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COMMERCIAL MOTOR TROUBLES IN ULSTER.

20th October 1925
Page 29
Page 29, 20th October 1925 — COMMERCIAL MOTOR TROUBLES IN ULSTER.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

The Absurd Contradiction in Government and Departmental Attitudes. The Required Revision of the Transport Laws.

IT is a curious fact that, at a time when the ,commercial condition of Ulster is a cause of great anxiety to the Government, the services on which the comtherce of Ulster so largely depends are .being subjected to a ruthless persecution by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The need for increased output and for a general speeding up of industry is being constantly and rightly impressed upon the people by the Government; yet at the same time the need for a decreased output' of transport activity and a lowering of distributional speed is being constantly and wrongly impressed upon the people by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

For that is the only possible meaning of an insistence upon obSolete speed limits in the commercial world of Ulster at the present day. The Government cries "Hurry up! "; the Home Office cries " Slow down!" Weird are the workings of the official mind

_ An Added -Absurdity.

That the present campaign against commercial motors should be waged with such intensity becomes doubly inexplicable in view of the fact that the Ulster Government intends to introduce a measure by which speed limits will be brought into something like correspondence with the commercial transport needs and facilities of the present day. 'Why, then, this thus

The Government is opposed to a -retention of the present Speed limits, and is going to change them; the Home Office is feverishly enforcing them in the interval! Stop-watches are in constant action ; traps are laid on deserted roads and where gradients render the speed limit impossible of observance; chars-h-bancs and taxis are not allowed to carry the number of passengers for which they are licensed, but only the number for which they can provide a rigid 16 ins. in each and every instance; motor lorries are pinned down to the letter of the law; whilst trains and tramcars overloadwith impunity, the owners of motorbuses are fined for exceeding their 'quota.; even on national holidays; the plea that speed limits should be regarded as average rates of speed is scouted, and the speed of a charii-bancs on a measured furlong is brought out to four places of decimals by our numerous senior wranglers in the police force.

The ,U1ster Coach .Owners' .Association.

The history of Ulster proves that it is rather .a tough proposition. The long conflict of races, creeds and policies hasdeveloped in all classes a pretty dour spirit of combativeness. No section of the community is much disposed to "turn the other cheek.'.' Quite the reverse. The coach owners of Ulster have, therefore, banded together to protect themselves from aggression and to secure their reasonable rights in the prosecution of their legitimate and heavily taxed, business. Fifty-five owners have been enrolled, and new members are being elected at every meeting. Among the members of the Association are three chairmen of urban councils and one city councillor.

The members of the Association represent a large section of the travelling and general public, and are in a position to secure the election of additional representatives on various administrative bodies. It is intended that the motorists of Ulster shall be directly represented in the Northern Parliament by men who will not hesitate to divide the House against the proposals of rural Rip Van Winkles, and on behalf of an enlightened transport policy and an up-to-date revision and administration of the transport laws. During the past two years the growth of motorbus and commercial goods traffic in Ulster has been enormous. Without this traffic agriculture would be in a far more perilous plight; business in provincial towns and villages would be severely handicapped by excessive and " unrivalled " railway rates; and the commercial activities of the capital would have to keep pace with the horse and cart. It is intolerable that an official -attempt should be made to cripple and curtail so indispensable a factor in the efficiency of Northern Ireland.

Pioneers of Better Roads.

By giving a practical demonstration of the rottenness of many of our roads, commercial motors led the way to the general renovation and reorganization of the roads of Ulster, which are at pi-esent being carried out by the county councils, with the 'practical assistance of. the Government and the collaboration of the Roads Advisory Committee, on which Capt. S. J. Hutchinson ably represents the Motor Trade Association. To Mr. P. O'Neill, the enterprising and indefatigable chairman of the Ulster Motor .Coach Owners' ASSociation., your contriffittor is indebted for many of the facts on

which these paragraphs are based. ORANGEMAN.

"The Commercial Motor's" TABLES OF OPERATING COSTS of All Types of Vehicles.

These have been reprinted in brochure form, and a copy will be sent post free, on application. The tables are invaluable as a guide to calculating operatMg costs and arriving at correct charges for carriage of p,00ds or passengers.


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