The Motor Omnibus World.
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The traffic receipts of the London General, the Road Car, and the Vanguard Companies will shortly be merged into one weekly total.
London Traffic.
Mr. A, J. Balfour, as one of the members for the City of London, will be asked to introduce a Bill under which it is sought to confer upon the Corporation greater powers to deal with the questions of speed and noise from motor traffic. We observe that the old and wicked cry of danger to life has been dropped. The organisers of the Mansion House meeting did not give any information as to the number of deaths or accidents within the City area, and for the very good reason that so few had occurred, but we think that all self-respecting business men will not feel over pleased when they realise that they were " bluffed " in the matter.
Manchester Licenses.
His Honour Judge Parry, who was a prominent leader in the opposition to motorbuses on a previous occasion, is much perturbed that the Manchester City Council, as we reported last week, has referred back to the Watch Cornmittee its refusal to grant licenses for motorbuses. Judge Parry suggests that an enquiry should be held, by a subcommittee of the Manchester City Council, as to the desirability of the granting of licenses, and that such a committee be empowered to enquire into the undernoted points : r. The views of the general travelling public and the views of residents as to the necessity and desirability of such traffic in different districts.
2. The legal powers of the City Council to grant licenses for certain routes only, and to attach conditions to licenses.
3. The expense of repaving and widening routes that are to be used for this class of traffic, and how far it is possible to make licensees contribute to the repair and alterations of highways.
4. The powers to regulate Sunday traffic.
5. The type of bus to be licensed.
6. The desirability of granting licenses to one or more competitors.
The Manchester Watch Committee, at its meeting on the r3th instant, when it had to deal with the reference back from the City Council, decided to grant one license to Mr. William Stanway, the Manchester agent for the Ryknield Company, and one to Mr. Thomas Clarkson, of Chelmsford. These licenses are to take effect upon the following routes :—Palatine Road (tram terminus) : (r) to the Northenden boundary ; (2) via Palatine Road, Barlow Moor Road, and Wilmslow Road to the River Mersey; and (3) via Barlow Moor Road, to the tram terminus at Choelton-cum-Hardy. Also, from Chorlton-curn-Hardy railway station, via Wilbraham Road, Manchester Road, and Edge Lade, to Turn Moss Road (the boundary between Manchester a-nd Stretford);
The Public Safety.
We would direct attention to the extreme danger which cannot fail to attach to efforts to crush out small motorbus companies; further remarks form part of our references to the Great Eastern Motor Omnibus Company (page 568).
"The King's Highway :" A Croydon View of It.
Too many local authorities appear to think that the streets withintheir jurisdiction are their own property, but such is not the case : they are dedicated to the public and to the nation, and it is the duty of every road authority to maintain a right of way for the King's lieges. It is true that tramway undertakings have a partial monopoly, seeing that no vehicles but their own can take advantage of the lower rolling resistance of the metal tracks, and it is because of this monopoly value that a contribution from the tramways to the local rate is economically sound. Since any tramway company or other owner enjoys the benefit and use of the rails, to the exclusion of the community at large as owners of other vehicles, there is no injustice in their paying for that monopoly, and that is why the L.C.C. tramcars are very properly rated by the Borough Councils. Where the local authority also owns the trams, and where no assessment is Made to the local rates, a very direct subsidy is given in addition to the monopoly.
Our present reference, however, is prompted by an extraordinary paragraph in a paper called the " Croydon Advertiser." Commenting upon the recent advent of a motorbus service, it is remarked that these vehicles " with their iron-shod wheels (sic) do great damage to our roads, and pay' not a farthing towards the rates. . . The Croydon trams can take all the passengers without the intolerable noise and evil smells of these petrol perambulating perils. . . . Already one accident has occurred, and we fear there will be many more. . . The Croydon burgesses have a direct interest in supporting the trams, and they have an equal interest in keeping out of the Borough alien competitors who would take all they can and give absolutely nothing back in exchange in the shape of contributory rates." We may remark that the accident in question was the one to which a correspondent directed attention in our last issue--that of a tram's running into the back of a motorbus when the latter vehicle was at rest. We would very strongly invite the Croydon Press and Council to note the fact that it is wrong to presume that the trams either can have or merit any monopoly of the highway; it should be sufficient advantage to the interested parties, that these vehicles do enjoy a monopoly of the rails.
Alleged High Speed and Overloading near Edinburgh.
A letter in the " Scotsman " of the tith instant, from a motorist, complains of the speed at which some of the motorbuses are driven locally. He quotes an instance, on the road from Penicuik to Milton Bridge, when his own speedometer showed 22 miles an hour, but he was "easily out-distanced by the motorbus in front." He adds that passengers may often be seen standing on the steps and the roofs of the buses. Mr. W. J. Thomson, the manager of the Scottish Motor Traction Company, Limited, replied pointing out that a speed of 22 m.p.h. meant running the engine at 2,320 r.p.m., and expressing the view that any overcrowding was only proof of the popularity and convenience of the vehicles with the travelling public.
The Traffic Department in London.
GENERAL.—Commencing on Monday, the 17th instant, an eight-minute service is now running between .Leyton and " The Elephant and Castle." This new " General " route is in direct competition with the existing Great Eastern service, and is evidently a foretaste of the militant tactics that are to be pursued by the new amalgamation towards other companies.
Maidstone to Chatham.
The Commercial Motor Company of Maidstone has this week inaugurated a service over a new route between Maidstone and Chatham, viA Aylesford, Eccks, Wouldham, Borstal, and Rochester—a journey of 14 miles. We hear that excellent results are being obtained from the three " HaWord " vehicles which are maintaining the service. A local complaint is due to the fact that, at present, the omnibuses have no interior lighting.
Threatened Liquidation of a Tramway Company.
ft is too often overlooked, by people who criticise the financial condition of motorbus companies, that a very large number of tramway undertakings are failures. One of the latest tramway Companies to feel the pinch of competition, the Metropolitan, which serves the Romford Road, has had it under consideration to resolve upon voluntary liquidation, but, in view of the fact that its outstanding debenture bonds of ;651,700 fall due for repayment on the ist January next, the Board has decided that the company ought to remain in existence at least until that liability has been paid off.
A Confused Statement.
We were surprised to read, in the ".Daily Telegraph " of a few weeks back, in the course of a report of an enquiry before Mr. W. E. Baxter, the East London coroner, in respect of a motorbus fatality, that the driver, a man named James William Thomas, in the employ of the Great Eastern London Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, had stated that " he was bound to take the corner rather sharply, as it could not be done slowly." We have addressed a letter on this matter to the company in question, and are assured that no justification for such a statement exists, and that it can only be put down to the man's being somewhat confused in giving his evidence. Every driver of a motor vehicle knows the more slowly one goes round a corner, the more easily that corner can be
taken, and we are sorry that the coroner apparently did not ask for any explanation of this extraordinary statement.
Great Eastern Meeting.
Sir Thomas Pile, Bart., -chairman of the company, presided at the third -ordinary general meeting of the _shareholders of the 'Great Eastern London Motor Omnibus Company, Limited, on Friday last. We have already dealt with the contents of the report and balance sheet.
The Chairman stated that every one of the company's competitors was bewailing enormous losses—losses that had practically exhausted all their resources: lit was not quite clear to
whom the word " their " En.] The company had spent 1.:23,s23 on improvements, alterations, and maintenance of its motorbuses during the year ended the 30th June last, and had written Off ...5,000 upon the vehicles which it owned. [These, according to our records, are a total of 55 Straker-Squire chassis, as 25 ArrolJohnston chassis have not yet appeared in the company's capital account.— ED.] The chairman, went on to state that the above-named provision for -depreciation represemed 14 per cent, on the value c.).f the average number of vehicles running during the period under review. So efficient had the Straker-Squire omnibuses proved, that an average of over oo per cent. of them was continuously working every day during the year, which, considering the time taken over renewals, annual overhauls, painting, retlicensing, etc., was most satisfactory; in fact, he thought this type of bus as perfect as a petrol_ drivenbus could be. They had carried over 14 millions of passengers, showing an increase of nearly five millions, and the receipts amounted to over £92,000. Since the tst July last, there had been an increase of 30 per cent, in the number of passengers, and of 36 per cent. in the receipts, compared with the same period in 1907. He thought the terms on which the London General Omnibus Company had arranged its amalgamation would inevitably mean an enormous deficiency in assets shortly, and that it was wrong to reckon goodwill as a going concern in the horse-bus department; the wonder was that the public had tolerated the horse bus so long.
The most important part of the chairman's speech, in our judgment, is found in his references to tactics of the older company which is now, so far as we can see, entering upon its old campaign of endeavouring to crush out the smaller companies, of which the Great Eastern is one. We feel that it is absolutely unsafe for such tactics to be pursued afresh under present conditions; they were dangerous enough in the days of the horse vehicle, when the London General was trying to Smash the Road Car, but they are many times more dangerous when motorbuses With a total weight of five or six tons are concerned, and we are satisfied that this journal will be only one of many in making a demand that the police will descend with the utmost rigour of the law upon proceedings of this character. Free competition is at the root of English commercial life, but there is a limit beyond which competition between motorbus companies ought not to be allowed, at least on public thoroughfares. Nothing is more contributory to mishaps and accidents, and the attacking party must be held to accept a grave responsibility ifit deliberately sets out upon such a plan of campaign against a peaceablydisposed member of the " smaller fry."
Enlarging the Indictment.
Says the " Dundee Advertiser "Another clause has been added to the indictment of the motorbus, which is at present doing so much to madden the Londoner. One of the big gas companies of the Metropolis has, it appears, lost no less than 110,000,000 cubic feet of gas during the last six months, the figure representing the difference between the amount of gas manufactured and the amount accounted for in the ordinary way. Where has it gone.? The explanation is that it has escaped as the result of the breakage Of service pipes in the streets by heavy motor vehicles and the shaking loose of fittings in the houses by motor
vehicles of all sorts. Two distinct grievances, therefore, arise. The company is losing money, for the value of gas lost on this scale must be about -L25,000 a year; and the people are getting to breathe what they should get to burn. ' No wonder,' exclaims the -enraged Lancet," Londoners are found to complain of headache, dizziness, and oppression, all three of which symptoms are readily invoked by chronic doses of carbon monoxide.' The inevitable Commission will have to look into the matter. For our own part we have thought for some time that there must be something the matter with the Londoner. His behaviour at elections is now accounted for."
The delightful inconsistencies of this paragraph are, we suppose, good enough for an attack on the motorbus. Whilst denying the right of gas companies to lay service pipes so near the surface, we venture to ask how the company can have lost money through leaky fittings inside any houses. Such are on the consumer's side of the meter, and gas companies like them