The Forthcoming Parliamentary and Departmental Investigations.
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Interest is now thoroughly aroused throughout. the motor industry by the announced intentions of the Government with, regard to future legislation. We coasider that all necessary assurances have already been given, and that renewals of them will he obtainable if necessary, by way of guarantee that .there will be no disturbances of existing practice without reasonable notice. The inquiries must themselves take up much time. There has, of course, been a measure of expectation, due to our own writings, on the subjects at issue for a term of years ; in fact, SOIne members of the industry, and a few owners, have regarded us to a certain extent as being influeeeed by pessimistic views. We have never before been accused of pessimism, so the experience is a little strange. Imminent happenings, will, we trust, clear us of any such aspersions, and will completely justify our frequent references to probabili ties. We are gratified to be able to place against the occasional chidings of the character to which we i;efer a large volume of appreciation on the part of others who have been ready to give ear to our hints, None of those hints has been written in any spirit of idealism or idleness, but all of them from advance and correct information. Nothing but the pressure of political circumstances has hindered the earlier appointing of a day of revision. We desire once more to repeat our considered opinion that the precedents which have been established in France and Germany, as regards periods of grace for existing models, will be a. feature of the reoom-r mendations of the Departmental Committee of the Local Government Board. This Committee, the eon stitution of which we expect to be able to record either this week or ntxt, will have imposed upon it duties which in many respects resemble those that were undertaken by the Departmental Committee oF 1110-1, appointed by Mr, Walter Long, of which Mr Henry Hobhouse was Chairman. That Committee allowed a satisfactory period of grace to the relatively-few ownerssof steam lorries whose vehicles had unladen weights in excess of five tons, whilst none the less limiting their employment according to the maximum total weight of twelve tens arid the maximum axle-weight of eight tons. We have already expressed the opinion that no manufacturer will be called upon to comply with any new regulations ivil lout an agreed time allowance, and no owner to convert or abandon withia a term of five or six years those types which may prove to he affected by the new regulations. It is, of course, only the heaviest models which are likely to be modified considerably, and there are good reasons for believing that such 'codifications will he limited to wheel and tire dimen sione and materials. We cannot, hy refoon of the fart that the element of speed will remain superior in its effects upon the road, see that any reduction of maximum total weight or maximum axle-weight can be justified, or beneficially adopted.
An interesting article is contributed to the present issue, from the pen of a well-known user who writes
under the wom de plume of " A Provincial Owner " (pages 535 to 637), and this is no doubt representative of some views of sections of our readers. We have always taken the view, by reason of our own considerable experience in the Provinces, that it is dangerous to argue from the special case of London to that of the country at large. It has to be noted, on the other hand, that the problem is about to be investigated from the standpoint of road maintenance and wear, and not from the standpoint of revenue for the owner of the vehicle. Many of our large provincial cities, such as Liverpool and Manchester, are paved so well that they can easily withstand the effects of the heaviest motor traffic ; Liverpool, as a m.l.tter of fact, gives exemption to local owners and et'eows them to exceed both the total-weight and axle. weight limits with impunity. No harm is done to anybody by this concession, and the necessary requirements of Liverpool trade are the better met in consequence of the. latitude that is officially sanctioned. It is wrong, therefore, to conclude that London is essentially superior to other large towns in respect to the strength of itsyhighways. Our contributoilin certain of his references, admirably illustrates the difficulties by which the pending investigations into motorbus traffic, which. investigations will be undertaken by a Joint Committee of both. Houses of Parliament, are surrounded, when he seeks to argue that taxation according to weight—registered axle-weight—is unfair, yet7 later proceeds to argue in favour of taxation according to capacity. We cannot detect any material difference between the two proposals ; whilst, on the one hand, not every goo.ds vehicle is always loaded up to its registered axleweight, so, on the other hand, not every passengercarrying vehicle is always loaded up to its full seating capacity. Axle-weight is capacity in relation to the road. Again, this contributor puts forward certain ri-rlative yields from the petrol tax for London and the Provinces, the former based unon the sup. position that. London " with its level roads and well made streets" must allow nine miles of running per gallon to he achieved ; he here fails to make allowance for the consequences of traffic congestion and frequent stoppages, and ignores the ascertained fact that London and provincial performances per gallon of petrol are very much on an equality. The actual figure for London is 7.75 m.p.g.. and our contributor from his own experience suggests 7.5 m.p.g. for the Provinces
We commend to the attention of our readers, some of whom will no doubt desire to take part in the correspondence which appears likely to ensue, other detail points of importance and interest, such as the claim that a single-deck motorbus with a. long wheelbase does less damage to a road than an ordinary London double-decker. So far as this contributor refers to the 100 mm. section of tire on the back wheels of London motorbuses, we have in the past expressed our surprise that so small a section is retained. It is essential to keep in mind disclosed differences bet ween experiences on roads of water-boundonacadam construction and on others of modern type.