Taxation and Licensing
Page 35
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NUMEROUS and varied are the opinions we hear concerning the possible action which will be taken by the Government in connection with the rail-and-road transport problem. Many people are convinced that the recommendations of the Salter. Conference cannot possibly be adopted as they stand, for they have been entirely discredited by the most important interests throughout the country.
The final result will probably be the adoption of the programme recommended by the Royal Commission on Transport, which is now recognized as being far preferable and based on sounder factors than is the Salter Report.
We can see ilia objection to a scale of .taxation which spreads the burden more equitably over the range of capacities, but only if the total be not increased; rather should it be decreased.
To our mind, taxation by unladen weight is entirely .wrong, and is a principle which lends itself to regrettable practices, such as overloading. Taxation should be based upon capacity, perhaps modified by the other important factor of speed,. for transportcosts have to be based Upon ton-mileage, and it would obviously be unfair to the big vehicle to grade the tax in accordance with the . load capacity without taking its lower speed into consideration. So far as the licensing of haulage vehicles is concerned, here there are two schools of thought. The one is that the matter should be left as it stands ; the other that some form ofi.control Should be exercised. There are so many conflicting elements within the industry itself that reasonable supervision may eventually be instituted because no one can prophesy with truth how long-it would take hauliers to put their own house in order.
Something certainly must be done to prevent the wholesale cutting of rates, which has, in many instances, resulted in the same vehicle being sold on hire-purchase terms to several hauliers in turn, each of whom fails to meet his obligations, with the consequence that the vehicle has been seized and resold to the next applicant at a reduction which permits the vendor to make a profit on each such transaction.
Many established hauliers naturally look with favour upon some protection being accorded to them, but we should be loath to see instituted any restriction which would debar individual enterprise ; such enterprise, however, should be directed into proper channels and not permitted . to become a thorn in the flesh of the trade and a cause of failure, possibly not restricted to the immediate interest concerned.