The Motor Omnibus Industry and the War.
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By "Manager."
(Concluded from page 410.) One cannot but think that the record of the companies in this matter of the supply of men for Army service and direct munition work is a most-remarkable one. I would like to put forward the view, however, that, seeing the companies are answerable for the lives of many million passengers every week, a certain percentage of skilled and physically-fit men ought to be allowed to remain with. them, at any .rate until other sources of enlistment have been exhausted.
Failure of Substitution.
At one time it was hoped that skilled men who were not very fit for war service could be obtained from the Army, or from Others due to be called up and used as substitutes for physically-fit men, but I think, in common with most other industries in the country, the omnibus owners have found this scheme of very small avail, owing to the fact that the Only substitutes which could be providtd were men,who could not be called by any means skilled, and Consequently could . not do the work of the men whom theto,came to replace. Additional difficulties , have also presented themselves since the seheme was inaugurated, owing to the fact that the military 'require the services of every available man, except thne medically passed. -for sedentary work, i.e. B3 and Ca, -It stands to reason that men in such low medical categories do not generally have the strength or energy necessary for such an exacting employment as motorbus running.
The Fuel Question.
Just at the beginning of the war, as everyone will remember, there was a, great shortage of petrol in the country, but within a few weeks this situation cleared up without seriously affecting the omnibus owners, who generally4ha4 considerable quantities in stock. Then, in the sprinvof 1916, owing to increasing requirements of the Navy arid Army, and, among other cause's, the fact that tank steamers were often used for storage purposes by the Admiralty, there was a very .great shortage of this essential commodity. So serious did the position become, that in June of last year the Government were forced to appoint a Committee of the Board of Trade to control the supply and distribution of yetrol. Among the steps which this committee took immediately was that of rationing petrol to all users by means of licences. Omnibus owrimit received under this arrangement, from 1st Aupast, 1916, -only 60 per cent. of the requirementsewhich they stated had been their average during the spring months. It undoubtedly was unfortunate that the Petrol Control:Committee should have relied upon the unchecked statements of the4individuals whom they were to ration as to what their requirements were, as many times since complaint has been made that, owing to the different ideas of people sending in returns, some users have received ample supplies, whereas others have not even received such supplies as there is reason to think the Committee intended to allow.
The Char-a.-banes Order.
At the same time as the extreme shortage of petrol caused supplies to be rationed, the Petrol Control Committee issued an krder making it an offence to use petrol for pleasureo'trips and such like journeys in chars-h-bancs: Thus, in the middle of the summer season (31st August), without more than a few days notice, the ehar-k-bancs owner's source of livelihood was completely cut off. Some owners, it is true_, adapted their vehicles to run on substitutes, such 040
as paraffin, but this action was questioned by the police, and test eases have Sinte resulted in a ban being placed even upon tile use of such substitutes. The plight of these unhappy char-h-banes owners was taken as a test case to the Defence of Realm Losses Royal Commission, during the spring of 1917, by the Commercial Motor Users Association, but the Commission, although it dopbtless appreciated the hardships of the unfortunate proprietors, stated that, owing to technical objections, it was not within their power to award them any compensation.
Paraffin Carburetters in 1916-1917.
One of the immediate results of the shortage of petrol was the extended use of paraffin, particularly in its lighter grades,/ Paraffin carburetters carne very much into vogue, and innumerable inventors set to work to make the use of the heavier fuel practicable in engines previously designed to take petrol. The efforts made in this direction resulted in very large uantitLes of paraffin being used for motive power. By its use, during the winter . of 1916-1917, the omnibus services, which would otherwise have had to be out down by 50 per cent, owing to the petrol ,shortage,,,Nvere enabled to be run with comparativelyfe w withdrawals.
• Paraffin Recorded on Licences as Petrol.
From the 1st March, 1917, so serious was the shortage of petrol that the Petrol Control Committee, which had meantime given a 10 per cent. increased allowance (on the 60 per cent.) cut down the supplies once more by 33;k per cent. (on the 66 per cent.), thus leaving the omnibus companies only 44 per cent, of their normal requirements. At the same time, the use of petrol substitutes was forbidden, except when such substitutes were considered in the same category as petrol and deducted from the monthly licensed, quantity shown upon the petrol licence. Owing to this action of the authorities in regard to substitutes, the motor-omnibus services of the country were obliged at once to Curtail their running between 25. and.50 per cent. on the reduced services then running (this being the percentage of paraffin generally used).
The Current Situation.
The position of concerns, therefore, which had poreviously lost half their vehicles by impressment (this is a common percentage), is that their bus mileage, and consequently approximate revenue, will have to be out down to about 21 per cent, of the normal. On this, they will have to maintain their staffs and garages, pay " fixed" charges on capital, and bearthe greatly-increased cost of every commodity.
The decision of the Petrol Control Committee not to allow the use of substitutes has not only been a very heavy blow to omnibus owners, by causing theta to reduce their services considerably, but also by reason of the fact that most of them had purchased and fitted special carburetters and fittings to adapt
their vehicles to run on paraffin. These fittings, which it is estimated cost from 210 to 220 per bus, were thus caused to become of scrap value. The loss to the industry, .,if 2000 buses were fitted with this special apparatus, would be 220,000.
Coal-gas, Where It Can be Used.
The only alternative source of motive power which now seems available to the omnibus owners would appear to be by the use of coal-gas instead of petrol. It has been proved to be possible to run motor vehicles on coal-gas, which can be carried on the
vehicles, either compressed in cylinders or at a normal pressure in a large balloon-shaped bag. Whether the application of this arrangernent will really prove practicable on any extensive scale remains yet to be seen. It is promising well, but the supply and maintenance of holders may present difficulties.
Price of Petrol.
Not least among the difficulties in connection with petrol has been its rise in piece, from practically Is. to 2s, 2d. per gallon, which has -thus More than doubled the fuel bill of each vehicle. The Chancellor of the Exchequer also proposed in 1915 to put a 3d. tax on each gallon of petrol usea, but this proposal was withdrawn, thanks to the efforts of. the Commercial Motor Users Association, which body showed that these proposals would have increased the cost of transport and commodities appreciably. As a result, only a Modified tax of 14-d. per gallon additional was placed upon petrol used in commercial
'vehicles. The increase in the account for motive power has undoubtedly been a most serious matter.
Evils of Snatch Legislation, Among various acts of.the Government affecting the position of omnibus owners during the war, the passage of the Local Government Board (Emergency• Provisions) Aet, 1916, in May of last year, will not be forgotten by the industry. During the course of this Bill through the House of Lords, an extra clause was peoposed on behalf of the road authorities of the kingdom forbidding any omnibus to use any new route or .section of read not regularly run over previous to the 1st March, 1916. Owing to the hasty legislation, no effectiveeaction -could be taken by the omnibus owners to lay their views before the authorities, with the result that this measure was passed through unaltered. It has, of course, had the effect of preventing any extension of, or alteration of, omnibus routes, although this is of little moment during wartime, but it has been taken advantage of by the local authorities to demand from omnibus companies—who might wish to extend some service for the public requirements of the district—exorbitant charges for running over new sections of road.
The demands vary from d. per bus-mile to 3el. per bus mile. In some cases, fixed -charges, such as £25 per vehicle per annum, have been demanded. The extreme variance between the different demands has clearly shown, the writer ventures to suggest, what an unwise and impracticable policy it has been to leave such a decision in the hands of local peciple, who have no ideawhatever of the cost of omnibus working. It may be remembered that, on the matter being thrashed out 'before a Parliamentary Sub-Com
mittee, when the Sheffield Corporatism obtained its motor-omnibus powers, it was agreed that id. per mile should be taken as a reasonable figure for the motor omnibuses to contribute towards the maintenance of Tvaterb6und macadam! -The-omnibus owner's view is that this hasty Act, which was passed with -the. object of preventing the opening-out of new routes, has-been taken advantage of by the local' authorities in an unreasonable and entirely wrong manner, to demand tolls for the use of their roads from.a very. small section a the community, while all the other road users, Who make equal use of the highways, get off sent free. Besides this, the legislation was avowedly introduced to prevent running on new routes, and not for the purpose of enabling local authorities to demand tolls.
• Capacity for kesistance to Adverse Circumstances but Profits Gone.
A general idea has been prevalent, in times past, that the omnibus owners were in a happy financial position. Whether this was generally the case the writer will not venture to say; but it is apparent that, if the owners have been able successfully to withstand this unusual succession of heavy blows Mentioned above,any -one of which might almost be considered of a vital nature to most businesses, the industry may he congratulated upon having an unusual stock of vitality. That they are carrying on to-day in spite of these handicaps, and providing these necessary links in -communication, not only in town areas, but in many outlying and inaccessible country dietricts far from the reach of trains, is at least remarkable, but that. they should do it (whether neeeseary or not)
without having had i
to increase their fares n a very drastic manner seems almost incredible, vet such is the fact. This display of public 'Spirit should bring its reward.
Other industries may have been equally hard hit by. circumstances -connected with the. war, although this seems unlikely, but to mention two well-known • ones, the brewers and the Press, they have been able to increase the price of their wares anything from 50 to 100 per cent. [Not the technical and trade Press.— En.] with the result that most businesses are as yet financially little worse off than in 1914. Not so the omnibus owners, whis, whether by policy or otherwise I do not knew, are carrying out their public-service duties to-day with only Mall increases in the charge for conveyance. The boon that this must prove to the nation is unquestioned ; yet, up to the present, they havereceived little help of any kind from the authorities. Their omnibuses stand at all times ready
at a moment's notice to transport 100,000 men toany point on the coast which may be threatened by the enemy, vet they have no guaranteed dividends, such as railway companies, nor is there any such protection to their indispensable staff from enlistment in the Army, as is enjoyed by the railways.
In the meantime, the omnibus owners throughout the, country have taken steps to consolidate the united representation of their interests, by the amalgamation of the London Omnibus Owners Federation and the Provincial Omnibus Owners Association . The new association will thus be in a position to speak authoritatively on behalf of the industry, and to continue in even greater measure the excellent work which the two associations have done in the past.