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OPINIONS
Page 95
Page 96
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and
QUERIES
IMPROVING CONDITIONS IN THE BALLAST AND SAND INDUSTRY.
[4660] I have read with interest the article by Capt. E. H. B. Palmer in your issue dated October 11. It would appear that Capt. Palmer is not conversant with the activities of my Association, which was formed• primarily to protect the ,interest of all sections of the ballast and 'sand industry.
Undoubtedly, the cause of the very low prices ruling in the ballast and sand industry has been due to the lack of a legal standard of measure throughout the trade. Many have been quick to seize this opportunity and to deliver ballast and sand by selling an increased quantity from that purchased, thus depressing both the rates paid by pit owners to haulage contractors and pithead prices for the material.
My Association was formed to counter this particular method of trading, and vehicles of members were marked with the Association loading-line plates, indicating the cubic capacity of the vehicles. Had it been possible to make the use of these plates universal throughout the trade, the present chaotic methods of trading would not now exist.
It is through the efforts of my Association that the Weights and Measures Bill (H.L.) 121 was introduced, which will legalize the cubic yard as a measure of capacity, and make it necessary for all vehicles conveying sand and ballast by that measure to be calibrated. This Bill has now passed through the House of Lords and received its first reading in the House of Commons.
The Industry can confidently look forward to considerably improved conditions when this Bill becomes law.
E. V. SMITH, Secretary, Ballast, Sand and Allied Trades Association. London, W.1.
A CRITICISM OF OUR COSTS FOR STEAM WAGONS.
[4661] I have just had the pleasure of perusing the Table of Operating Costs which you have published, as a supplement to your issue of October 4th, and I must congratulate you on the very comprehensive statement which you have set out.
I know that it is your desire to put before the operating public figures which are accurate and which can be of service to the industry generally, and I feel disposed to enclose a statement showing the difference in the figures which you publish in Table No. 5, dealing with steam wagons with pneumatic tyres, and the actual results obtained from my own fleet of S-type Sentinels.
You will see from that statement that there is a distinct disparity as between fuel and lubricants. The tyres are very much overstated, as is also the maintenance, and
I should be grateful if you would consent to publish this statement, in order to show what, in my opinion, are the true figures of operating costs of steam wagon and trailer. f would add that, with regard to standing charges, I have not disturbed your figures (except in respect of ,licence duty) despite the fact that they do not conform with mine in any way.
W. E. MACVE, Traffic Manager, For Bleachers Association, Ltd.
SAVING BY SENTINEL WITH ACTUAL RUNNING COSTS
(A) on "The Commercial Mator" steamer figures £5 2s. per week. (8) „ petrol „ £4 6s. „ „
[This correspondent is to be complimented upon the results he is obtaining with his Sentinel steam wagons. His figures, however, are not in any sense of the word unusual, except perhaps as regards the oil consumption. We have, in this office, figures comparable with his. Unfortunately we have also figures which are as much below the averages quoted in our Tables as his are above. It is a fact that experiences with steam wagons vary more widely than in respect of any other class of vehicle. Some question concerning our steam-wagon figures arises with each new issue of The Commercial Motor Table of Operating Costs, and that is invariably the answer. It is a fact that quite recently, in response to a request from the manufacturers, our contributor, S.T.R., made a special investigation of the subject, visiting and communicating with a large number of steam-wagon users. The results were set out in an article which appeared in the issue of The Commercial Motor for March 10, 1933, and the figures in the Tables are based partly upon the results of that investigation and upon further figures of costs which have been received since. The data embodied in the above letter will be taken into consideration, as is• our invariable custom, in our next revision of the Tables, although, having in mind our usual experience in relation to steam Wagons. it is not anticipated that much alteration will result. Incidentally, in reference to the matter of maintenance, we should like to see details of this operator's totals of expenses at the end of the 10 years' life which he anticipates for his vehicles.—Eo.}
TRADE COMPETITION FROM THE FAR EAST.
[4662] The existing economic crisis in the life of Western Europe, leading as it does to such political developments as the Abyssinia situation, is an aftermath of the last war, and accordingly the Most powerful warning against war in the future. But it is not the only crisis which the future holds in store for us.
Not wars conditions, but economic development in years of comparative and at least official peace, are converting the Far East into a manufacturing centre already dangerous to the structure of that part of European economy which is more or less stable at the moment. What are we to do about competition, from within the Empire's own boundaries, when it is based upon standards of wages and living conditions which, though they may satisfy the Eastern worker, are impossible for the British worker to sustain?
India, Malaya, Hong-Kong, all these are areas to which capital is now attracted for the upbuilding of modern factories, capable of opening out intense competition against established British industries. In the rubber-products trade, it is already evident that the Oriental worker and the Eastern factory have come to stay. It may well be that in the course of years, a more sophisticated type of worker Will become vocal in the East, and demand comforts which are now unheard-of luxuries to him, although minimum daily " necessities " to his fellow-worker in the West. Then his wages will go up, and it will no longer be possible to exploit his simplicity to the detriment of the British worker.
Meanwhile, the danger exists, and grows daily in seriousness. Where is the statesman with a policy which will save our markets from extinction while we are waiting for the Oriental worker to awake to the consciousness that better wages are waiting for him so soon as he makes up his mind to ask for them?
T. Y. HOWARD, M.P.
London, W.C.1.
INCOME TAX ON MOTOR VEHICLES.
[4663] May we be permitted to correct a statement made by S.T.R. on page 97 of your issue dated September 6. His remarks are not in accordance with the Board of Inland Revenue's recent decision, when they agreed that the additional allowance of one-tenth, authorized by Section 18, Finance Acts, 1932, need not be deducted in arriving atthe written-down value of machinery and plant upon which subsequent allowances are based.
Accordingly the computation for " wear and tear" on F.A.H.'s Commer 2-ton van would be computed by H.M. Inspector of Taxes as follows :
Accordingly, it will be seen that the above computation is more beneficial to the taxpayer, as although the allowance computed by S.T.R. would be the same in the first year it would amount to only £66 in the second year, and 251 in the third.
R, WALTERS,
For Beeler and Chadwick, Road Transport Cost Accountants.
London, W . C .1.
[You are correct, and I had been given the information a week or two before I received your letter, by the local Inspector of Taxes himself in connection with some returns_I had been myself preparing. Nevertheless, I appreciate your kindness in pointing out this error, which does make, as you state, a substantial difference to the allowance made in respect of wear and tear, especially as time goes on.—S.T.R.]