How Railways are Rated: An Enviable Privilege.
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WE doubt If any considerable proportion of our supporters are aware of the privileged position accorded to and enjoyed by the railway undertakings of the kingdom. Whilst the nonrailway ratepayer gets no allowance—and even scant consideration—when his business shows dwindling profits or norie at all, the railway companies are in a category all to themselves. When their net receipts fall, so do their assessments to local rates.
The basis of the assessment of railways to local rates is set forth very clearly in the Report of a recent Departmental Committee on Local Taxation (Cmd. 1674 of 1922). It reads:— " The position of railway property is unique, and to make the matter intelligible it is necessary to state shortly the position. Railway property (including canals owned by railways) is valued by a special assessor, called the Assessor of Railways. The method of valuation is as follows :—The published accounts of a company are taken. From them the assessor takes the gross receipts, less a few items, such al Transfer fees which would not accrue, to the hypothetical tenant. From these receipts he deducts all the working expenses which would fall on a hypothetical tenant. He includes in working expenses half of the cost of 'maintaining the permanent way, a statutory deduction provided by the Act of 1Str. From the net revenue so left there are next deducted certain percentage allowances, the figures having been fixed owing to various decisions of the Court, upon the present value of the hypothetical tenant's rolling stock; plant, machinery, furniture, etc. The balance remaining is taken as the annual value of the railway. Next there is deducted an allowance for tenant's capital, i.e., for interest, profits, depreciation and risk. The final cumulo value is thus arrived at. In order to apportion that value between the various localities concerned, there is first taken a sum of 5 per cent. on the cost of all stations, wharves, docks, etc., including the land on which they stand. This sum being deducted, the balance which remains is divided between the rating areas according to the length a line therein. Each local area thus gets its mileage proportion plus the 5 per cent, allowance on such stations, etc., as axe within WI boundary."
How many manufacturing and trading concerns would jump at the opportunity to accept like conditions—re-assessments in relation to profits ! No manufacturer or trader, and few owners of commercial motors, make greater use of the highways, 'or are more dependent upon other local authority services (such as gas, water and sanitation), than Is the case with the railways. Furthermore, hundreds of parishes, to and from which railway traffic is borne and drawn, receive not one penny In rates from the companies as a partial quid pro quo.
Railway protagonists lay great stress on the fact that, at present, the four groups together pa some £8,000,000 a year in local rates out of net receipts (before those rates are debited) of some .50,000,000 a year. They plead that it exceeds 16 per cent. of those profits. There are many businesses, we find, which, under the pressure of current economic events, have to meet rates in excess of 25 per cent. of their profits The railways, in this regard, appear to us to enjoy an enviable position. Their burden is shifted to the non-railway ratepayer, who is himself already over-harassed, each time they obtain a reduction of assessment. This shift has quite recently amounted in some parishes to as much 'as three shillings in the pound increase on the general ratepayer.
The Long-discredited Police Trap.
ECAUSE of the unfairness which, from the p outset, has characterized the operation of police traps—the selection for the purpose of trapping of isolated stretches of the highway either on a falling or rising gradient, each being an incentive to higher speed—the law in the matter has been brought into disrepute. There had been a )nope that, in view of the fact that a new Motor 'Car Bill had been prepared for consideration by ''arliament, the discreditable type of police trap ad been dropped, but during the past few months it appears to have been revived, and reports reach us from all over the country of annoying and tine-wasting summonses against drivers of lorries for exceeding the speed limits of 12 miles per 'lour and, when a trailer is attached, of five miles WI hour.
The knowledge that a higher permissible speed for vehicles mounted on pneumatic tyres and not exceeding 3f tons is foreshadowed in the recommendations of the Departmental Committee upon the Taxation and Regulation of Motor Vehicles has induced makers to produce vehicles conformIng to the requirements, and these vehicles are now in service on the road in growing numbers. Of course, it must be admitted that the designer, manufacturer and user have moved faster than the law-givers, and that the vehicles are in exptence before the law has been amended to authorize their use in the manner for which they have been designed; but the position is not helpful towards an appreciation of the possibilities of Government celerity in law-making or towards an improvement in the degree of respect in which the law is held. With an experienced and reasonable man in the position of Home Secretary, there is some expectation of a reform in the method and objects of police trapping. No one desires to encourage reckless or inconsiderate driving, and we are sure that no one with knowledge of the road will disagree with our dictum that drivers of goods or heavy passenger vehicles are rarely, or never, guilty of recklessness, nor are they inconsiderate. There should, as was strongly pointed out last Week to Sir William Joynson-Hicks, by a deputation of about 50 Members of Parliament, be some better method than the grossly unfair police trap for putting a check upon any bad driving that takes place, and we are glad to hear that a subcommittee from the deputation is to meet the officials at Scotland Yard after the holiday recess to discuss the sublect. We hope that attention will, at the same time, be given to the question B18 of procedure in testing the efficiency of brakes on heavy vehicles. It is right and proper that a vehicle should have adequate brakes, but considerable ignorance is being evidenced in the methods of testing the vehicles. The subject should be discussed with representatives of users and manufacturers so that a fair and useful method of testing may be devised and agreed upon, otherwise the police must meet with opposition, and very little good will come out of their present crusade.
Changing the Oil in the Crankcase.
SIQo many theories have been expounded On the of the frequency with which the oil in the crankcase should be changed that it is of interest to learn the results of actual practice. A lot has been said and much has been written regarding the so-called deterioration of engine oil and the evils resulting from dilution; hence, as a consequence, many users have been forced into the belief that oil practically wears out and that the molecules of which it consists have, through constant rubbing, in some manner or other been worn. crushed or disintegrated. During a recent visit to a works which deals with the overhauling of a large number of buses, we learned that, although the engines are overhauled once in six months, the oil in the crankcase is never changed during that period ; certainly more is added from time to time, as necessary, to maintain the correct level, but that is all, Discussing the matter with the chief chemist employed at the works, we were informed that tests made with oil used in this manner have shown that its lubricating properties are but slightly impaired, and analysis has proved that the total content of solid matter in oil so treated has amounted to only .3 peri cent., and of this small quantity only 10 per cent. consisted of road dust. The remainder of the solid constituent consisted chiefly of alumina caused by wear on the aluminium pistons, and traces of other metals, as was to be expected, but this comparatively slight amount of sediment sinks to the bottom of the oil and is not circulated in the ordinary course. We do not suggest to our readers that they should run their engines for such long periods without-cleaning out. What may be suitable for power units of a certain type may not be suitable for others, and it is chiefly a question of indi vidual experience, but that engines which during the period in question, can be used with :success for mileages of 25,000 or more withoutl,change of oil shows that those who advocate replacing the lubricant as often as once in every 1,000 miles are going to the other extreme, unless there is some thing radically wrong with the units in which the oil is employed or in the oil itself (although we do not disbelieve in an early first change, as the first supply of oil will necessarily be called upon to clean the engine after manufacture and assembly). We emphasize this matter because the cost of lubricating oil is not one of the least in connection with the running of commercial motor vehicles, particularly those of the heavier types. Another interesting fact that was disclosed was that the thickness of the oil has very little effect on its lubricating properties, and one of those found most satisfactory would be considered by most users to be far too thin for the,large power unit. Where excessively thick oil is employed, this usually means excessive deposition of carbon and, consequently, necessitates more frequent lifting of the cylinders or cylinder heads for cleaning.