• Transport and, the ueve Problem
Page 35
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Our Contributor Discusses he Probable Main Causes of the Congestion at Food and Other Shops, and Adds His Opinions on This
Unsatisfadorg Matter
Tantalus"
MHP...struggle which has developed regarding shopping . I queues reveals only too clearly that prciblerns on the home frimt have been permitted to drift by the powers that be. It reveals also slackness and indifference on tir.) part
• of bureaucracy to the difficulties of -the suffering community.
Thanks to the women, public opinion has been aroused • to' such an extent that Government, Departments are falling • over each other in an effort to explain that they personally • are not, to blame in the matter, An official of the Ministry of Food has stated that the only' solution of the 'problem of queues is the provision of more labour; but the Ministry of Labour holds, out no hope that this can be. provided Both these Ministries agree that the.Ministry of War Transport must share the blame for queues: It is apparent that no action whatever would have been' taken by any Department had not public opinion stirred the bureaucrats to rake notice of what is developing into a
widespread campaign 'demariling action. The fact of_ the matter is that all the Departments named_ must accept an equal share of the blame, which cannot be disposed of by " passing the -buck " from one to the other. In defence, each has issued a statement; the most recent, which came from the M.O.W.T., contained a denial that lack of trans
port is responsible for food queues. It asserts that, apart from some temporary delays due to labour disputes at the docks, there is no hold-up in the delivery of food supplies at any stage between the producer and the retailer. The statement concluded with the affirmation that the manpower problem is the main cause of queues. So the game of going around in' circles continues. Six years of war have tailed tO teach the bureaucrats the essential lesson, of to-operative effort and joint action where a common problem is involved. In short, it is so much 'easier to blame the other fellow. • .
Before dealing with the question of the defence of the • M.O.W.T., it is necessary to examine the problem in all its aspects and to trace the contributory causes, in order that • the blame may be rightly and fairly assessed. Inquiries made from retailers, wholesalers, distributors and mer chants reveal that shortages of labour and transport are the main causes of the trouble, and of these transport is the major source of difficulty.
Whilst shortage of labour presents, in some cases, a very real problem, it is not held to be the general cause of queuing; rather, it is adopted as an easy excuse by the type of selfish and inconsiderate shopkeeper who, in some cases, seeins to delight in adding to the burdens and worries of harassed shoppers. To find the real.cause it is necessary to explore beyond superficial excuses.
. Why the Queue Habit Developed .
Undoubtedly, the habit of queuing has developed during war-time as a result of short supplies and the fear of housewives that they would not obtain their fair share of the goods on sale. Notwithstanding this factor, queues would diminish if shoppers knew the time at which supplies Would be available. It is the uncertainty which produces fear, 'anxiety and feverish haste to obtain a place in the queue.
Take fish as an example: the public having read a M.O.F: statement in the daily Press that there would be good supplies of fish in the shops, naturally the housewives .proceeded elatedly to the fishmongers, only to be told, in many
: cases, that there had been no delivery so far and that they would have to come again at some stated time; then, upon the second visit for the day, they might be told there Anid be no fish at all tharday. lb tracing -the reason of the causes of .these non-deliveries it has been discovered
that tranSport was the bottle-neck—not from the market to the shop, but from port to market. Another example is . '''that of soda .water, which, in sickness,"is a necessity. In orient the London 'districts it haS pot been Possible to 'tiny this commodity for The past two weeks,' and on inquiry as to the reason it was found that there is no hold-up in the maaufacture; transport and not production is the difficulty.
It is interesting to recall that, at the time when the milkdistribution scheme was launched upon the public, it wai understood that shortage of labour and lack of transport were the reasons for tying-down Consumers to specified dairies; there was no option in the matter. How did this work on n practice? Before the war the residents in one short roadwere served by two dairies, deliveries being 'effected by a pony van and a hand-pushed trolley; two dairies, two men and no use of petrol. Since the introdnction Of, the zoning scheme, .there are Involved no ,fewer than five dairies serving the. same road.. These employ for the work two petrol vans, two pony vans and ;one hand trolley, five men and two boys being required for the purpose. So much for a .scheme designed to save. man-power and. petrol; how ludicrous it all is! • Then there is the question' of fresh fruit and market garden produce. In this connection and from time to time a number of appeals has been made by " The Commercial Motor" to the M.O.W.T. to permit road transport to be used for the transport,of these perishable goods. Factual evidence was produced showing how large quantities of fruit and green vegetables had been allowed to rot. as a, result of the denial of road-transport services.. 1.,a4 year the M.O.W.T. did relent to the, extent .of lifting.. the ban in respect of plums, and this has been repeated.in the matter of the present season's crop. Other items of a•similar nature could be quoted almost ad infinitum and these all go to show haw seriously supplies are affected by. the restrictive control of road transport.
M.O.W.T. and Consumers are Linked
Thus a direct link is formed between 'the--M.O.W.T. and the consumer, through the distributive side of control based on the zoning system. During the days of national peril and emergency such a scheme had much to recommend it; but it is entirely out of date in Meeting current conditions. By no mean § is evidence lacking in support 'of the contention that unequal distribution is the main source of trouble. Whilst there are ample supplies in one district, others, only a few miles apart, are entirely without the same identical cornmOrlities because there have been no deliveries. Somehow or other housewives soon hear when supplies are available, -ss'dth the result that they travel to other districts and so intensify the problem of the queues, If their own greengrocer, fishmonger and grocer, as the case may he, each had received his supplies such action would. not be necessary.
According to reports, more fish is being landed at Hull than can be dealt with there under the terms of the zoning 'regulations. This .occasions plentiful siipplies in some districts and a,complete absence of ash in others—a clear case of muddled distribution. If merchants.. at the ports were free to make their own transport arrangements, as formerly, it is safe to say thatthe supplies of fish could be cleared within a few hours of landing.
From the foregoing„ it will be appreciated that transport .
is the main key to the problem. Shortage of labour, undeniably, is a factor, but not the primary one. Moreover, the Ministry of Fodd is not free from blame in the matter. A thousand excuses can be found to explain the why and wherefore of the problem. In view of the facts it is difficult to accept the denial made by the spokesman 'of the M.O.W.T.—that lack pi transport is responsible. If there' be available adequate transport facilities, then there mast be something radical'y wrong with the manner in which such facilities are used. Apart from the necessity of conserving supplies of -petrol and rubber—which reason i3 no longer really 'valid—the' control of road transport cannot be said always to have. operated in the best of national interests. It is evident that the recovery process of road .
transport is endangered by a " go-slow ". policy. A reStoration of the "freedom of operation and . the right of choice to the trader would do More than' anything else to remove. the revolting .spectacle of housewives standing for "mars ia all weathers in-seacch of the necessifies of life.