guests of the East Midland auxiliary organization at a dinner, which was given, under the presidency of Mr. Geo. H. P. Dalgleish, at the Victoria Station Hotel, after the conference on the first day. Exigencies of space in, our last issue prevented us from dealing with this portion of the proceedings, our report covering the business of the council meetingwith but a brief reference to the subsequent gathering.
The company at the dinner included the Mayor of Nottingham (Mr: F. Berryman), Mr. A. R. Atkey, M.P. for the 'Central Division of the City; Mr.
E. S. Shrapnel' Smith, C.B.E., M.Inst.T.; Lieut.-Col. F. Brook, D.S.O., M.C., Chief Constable of Nottingham; and Mr. T. Donaldson Wright, manager of the Transport Department of the Nottingham Chamber of Commerce.
The Chairman's Speecn.
Mr. E. S. Shrapnell.Smith, president of the Association, proposed " The City of Nottingham," referrine to the pleasure which it had afforded the Council to hold one of its provincial meetings in a centre which possessed a wet-Id-wide reputation for its industries. The ceremony in which Dr, lefacinamara,, Minister of Labour, participated a few days previously, yvhen the first sectiou of ethe .works is connection with the Trent navigation scheme was opened, reminded them of the great improvements which weee being effected with regard to a waterway which formed one af Nottingham's proud possessions. The project, when completed, would ;form a link of great importance between road and water traeeport. Nottingham was one of the cities which claimed to be the centre of England, although other places were considered rivals in that respect. Whatever the geographical considera. tion might he, Nottingham; on account of its admirable railway communications, might be reasonably 'regarded as having established its claims to primary consideration.
Their interest in meeting in Nottingham as members of the Commercial Motor Users Association naturally centred upon motoring, and, in contra.st with the conditions which obtained when he first came to the city, it was encouraging to notice the great progress which had been effected, especially through the activity manifested in .recent years in connection with the Chamber of-Cominerce,-which had established an excellenttransport department, under the direction of Mr. Donaldson Wright. With the completion of the Trent scheme an alternative form of transport would also be presented, to the great advantage of agriculturists as well as to the general body of traders' and with regard to the river project those responsible for road traffic might with great advantage work along co-operative lines.
The Mayor. of Nottingham replied in very happy terms.
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Mr. Atkey Deals with Modern Transport Developments.
Mr. A. R. Atkey, M.P., who proposed the principal toast; that of " The Association," congratulated the members upon having established an organization of an invaluable character, the activities of which covered the whole are'a of the country, to the great. advantage of its members, The experience in the early days of the Association was, he thought, characteristic of the criticism and hostility which, founded upon misappree hension, often attended the formation of new bodies, and he took it to be one of the functions of the Association to dissipate• any misconceptions if they 'gill existed.' It was with many people .the ease that when a Whig became annoying, they thought it should he abolished, and so it was in the incipient stages of com
mercial motor and other work. But other forms of transport had caused the gravest inconvenience to the community before they were brought ultimately to a stage of efficiency, and in this .00nnection he well remembered the days of the old Metropolitan Railway, with its cumbrous appliances burning that which was presumed to he coal. But for such beginnings they would never have had the excellent underground system of locomotion which was London's present pride, and so it was necessary with regard to all new forms of traction that opposition should oe met in the interests ef eventual national progress. He regretted, however, to say that in this country of boasted liberty new move. reents were often badly treated, involving vexatious onnesition, and sometimes persecution. They were fortunate, however, in Nottingham in being in posiesRion of a very enlightened public authority, and their interests as users of commercial and other motor vehicles were in the very best of keeping. (Hear, hear.) He happened to know that in many other parts of the country commercial motor users were eot so adVantageouely placed. He viewed the Asso. ciation's share in the transport world as being that of a unit adding to a movement the fullness of which was eery imperfectly appreciated by the great majority of the people, and be based that observation upon what he thought was a truism—that they could measure the industrial development and prosperity of any nation on the face of the earth -by examining carefully the facilities which it provided for people and goods being moved from one part of it toanother. That, he thought., was an absolutely true index with regard to the position in the work' of any one nation, and, therefore, it naturally follOwed that. the Association had for its objects those which were of the. highest, character. He chou..glif, the'"eissomation was to be commended, and' he sincerely trusted, therefore, that. they would press forward in promoting the efficiency of tho organization, because in these days the only way of removing obstacles was by creating a healthy public opinion tending to the recognition of their true value in the economic development of the country.
He was quite sure that commercial motor users of the country would not look upon the development of transport on the Trent with the same jealous eyes as railway companies had done. The view taken by the companies was that it would interfere with, their operations in carrying goods, but that, he submitted, was not the true view. He asked those who were concerned in the transport trade to take a long view in
this matter. He was quite satisfied, from what already had been experienced with eegard to transport arrangements, that, although itmight he true, under the new arrangement, that many thousands of tons of goods would come to Nottingham by river, which would otherwise have been sent by road or rail, they would be sent in greater volume by water, and after their arrival road transport would be used enormously in their distribution. The Trent Navigation Co. itself had already undertaken certain developments of roa,d'transport from Nottingham, because it was found to be much cheaper to distribute goods in that way from certain places than by carrying them farther by water, and thus any form of traction which afforded wider facilities for the distribution of goods became a great national asset, cal-. culated to afford remarkable advantages to the community. He was quite satisfied that the development of road transport was going to Contribute enormously to the greater efficiency of Great Britain as an industrial country.
He thought the Association was wise in providing means for safeguarding the interests of its members, and that it-was engaged in promoting a form of 'transport which was calculated to confer greater advantages on the country than
any other system.
The chairman, in reply, acknowledged the cordiality, with which_ the toast had been received. In his opinion, those who were associated with road transport work might reasonably -claim that facilities for travel were now being afforded of the healthiest character for all, charse-bancs catering adequately for the needs 'of the working classes, whilst there were private cars in abundance for these who were able to pay for them. The chairman referred also with interest to the fact that Mr, H. A. Bennett, the former chairman of the East Midlands Aseocia, -Lion, who had also been for many years . a member of the National Council, was to be a candidate for municipal honours in Nottingham upon the occasion of theapproaching November election, and expressed hearty good wishes for his success. With regard to the, Trent navigation scheme, those who were desirous of contributing to the success of the 'Transport Department of the Notting, ham Chamber of Commerce were look ing forward to the time when the new river project would also lead to a great increase of road operations in the conveyance of goods.
Referring to the work of. the Association, Mr. Dalgleish said that many conditions had been secured for the protection of motorists and, incidentally, for the general pz/blie, and he trusted that the same spirit of consideration would be shown coincidently with the progress of the indu.stry.—(Applauso.)