FIRST ON THE SCENE
Page 43
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YOU cannot please everybody, it seems, especially when it comes to commenting on matters of licensing. One of the hazards I experience in being first on the scene with licensing commentary is that others, not so speedy, and preferring anonymity, sometimes resort to criticizing what I say.
I am flattered to discover that the "special correspondent" of the R.H.A.'s monthly journal Road Way, in the April edition, published some comments that I made (and some that I did not make) on the large contract A to A application by W. Nuttall and Sons Ltd., of Manchester. This unnamed gentleman attempted to take me to task for endorsing the sentiments expressed during that case by the legal representative of British Railways concerning the mounting disquiet among operators at the contemptuous ease with which applications are made to exchange contract A vehicles for A vehicles. Yet another commentator, whose column appears once a month in Motor Transport, referred to the very same case. He made reference to the word " eloquent " that I used to describe the Railways solicitor's submission, although that seemed to be as far as he was prepared to go.
Now the fact that my original remarks on the case were printed on March 8, whereas the comments in Road Way appeared over a month later, and the last mentioned comment appeared a week after mine, Plus the fact that neither of the unnamed writers was actually in the court during the Nuttall application, may have some bearing on the way they have criticized my original remarks on the case. Anyway, I at least satisfy the readers (and it is they who count most) by bringing them topical comment. I suppose critics are one of the penalties one must suffer for so frequently being the first, and often the only, one on the scene. N.H.T.