Motor Omnibuses " Repairing."
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The fortnightly census of Metropolitan public-service motor vehicles, which this journal has taken for close upon eighteen months, has been followed, by a large section of our supporters, with considerable interest. Its compilation has involved us in considerable expense, and the securing of the figures upon the various routes now served has steadily become an undertaking of a most exacting nature. We regret that a few of our readers appear to have put a wrong construction upon some figures that were included in our census of the ist instant, which Was published a fortnight ago. Our object in recording certain additional particulars was to ascertain the actual number of motorbuses io service, during a period of several hours, on the date in question, because our statistics, as previously given, had disclosed, as we have frequently pointed out, only the total number in commission. These previous totals, however, obviously required to have certain deductions made from them, in respect of vehicles which, whilst duly licensed for service, were, at the time of our census, on each alternate Monday. temporarily out of service for one of several reasons. Exception has been taken to the fact that the number of vehicles stated to be " repairing " was excessive, and we can only render the position more clear by explaining that the word " repairing " does not necessarily mean that the vehicles so scheduled were in a repair depot : it means that, during the several hours throughout which the check was taken on any route, some of tile machines reported as " repairing " were not in useful service, though, possibly, only undergoing roadside adjustments. The fact remains that our series of counts showed only 469 vehicles earning money for their proprietors, though we are most ready to agree that some of the defections from service were of a temporary character, and not due to serious repairs.
Motor Delivery Vans.
A considerable portion of this issue, beginning on page 125, will be found to be devoted to the important question of the claims of self-propelled vehicles in relation to the delivery of stores, general goods and produce, by furnishing warehousemen, purveyors, tradesmen and others who have comparatively regular quantities of supplies to distribute to their customers. The day when ownership of a motorvan was the cause of loss, irritation and ridicule has, happily, passed away, as a perusal of the pages in question will testify to all who will give the necessary time to their study. We do not suggest that a motorvan will look after itself, or that it can be made a success in the absence of a reasonable degree of supervision, either by its purchaser directly, or by a competent driver who has undergone a short training course, for a piece of mechanism will show the fruits of neglect as much as will an animal in corresponding circumstances. The relatively brief history of the development of the modern heavy motorvan, in this country, discloses the existence of four separate and distinct branches of constructional advance. As a result of the three valuable series of trials, which were held at Liverpool, between the years 1898 and 19o1, by the Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association, the s-ton steam wagon received first attention, and a very large number of thee machines are now in constant use. Although two 3ocwt. vans, fitted with internal-combustion engines, gained a gold medal at the last of these competitions, it was the independent tractor, or steam horse, which next stepped into prominence, side by side with the motorbus, and, as is well known, it has Lobe admitted that, during the Past twelve months, the public-service vehicle has outstripped the miniature traction engine in the degree of interest bestowed upon it by the general public. The fourth branch to be adequately developed is that of the motorvan. These lighter vehicles are designed to carry loads of two tons or less, and we have only recently arrived at the stage when it is possible, conscientiously, to urge the purchase of these maller models. The trying experiences that were associated with the attempts to foist pleasure car chassis upon willing purchasers, brought, not unnaturally, their own reward, or rather punishment, upon the vendors of the unsuitable vans. as much as upon the over-eager purchasers, whilst the majority of these earlier machines also suffered from the effects. of defective lubrication) faulty ignition, and unsuitable tires.. They were, in short, wholly embryonic : no part had been evolved. In addition to these drawbacks, a driver usually. experienced great difficulty in mastering the change-speed; mechanism, and the excessive shocks imparted to the whole structure, during his novitiate, constituted an added factor in the rapid depreciation which inevitably ensued. Dissatisfactien followed loss, and memories of the bad records of numerous machines, which were sold for what they would fetch several years ago, are ctill found to be a stumblingblock in the-way of that extension -of the use of light motorvans which is now legitimately their due. With a market open to them in which orders may be placed, according to the load capacity and speed required, at all prices ranging from for the tricycle carrier, to i',Ooo for certain approved makes of four-cylinder two-ton vans, we feel justified, having due regard to the interests of the purchaser who goes into the matter largely in anticipation of securing more business at a lower ultimate cost, in declaring that tradesmen, both large and small, should hesitate no longer. Any improvements will be of a gradual character, and anybody who orders motoryans at the present time will not have the mortification of s(Ting his neighbour, and competitor, cutting him out by 20 Per cent, a year hence.
The Taxation Bogey.
Enquiries in official and semi-official quarters satisfy us that the trade motor vehicle will enjoy, in accordance with many sound precedents, practical exemption from any taxation that Parliament may decide upon in reference to pleasure cars. The carriage license of two guineas per annum, under the terms of the Customs and Inland Revenue Act of 1888, does not, as many of our readers will lx' aware, apply to a motorcar, heavy or light, " which is constructed or adapted for use, and is used solely for the conveyance of any goods or burden in Lite course of trade or husbandry, and whereon the Christian name and surname, and place of abode or place of business, of the person, or the name of' style, and principal or any place of business, of the company or firm keeping the same shall be visibly and legibly painted in kw rs of not less than one inch in length." It is important to note that, in order to secure the foregoing exemption as a trade vehicle, the carriage or motorcar must not be used, even accidentally, to carry any passenger other than those specifically employed upon a trade quest, such as .a porter in the delivery of goods, or extra hands in the case of furniture removal. It will be remembered that the representatives of the Motor Van, Wagon, and Omnibus Users' Association, in giving evidence before the Royal Commisr sion on :Motorcars, were instructed by their committee t1 favour the levying of a small tax, amounting to only 5s. per annum per ton of registered axle-weight, in respect of heavy motorcars haying metal tires. There is little doubt that no fresh taxation will be applied to the lighter vans,
having rubber-shod or pneumatic-tircd wheels, when tilt! Act of 1907 is placed upon the Statute Book, although there is every likelihood of a sumptuary tax upon pleasure cars.
Manchester Corporation Licenses.
It is an invidious position for a public body to find itself obliged to act in a judicial capacity at one and the same time when it is zdso a competing claimant for a franchise : the other party is, literally sneaking, at the mercy of its rivals! Vet that is the position which exists to-day in Manchester, just as it is the position that will be brought about in the Metropolis if the London County Council, which has so much at stake in its tramway undertaking, is appointed the traffic authority. Under the Town Police Clauses Act of i847, it rests with the local council, in its uncontrolled discretion, to grant or to withhold licenses in respect of hackney and stage carriages, and it will at once be recognised that there is grave risk that inequitable treatment will arise in such circumstances. It is cogent to the subject under review, that the Manchester City Council should be asked, at its next general meeting, how it comes about that a number of its own motorbuses are running, comparatively unmolested and evidently behind the shield of official protection, at a time when other vehicles, of contemporary build, are ordered off the streets? The situation so created is, certainly, a most unpleasant one for the councillors who are concerned, and we would be the last to suggest that they have not acted according to their best judgment, and impartially, but the sequence of events, which have been closely followed in this journal, serves to indicate the necessity for a separate licensing authority, such as is provided in London in the person of the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, or the granting of a right of appeal to some central department, such as the Local Government Board, wherever a local authority unreasonably withholds motorbus licenses. The element of unreasonableness appears to us to be present in this case, and we do not wonder that the operating company considers that it has a just grievance against its arbiters. The complexity of the undesirable impasse is, admittedly, contributed to 'by the existence of no small jealousies : personal, *Political, and trade influences are mixed up in a most extraordinary jumble. Is it fair, either to the investing public or the directors, that a company should be liable to these risks after proceeding to allotment? Yet the law, as it stands, provides no redress.