The Relative Positions of Road and Rail Transport.
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0 N ANOTHER. PAGE of this issue we give rein (in the sense of allotting space) to the expressed opinions of a contributor, who signs himself "A Railwayman," upon certain exaggerated statenients alleged to have been uttered by enthusiasts in road transport. It is unnecessary to remark that The Commercial Motor has never been the vehicle for the dissemination of the opinion that railway transport would be displaced by road transport. And he would he a "bold man who prophesied' the early, or even eventual, demise of horsed transport. With the growth of the appreciation of transport, new uses for methods, both old and new, must be discovered; each method can be employed in. its own sphere, and in that sphere it can virtually resist competition. The coming of the telegraph did not reduce the total volume of postal correspondence ; the rapid development of the use of the telephone has brought no diminution in the number of telegrams or letters. In fact, it seems that every development in the means of human communication only increases the need for further facilities.
Our contributor rightly draws attention to the fact that the railways have behind them nearly a century of ceaseless organization, the significance of which has yet to be grasped by those who with to secure the development of road transport. The•railway system, and its wonderful co-ordination and its great capacity for handling traffic can, with profit, be studied by all road enthusiasts. Being rail and depot bound, however, the railway system has severe limitations, and herein is to be found the opportunity for road transport.
At the same time, whilst road transport, in comparison with the railway, is peculiarly free in the matter of route, it comes up against its limitations when a large bulk of goods has to be transported, and also when the empty return journey has to be faced. But, so long as road transport men do not waste their time and substance in trying to do by Motor what the railway can do better 'and cheaper, there is no question of the future of their industry. They are not called upon to move the lower grades of freight, the enormous loads of raw material and of finished goods that become the raw materials of other industries, but, in the movement of the finer goods carrying higher freight charges, they have such a wealth of business that there need be no fear for the falling off of their clientele. The necessary co-ordination will come. At present there is more competition than co-ordination. But a wise combination of both, such as has been built up by the Ailways in the course of their long experience, could hardly be 'expected of an industry that has not yet reached its majority. Did not Sir Eric Geddes recently say that motor transport was but in an experimental state just before the war? That was the railway man's way of looking at it ; we all know that the experimental stage had been passed, but that we do not all realize that we are only a short way on the road to full development is shown by an occasional remark to the effect that the commercial vehicle trade must almost have reached the limit of its possibilities. There are others, and many of them, who are much more nearly correct in their conclusions that but the merest fringe of the possibilities in road motor transport of passengers and goods has yet been touched. This contention is readily supported by figures which show the number of annual journeys per head of the population of any centre, large or smafl,. at various periods in the past 50 years. The figures have gone up enormously, yet, when the highest (of course, the most recent) figures are examined, it becomes apparent that the possibilities of the development of the travel habit are vaster still.
Our contributor fortunately is not a. destructive critic. On the contrary, his remarks are valuable, because they are constructive, and we hope they will be read by all who have the welfare of road transport at heart.
The Anti-dumping Bill.
IT IS NOW clear that the Government proposes to make, at an early date, a second attempt to deal with the dumping of foreign goods, and with the special safeguarding of key industries. However, the position in both respects is as yet by no means clear, an it is difficult to see how it can be made so until it is understood exactly what the Government means when it employs the woad "dumping," and exactly what it means by the title "key industry." On the first of these points our only guidance. is a recent remark by Sir Robert Horne to the effect that many people seem to regard dumping as selling in this country at prices lower than home prices, but that this is quite an erroneous idea. He adds that many people make representations suggesting antidumping legislation in cases for which anti-dumping legislation would give no relief. We have no doubt that he is right on this latter point, but his fi at remark would have, been more valuable had be gone on to give, his own definition of dumping. As we have stated on a previous occasion, many alternative definitions have been suggested, and the effects of adopting any one as against any other would differ very widely. We want a definition which does not involve the making of constant and costly inquiries as to the actual prices at which goods are being sold all over the world. We also want a definition which ensures us against our markets being used by foreign manufacturers tor trading on teems which, were they to apply those same terms at home, would be uncommercial and fatal to them. One point is at least clear, which is that the term " dumping " can be fairly applied when goods are sold in some other country at a. loss in order to kill the competition of that country's own industry, an ultimate substantial rise in price being always in prospoet when the process is completed. If we .restrict the terra. " dumping " to this particular procedure, then no " anti-dumping " legislation is likely to protect our own industries at all completely against unfair competition. It seems to us clear that if a foreign industry plans an enormous production, eells, say, 80 per cent. of its output at a profit at home—being probably protected in its own markets by tariff—and then gets rid of the balance in Great Britain at no loss, but at no profit, the competition is unfair. In such a ease our market is merely being used to absorb an inconvenient surplus. If the foreigner's home market were to increase, either we should cease togget supplies or else their price would also be considerably increased. In neither case should we have a, condition of stability,
Key Industries : What of the Farm Tractor?
IT IS VERY difficult to devise any definition of a + _key industry which would not include praetieally every essential industry that we have. At the same time, it is clear that in the mind, of the Government a key industry and an essential industry are not, by any means, the same thing. A key industry must be essential in itself and also, because, if it ceases to exist, some other much larger industry will immedi ately be held up, unless it can obtain adequate. supplies from foreign sources. One can hardly describe as a key industry the production of an article of so simple a character that it can be turned out, of a perfectly adequate quality and at very short notice, without preliminary experimental work or much expert knowledge. The ignition apparatus industry will presumably figure in the list of key industries which one imagines will be submitted to Parliament by the Board of Trade. Other obvious examples are the dye industry and the optical glass industry. We can hardly antici pate that the motor industry will be soescheduled, though its essential character was amply proved during the war both abroad and at home. A somewhat different case is that of the farm tractor industry. The war showed us that upon the pro ducts of this industry is dependent, perhaps, the big gest of all our industries, namely, agriculture. As things happened, we were able to draw supplies of tractors from a friendly nation. If the big supplier had happened to be Germany and noteAmerica, it can hardly be doubted but that at the present juncture the farm tractor would be classified without question as the product of a key industry. The chance that we were ableto import supplies during the war ought not, however, to influence our policy new. We take it that' the idea of safeguarding key industries is primarily that, in the event of war, what ever may be the circumstances beyond our coastline, we can continue to be self-supporting as regards necessaries. From this point of view, the tractor oe is essentially a key product. It has a further claim because it is an infant industry which needs nursing until, it gets stronger. At present, the inducements are hardly sufficient to lead to its rapid growth, and it is faced with the competition of established foreign industries which were able to develop during the war. Indeed, it has a special claim as compared even with, let us say, magnetos or optical glass.
rhe Safety of Passengers or Goods Vehicles on Hills.
NOT long ago we discussed the need for some form of sprag to obviate the danger of a ,vehicle running backwards. , It would seem, however, tliat just as many accidents are caused by the driver losing control of the vehicle down steep hills whilst it is running forwards. Such accidents as recently occurred at Keighley should be prevented at all costs, particularly in view of the fact that certain interested persons arealways anxious to seise an opportunity for running down the motor coach. A serious accident may have an appreciable effect on the use oflarge passenger vehicles, particularly in neigh-. bourhoods where steep hills axe liable to be encountered. It must be remembered that, with the most powerful brakes fitted, the liability of failure is ever present, unless they are frequently inspected by competent persons. However excellent a mechanical device may be, deterioration must inevitably occur, and only careful attention will keep it serviceable. There is a natural wish amongst owners to keep vehicles on the road so long as possible, and amongst drivers there is, sometimes, a feeling that if both brakes on a, vehicle, when used together, will arrest it, there -is no need to worry, but this is a grdre• mistake, for, if one brake fails at a critical moment, the other may not have sufficient power to assist materially in reducing the speed of the machine, and the extra strain. i put upon it may easily result n this brake failing also. , There would appear -to be a need for athird emergency brake intended for application by the driver, and the operating lever should be so positioned that, in normal circumstances, the driver is not tempted to use this brake' whilst at the same time he must be able to reach it when emergency arises. Auxiliary brakes should act direct on the wheel drums, as the failure of an ordinary brake is sometimes caused by a defect in the transmission when the brake acts through this. In such cases, if the auxiliary brake were also situated on the transmission it would be rendered useless in the same way as the other. In those machines where both brakes act at present _ direct on the rear wheel drums, there would appear to be scope for the provision of an emergency, brake on the front wheels.
There should be no great difficulty in, designing a spring-loaded brake which would come into action at about a certain pre-determined speed, and with sufficient power to bring a, vehicle to a standstill in a few yards. Such a. brake could be held out of action by a, trigger until the latter was released by a amen governor. The difficulty with such a fitting would be that, if the driver was tempted or required to exceed his normal speed along a level road, the brake would at once come into action. It has been suggested that the driver should be able to lock all the wheels of the vehicle in the case of extreme urgency; but the cure in this case would, in the opinion of competent designers, be more drastic than the disease. It is probable that if many more accidents occur the public will become restive, and may call for regular police inspection, and although we seldom appreciate official interference• in this case such inspection, either by the police or by the licensing authorities, might prove justified.