Hypochondriac
Page 57
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Political Commentary By JANUS
WHEN something disagreeable happens to us, we assume that there will be a bad effect. Caught in a shower, we resign ourselves to a cold at the very least. Medical attention seems our only . hope after we have been exposed to infection.. If we'cut ourselves we
bleed; if we take poison We die. In spite of all this, people sometimes escape what they regard as inevitable consequences.
What the Road Haulage Association appear to be saying in their new statement of policy is that the political upheavals since the war, coupled with the current threat of renationalization, must have done considerable harm to hauliers, who are therefore in Urgent need of care and attention, perhaps through the medium of an impartial inquiry. .
The nasty fracture caused by the ham-handed Socialists, and the violent wrench with which. the Conservatives have attempted to put things right, must have left their mark somewhere. In the absence of a reliable doctor, the road haulage industry takes its' own temperature, feels its pulse, looks at its tongue, takes a grey powder, and hopes that somebody has not forgotten the hot water bottle.
The medical chart refuses to exhibit any cause for alarm. The policy statement isdivided into a number of sections, almost any one of which could provide a basis for complaint. With each one there is some attempt to build up towards a climax, but the threat does not materialize. The R.H.A. seem almost surprised to find that, when it comes to the point, they are reasonably well satisfied.
Licensing is a subject on which haithers can become very heated, especially when they have had an unfortunate experience in the traffic court. The purpose of licensing, as the statement points out, was to protectthe railways, and the purpose has apparently been served in view of the fact that the number of A, contract A and B licensed vehicles increased from 148,122 to only 187,258 between 1938 and 1957.
C Licences Trebled
According to the statement, however, the figures are an indication of "considerable stability." The contrast is drawn with the growth in the., number of C4icensed vehicles, which almost trebled over the same period. No objection is raised to this, but there must be hauliers who would have preferred the more rapid growth to be in their own fleets rather than in those of their customers.
The R.H.A. statement critcizes some of the details of the licensing system and, in particular, reflects the uneasiness about the difficulties likely to follow too rigid an insistence by the Transport Tribunal and the licensing authorities on strict adherence to the declaration of normal user. There is also concern at the "apparent ease" with which A licences have been granted to operators previously working under contract A licences or a C hiring allowance. But in general, the statement supports the continuation of a licensing system.
Towards rates the attitude is almost one of resignation. Once again, the statement begins on a harsh note, with a reference to the frequent complaints of uneconomic rates and to what is called the "marginal operator," whose revenue is close to his costs. There is no suggestion, however, that anything should be done about rate-cutting and about marginal operation beyond exhortation and guidance. An unexpected mildness is shown on the subject of capital and finance. Here at least hauliers have been accustomed to letting themselves go, and the figures go a long way to support them. 'Road users pay in-special taxation something like fiye times the amount spent on roads. The railways often escape taxation or are charged at a privileged rate, in spite of which they have to cOme to the Government for money to pay for modernization and to meet an overgrowing deficit.
These points are ignored, or dealt with very briefly, in the statement of policy. The section on finance ends with the resolution "to endeavour in every way possible to free the industry from the heavy burden of special taxation that it bears, which is inequitable and illogical." Up to this point, the main concern has been to prove that far more money is invested in road than in rail transport.
In 1957, says the statement, £545m. was spent on lorries, buses, coaches, cars and motorcycles, as against an expenditure of about one-sixth of that amount, or £89m., on railway rolling stock. There. is some ambiguity about whether the investment in road vehicles is creditable or otherwise. At one point it is shown as a source of pride, because it is paid in addition to very heavy taxation. A little later the investment has to be "justified," and this is done by a somewhat confusing comparison between the declining tonnage of goods carried by rail and the greater increasing tonnage carried by road.
Co-operation With B.T.C.
No bar is envisaged in the statement to the establishment and extension of satisfactory relations with other, even rival, organizations. The 'proposed policy towards the British Transport Commission is to co-operate so closely that competition will be confined to "the actual provision and development of economic transport facilities." What the phrase lacks in clarity it makes up in friendliness.
On most of the major points of policy, the R.H.A. have a clean bill of health, in spite of What they may have thought to the contrary before producing their statement. There remains what was probably the main reason for its production, the .threat to the continued private ownership of" the road haulage industry. On this subject, the statement runscompletely true to form. Opposition is expressed to the policy of the Labour Party, and the R.H.A. promise to use every endeavour to preserve the businesses of their members.
There is nothing in the nature of a glowing tribute to the Conservative Party. Political prejudice is described as " acute " in any discussion on the future of road haulage. Hauliers, according to the statement, may not be dispassionate when their livelihood is at stake, but their attitude is more realistic and practical than that of politicians. Their experience enables them to consider "in real terms" the service they render to die national interest, whereas in the mouths of politicians the words are used merely to lend colour or conviction to a theory.
The threat of renationalization is left as the only important reason why hauliers seek an impartial inquiry. Admittedly, after 30 years there ought to be many changes calling for revision of the law and a reassessment of the relationships between the various forms of transport. When it comes to giving examples, the R.H.A. realize that, in spite of their misgivings, the law is working tolerably well and there is nothing much wrong with the world in which hauliers find themselves.