OPERATING ASPECTS
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of Passenger Transport
BOOKING AGENTS RALLY AGAINST THE COMMISSION DANGER
Seriousness of Proposed Commission Cut Explained at a Meeting in London. TEE threat of a general reduction by the Traffic Commissioners ,of commissions paid to booking agents has already brought about a considerable increase in the membership of the Booking Agents' Association of Great Britain, Ltd., which now stands at over Z-.i00. The statement made by Mr. Henry Riches, chairman of the Northern Area Traffic Commissioners, to the effect that it was proposed, by means of conditions attached to road-service licences, to limit booking agents' commission to 5 per cent, for sub-agents and 74 per cent. for main agents, was detailed on page 114 of our issue dated September 8th, and the meeting then referred to took place on September 17th at Anderton's Hotel, London, E.C.4.
It was attended by approximately 200 booking agents, including some who were not members of the association. Mr. A. J. Aircl, president of the association, took the chair. A fighting fund was • started, and met with a fair response. The speeches were good, and the following two resolutions were unanimously carried :—
This mass meeting of booking agents protests strongly against the attempt being made by certain TraffIc Commissioners to endorse road service licences with conditions affecting booking agents commissions, and instructs the committee of the Booking Agents' Association ol Great Britain, Ltd., to take whatever steps may be deemed necessary to safeguard agents' interests."
" This meeting draws the attention of the Minister oi Transport to the alarming increase, at a time of serious economic depression, of unemployment in the motor-coach industry, doe to the ruthless curtailment or elimination of established services by the Traffic Commissioners, and respectfully urges the Minister to issue general directions • to tills Commissioners stressing this state of affairs.
After Mr. Aird and Mr. E. F. Bailey, chairman of the committee, had briefly spoken, Mr. Gerald Nowell, managing director of the Great Western Express Co., Ltd., spoke on the need for coordination between operators and agents and, above all, the need for public support behind, the passenger-travel movement. Something in the nature of a road travellers' protection association, he submitted, ought to be started, and the question of appointing a full-time paid organizer must be considered.
Mr. Wynne-Davies, honorary solicitor to the association, expressed a definite opinion that it is illegal for Traffic Commissioners to impose condi tions as to agents' commission. There were, he said, three passible lines of action ; an operator could appeal to the Minister against such a condition, an operator could disobey the condition, or application could be made to the King's Bench Division for a mandamus to restrain Commissioners from imposing such conditions. The last-named was, in his opinion, the best course to take because it would result in a general ruling.
Mr. H. E. Lawrie, Labour M.P. for Stalybridge, arrived from the House of Commons and made a most stirring speech. He started by saying that practically none of the Members of Parliament ever visualized, when the Road Traffic Act was passing through
• the committee stage as a Bill, that it would be used for the purposes of suppressing a new industry. The railways, he continued, were quickly able to throttle the canal system and strangle the old horse-coach service ; they would have been hampered if, at that time,_ Bill of this kind had been passed. If the Commissioners were allowed to insist on railway fares for motor-coach journeys, that would end the -whale road-travel business, but such conditions
were not reasonable. At the most, conditions might be attached that coach owners must show that at their lower fares they are making as much profit as the railways are making. This they could easily do, because they have not the watered stock which hinders the railways.
The public, Mr. Lawrie continue, has the right to demand the advantages which road travel offers, but the administration of the Act has so far totally ignored the public's wishes. If the railways carried fewer passengers now than in 1913, when there were practically no motor coaches, they might contend that tho motor services had taken away their traffic, but he asserted the rail traffic has not fallen since 1913.
If booking agents were really going to apply to the King's Bench Division in this matter of commissions, they must be prepared for the cost of an appeal; together they could easily face that. He cited the example of the trade unions to show what could be done by banding together. If, he said, he could be of any help by reason of his position in the House of Commons, he was ready to do so, because he wanted to see the common people free to enjoy road transport.
An eloquent appeal for the fighting fund was made by Mr. W. Wakeling, of London, S.W.9, and the evening concluded with other speeches. The address of the secretary of the association, Mr. T. Morris, is 40, Sherbrooke Road, Fulham, London, S.W.6 (Fulham 3204). The annual subscription is one guinea.