Activity in the North.
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An increasing measure of success for the next North of Engiand Show is assured by the considerable response which is being accorded by Lancashire and lorkshire owners to the Manchester, Liverpool and Counties Commercial Motor Users Association. This body, as our reports at the time show, was formed at the Midland Hotel, Manchester, on the 2eth June last. Organization of this kind helps to coneeetrate interest, and provides a desirable means of establishing close touch between manufacturing and using interests. At the suggestion of the writer, on the occasion of the formation of this northern body, a happy compromise was adopted itr respect of the constitution of the committee, and here we find the first example of specific representation for members with motortrade interests, subject to an agreed ratio of two to one in favour of the user who has no such trade interests. It is no doubt, largely due to this joint arrangement for the representation of the inter-related interests to which we refer, that whole-hearted co-operation is being witnessed, and that users are being brought into the ranks of the affiliated C.M.U.A. at a rate which bids fair to hold the record outside London. We shall be much surprised if lir. Ellis Green, the secretary, and his co-workers on the local cmimittee, do not attain a. membership or several hundreds, and one which will include all the influential users in the areas concerned, before the Show is opened early in January next, for this centre.
The Development of Rural Transport.
There was a reference in our issue of last week (page 53) to the attitude of the Development Commissioners towards grants in aid of rural transport. We now have occasion, following the publication of the Commissioners' annual report for the le months ended the 31st March last, to direct attention, in some detail, to the situation as it. exists. In passing, we may refer readers who bind or file copies to the particulars and comments bearing upon this aspect of the Development and Road Improvement Fund Act, 1909, that are contained in the first two pages of our issue of the 23rd December, 1909.
Part I of the Act of 1999 deals with development, and authorizes the expenditure of money, intr., alia, upon "the general improvement of rural transport." It is provided that no grant can be made to any trader, or to any group of individuals, any institution, association or corporation, which is trading for profit. We carefully drew attention to this point when the Act was passed, and we now find that the Commissioners have had only one application before them in relation to the establishment of a road-motor service, This is being investigated: it concerns a projected road service for Ireland, and Mr. G. A. Burls, once of Thornyeroft's, is also looking into the whole subject of road-motor transport v, light railway on the instructions of the Commissioners.
The Commissioners had received no less than £2,900,000, up to the date in question,and had only made grants or loans aggregating £725,OSS. On tho other hand, over and above this sum, as in the case of the Road Board, which is a close parallel, they had indicated then' preparedness to provide money for many schemes, and these are est:mated to absorb very considerable sums, although the total is not indicated. The Commissioners comment upon the dearth of schemes for rural transport, forage stations, land drainage and reclamation, and the improvement of inland navigation, and they proceed:— "The main reason for this unexpected state of things is, in the Commissioners' opinion, the fact that no advances can legally be made from the tend to individuals, or to companies trading for profit. They think that this difficulty might to some extent be overcome, consistently both with the letter and the spirit of the Act, by the formation of national associations (not trading for profit) to receive and administer advances from the fund ; and now that three years have passed without any increase in the number of schemes spontaneously submitted for these purposes, they feel that the position ought not to be left unaltered without an effort to change it."
Why should not. the Commercial Motor Users Association (Incorporated), which appears to us to be a body that complies exactly with the requirements of the Commissioners, take into consideration the, possibility of putting schemes forward, and of accepting the responsibility of administering both funds and undertakings. The matter is one for attention.
Middlesex Roads.
A great deal has been hoard lately about the increasing cost of roads in the county of Middlesex. The recent extension of motorbus routes has undoubtedly proved that numerous macadamizedroads will not bear the traffic of the day, in which category motorbus services have undoubtedly to be placed, and to the small extent that this traffic was really not to have been foreseen we are prepared to admit that the road. authorities are deserving of a measure of sympathy. It is their duty to put the roads into due order, for motorbus traffic is not extraordinary, and rumours of such extensions have been general for some years. The situation as it affects the county as a whole has to be considered, and we regret to find no evidences of a willingness to put forward all the facts that bear upon the case. The recent report of the county surveyor, for example, contains a table which sets out the annual expenditure on highways from the year 1889-1890 to the year 1911-1912, and we do not question the recorded increase from approximately :'.50,000 per annum to something in excess of £75.000 per annum. We do object, however, to the non-inclusion in the report of corresponding figures to show the extent to which the resources of the county have contemporaneously increased, and equally to the apparent lack of interest in those apposite and germane facts. No ease is properly stated when only one side of it is put
forward, and we hope to be in a position next week to give publicity to the othee side, for the satisfaction of our numerous readers who have motorbus, inotorvan, or other heavy-traffic interests in the nei0ibourhood of the Metropolis.
From Warehouse to Mill.
Pioneers of motor transport in Lancashire mu.,,t, have been considerably heartened last week by sights that were to be witnessed in Liverpool and Manchesten The fact that the labour 'trouble was conned to the railway men, and that it did not affect the warehouse gangs, led to the concentration of some hundreds of Lancashire-owned 'motor wagons upon the collection of raw material, and these vehicles in many iestances, constituted the only practicable means of transport to inland towns.
A valued Lancashire correspondent, who has, both in his private capacity and as a cotton manufacturer, been identified with commercial-motor development in the County Palatine from the earliest days, in the course of a letter to us in reference to the, state of affairs at Liverpool, writes: "The scenes at Liverpool would have surprised even the pioneers of the Liverpool Self-Propelled Traffic Association." We do not, as a matter of fact, admit that anything would have surprised those pioneers, having regard to the proofs of enthusiasm and optimism which they gave, but we do wish to put on record our regret that the late Earl of Derby, the late Sir Alfred Jones, the late Mn Henry H. West and others, who, whilst they helped materially and personally in the years 1897 to 1901 to carry forward the work that was done in Lancashire, did not live to see its complete fruition, and are not still with us. That expression of regret, we know well, will be echoed by many a reader of these lines who also did his share in those early days.
Once again has the commercial value of the possession of independent transport been demonstrated. Whereas the ordinary collection of thousands of bales of cotton, from Liverpool warehouses by means of horse-drawn vehicles, would have proved a mere waste of energy, the motor lorries, in spite of the-railway trouble, took the raw material of Lancashire's staple industry, without let or hindrance, to they waiting mills. Fresh converts have been made because of this, and the movement is thus further strengthened.
Manoeuvre Transport.
Both the British and the French manteuvres of this year are in fact a test of transport and supply. The place of the commercial motor was long ago made clear in connection with Army requirements, in the organization of every army of the civilized world, and it is gratifying to find that our own country's tests are not in any sense less interesting or exacting than those of other nations. We confine this opinion to motors for use on average highways, because there yet remains very much to be done in regard to developmeats which will allow mechanical power to be employed in the field proper, or on soft and yielding surfaces, on sand, or in marshy country. Taking, however, the ease of operations in developed countries with a system of highways, and examining the particular case of feeding and serving an army which is extended over a considerable distance by means of motor transport along the road or roads on which that army is marching and resting, it has again been made amply clear that the horse is out of it, and that reliance must in the future be placed almost exclusively upon the motor.
Many pages of this issue contain illustrated references to the course of events in the current French and British manmuvres. A perusal of those pages cannot fail to enforce the views which we have expressed.
The Badge Question and Its Sequels.
The correctness of our surmise of more than a week ago, that other and more-serious considerations lay behind the plea of London busmen to wear their Union badges, has been fully justified by events. The right of labour to combine is now commonly accepted, and rightly so. By what other means can the labourer
negotiate with any effect ? Following recognition, which is now almost universal, for the right of men to combine, the natural sequence of events involves recognition for the men in combination, and it is here thatrdiverenee of view between employer and employed bekin•s to assert itself. • That was the situation in,which London found itself only a few days ago.
By reason of the frequency of eases in which men of organizing ability or activity had been discharged or transferred by their employers, and by reason of the hesitancy engendered in respect of individual leadership by any employed man, openings arose in the past for the so-called " paid agitator." We do not, here, refer to the London bus world. The excesses, both of speech and behaviour, of which some of these officials of the men's tJuior1s have been guilty prompted and helped the alternative of recognized committees of workmen, with authorized spokesmen and leaders, on the initiative of the employer himself, and the writer has pers:onal knowledge, dating back to the days of his apprenticeship in Lancashire, of the eminently-satisfactory manner in which disputes can be settled for the benefit of all concerned by conferences between the management of the Nv.ffi.ks and workmen who have been chosen in the manner indicated. We cannot, of course, launch at length into a thesis on the evolution of Trades Unions, nor can ire cite cases of good and bad results from their operations, because we are concerned only with the situation which developed so: recently in London. We are not aware—and we followed the whole of the evidence before the recent Select Committee of the House if Commons on London Motor Traffic very closely—C‘at London motorbus di ivers and conductors have any just grievances. The organization of the .L.G.0.0. and its allies provided for due consideration of complaints, and the working of this system of organization had achieved satisfactory settlements in innumerable instances. At the time of the threatened strike last week there were, we are convinced, no reasons for unrest amongst London bus workers as a body, and certainly no occasion for their withholding labour. Messrs. Tilling may or may not have handled their initial trouble with astuteness or diplomacy ; only the members of the internal management really have knowledge of the details. If there were a mistake by them, probably nobody regrets it more than they do. Be that as it may, those who are identified with the London motorbus world had to choose between recognition of the Licensed Vehicle Workers Union and the certainty of a disastrous strike.
The Board of Trade proffered its good offices: to the disputants in this misunderstanding, towards the end of last week, and Sir George Askwith, the chief industrial commissioner, presided over the conference between the parties throughout Monday last. Our " in Public Service " page gives the text of the settlement. We trust that it will work well.
The officials of the Licensed Vehicle Workers Union assert that several thousands of new members were recruited amongst Loudon motorbus employees between Friday and Monday last, and it is also asserted that the great majority of these workers now belong to that Union. Accepting this reported relation or membership to total of men employed as correct, it is clearly an acceptable and expedient course for the companies to deal through the Union in all matters which call for such handling. Interference with the legitimate internal management of .any London bus company will be resented, and in our judgment effectually so, by the employers, hut we can find no insuperable objection to recognition of the Union; and to the conduet of certain negotiations through it, provided the Union es well conchicted and does not seek to dictate or impose impossible terms. When. employers wish to act in a matter which they find beyond their own personal understanding, they u-nally give instructions to solicitm s to act for them. The men might equally wish to employ solicitors, but they appear to prefer the president aid other chosen officials of their Union. The analogy between an emnloyer and his solicitor, and a workman and his Union, may break down if pushed too far, but it correctly represents the functions of the leaders of certain trade unions with which the writer has come into personal contact.
The difficult case of the non-Union workmen will p r:.bably remain, and it is this .aspect of the situation which is likely to prove troublesome. Can the men with the Union badge be trusted not to treat the men who have no badge other than as " blacklegs," and not to annoy and harass them in devious ways? The unbadged men, who may have conscientious and sound reasons for not joining the Union, must be protected against unfair discrimination against them in the course of their duties. Can that result be achieved ? Will the Union, nowethat it is recognized, be prepared to let men who do not want to join it remain outside it and yet be given fair play i We have never come across that result in a trade or industry5n which " the Union" was recognized.
Instructions While on the Road.
An occasional contributor to this journal communicates (page 91) his views with regaed to certain aspects ot the arrangements which are in force between the C.M.U.A. and the R.A.C. Ho particularly refers to a possible elaboration of the services that are rendered by the R.A.C. touring guides, and puts forward the concrete suggestion that these " roadside sentinels " should be increasingly turned to account, in order to enable owners to get into communication with drivers of motor vehicles in the course of carrying out long-distance journeys.
Anybody who has borne any practical share in the work of motor haulage knows the value of facility for directional control. Alteration or modification of instructions has always been a crucial difficulty. Innumerable references have appeared in 'THE CosaMERCIAL MOTOR to projects and schemes to enable touch to be maintained, and we have ourselves frequently insisted upon the greiti, advantage of opportunities for telephonic communication in this regard. Service of that kind is essential for any carrier.
Of the two views to which our correspondent refers, we prefer a development in conjunction with the C.M.1UA. night-shelter scheme, and it will no doubt he satisfactory news to our readers to know that this is making healthy progress. We consider that efforts to .get into touch with a driver through roadside guides or scouts cannot be equal to a system of communication which permits the messages and instructions to become part of the night-shelter organization. The C.M.U.A. will .soon have completed its records of storage and supply depots, for the peculiar service of commercial motors, up and down the great trunk routes of the country. The work is well in hand. What, will then be more simple than that any driver should be instructed to call for orders at certain of these depots, in a manner comparable to that which is in force in the mercantile marine. The depot can arrange to display on the roadside the numbers of the vehicles for which it holds orders, and no other driver need halt to ask for them.
We are fully cognizant of the wastage which takes place at present, owing to lack of foresight or intelligent anticipation of possibilities, in. many road-transport departments. These can be avoided, in some cases, by instructions to the driver to wire to headquarters, say twice a day, stating the post-office at which he will call for instructions a few hours later. A simple arrangement of that kind permits of maintenance of touch all over the country, at nominal cost, when necessary, whilst in many cases, it should be possible to settle the calling-points beforehand, and so to save the cost of telegrams from the driver ; in other cases, such as the unexpected variation of programme. to which our correspondent: refers, we agree only conditionally that advantage can be taken of the existing road-guide organization. The successful working of action of the kind will depend on the publication and circulation of lists of the stations to which these men are allotted from time to time, and it must take into account the fact that many of them patrol considerable lengths of highway on their bicycles. We do not dismiss the suggestion because of these difficulties, but we wish to direct attention to them. How would an owner address a, telegram so thatdt might reach a guide whose duties might cause him to be at any point on a five-mile length l It is for this reason, amongst others, that we prefer the covering of the services in question as part of the night-shelter scheme, and we shall certainly use our best efforts to secure their incorporation with that scheme.