Bus Companies' Dividends to be Restricted?
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Further Control Forecast at Conference of Municipal Transport Managers
LIMITATION of the dividends of passenger transport undertakings was predicted by Mr. J. Beckett, an ex-secretary of the Municipal Tramways and Transport Association, in a speech at Halifax, on September 23, He was proposing the toast of " The Traffic Commissioners" at a dinner given by Alderman G. H. Gledhill, of Halifax, president. of the Association, in connection with the annual meeting of the managers' section of the organization.
A .defect of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, said Mr. Beckett, was that it did not control dividends, It was common to see dividends of 10 and 15 per cent. put aside to create bonus shares, which escaped taxation, but created a larger capital, over which dividends must subsequently be spread.
He was convinced that the day was not far distant when dividends to be extracted from an essential service would have to be limited and placed' under public control in one form or another. The drift of events was in the direction of great combinations becoming ripe fruit for any Minister of Transport who liked to go along nationalization lines.
Mr. William Chamberlain, chairman of the North-Western Traffic Commissioners, responded to the toast in the absence of Mr. Joseph Farndale, chairman of the Yorkshire Traffic Commissioners. Referring to the appointment of Chairmen of Traffic Commissioners to the additional posts of Licensing Authorities, Mr. Chamberlain said that in his area, comprising nine counties, there were about 7,000 public service vehicles, about 13,000 public service vehicle drivers, 11,000 conductors, and about 720 coach and bus operators. On the goods side there were about 84,000 vehicles and some 40,000 operators the drivers he had not counted.
Pat on the Back for Commissioners.
Allusion to the 1930 Act was also made by Alderman Gledhill. The Act, he declared, had been the salvation of road transport in Halifax and district. But for the Act and the Traffic Commissioners, there might have still been serious competition. The Commissioners generally, he said, had done a difficult job exceedingly well.
Other speakers included Mr. P. H. Lightbody, of Huddersfield, immediate past president of the Institute of Costs and Works Accountants; Mr. C. R. Tattam, general manager of the Bradford municipal-transport undertaking;
and Mr. J. M. Calder, vice-president of the Association and general manager of the Reading undertaking.
Mr. R. Stuart Pilcher, general manager of the Manchester undertaking, referred to the progress of the Halifax undertaking under the chairmanship of Alderman Gledhill. Although, from the standpoint of gradients, the Halifax system was one of the most difficult in the country, it was one of the most efficient.
The annual meeting proper was held on September 23 and 24, but the programme opened on Wednesday evening, September 22, when an informal reception by the Mayor of Halifax and the president was preceded by a visit to the works of John Holdsworth and Co., Ltd.
The meeting opened on Thursday with an official welcome by the Mayor, after which Mr. W. Vane MorIand contributed a paper on "Heating and Ventilation of Omnibus Garages." Following a meeting of the Association of Municipal Transport Managers, a luncheon was given by the Mayor and Corporation of Halifax. In the afternoon a discussion " on Mr. Morland's paper was followed by a visit to the works of G. II. Gledhill and Sons, Ltd.
When the meeting resumed on Friday, the subject of "The Composition of Garage Staffs " was introduced by Mr. John F. Cameron.