Opinions from Others.
Page 20
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Bleeding the Nation.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1549] Sir,—There have been many criticisms in the Press, since the outbreak of war, of the attempt by certain associations or syndicates to exploit thc nation in its time of need, and amongst the latest is that of the large petrol companies to advance their prices a further 2d. per gallon at a time when the Government have just decided to impose an extra 3d. per gallon duty. This makes a total increase in the cost of 'spirit to the user of 5,d. per gallon within the past few days. The public generally are quite agreeable to pay their share directly or indirectly in the expense of carrying on the war, but this recent action by the petrol companies will meet with the strongest resentment amongst all users of motor vehicles. The excuse for the higher charge will no doubt be given out as being due to increased freight, etc.' but, when a comparison is made between the price at which motor spirit is ,,sold in America and that demanded in this country, it will be at once seen that the difference is such as to warrant a reduction instead of an advance.—
Yours faithfully, MOTORVAN UsER." Glasgow.
We sent a copy of this letter to a gentleman who is identified with one of the big importers of motor spirit. The reply is given below_Ro.] Why Motor Spirit Has Gone Up.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1550] Sir —Your correspondent has not stated the facts accurately. The prices of Pratt's II and Taxi bus spirit were advanced ld per gallon a few days before a like advance was made in the price of lower grades of motor spirit by other importers. A large part of the cost of motor spirit is due to the high ocean freight. This is the same for high-grade as for lowgrade spirit, so it is not surprising that there has had to be an approximation between the two. The way in which the rises took place shows that there is no question of associations or syndicates. When the duty of 3d. per gallon was imposed, all the distributors raised the price of motor spirit by 4d. per gallon. It is a well-known fact that the imposi tion of an import duty, or an increase in an existing duty, involves far more expense than the mere cost of the duty itself. There is an increase, in the case of motor spirit, in the value of the spirit which is lost by leakage and evaporation, which loss alone is a serious item. There are, also, increased charges in respect of finance and del credere. The consumer cannot expect to escape his share of these burdens.
Motor users of all classes in the United Kingdom are really to be congratulated, in that, throughout a period when the cost of tins, horses, motors, labour, freight, and all the innumerable factors wh,ich go to make up the cost of motor spirit, delivered to the British consumer, has increased by leaps and bounds, the importers and distributors have been able to continue for more than a year to deliver the product at pre-war prices.
Your correspondent is misinformed regarding the relation between the price of motor spirit in this coun try and in America ; the difference is less than the current rate of freight, and the cost of distribution in this country.
The original duty on petrol was in reality imposed to protect the producers of benzole and the Scotch producers of shale oil. They did not have to pay the duty, yet they increased their prices, and motorists who used benzole or Scotch shale oils contributed nothing to the upkeep of roads, although they were using them. The same thing will apply to this new duty ; it will give a further protection to the manufacturers of benzole and to the Scotch shale refiners.—
Yours faithfully, "IMPORTER." The American Invasion.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1551] Sir,--In the sixth instalment of "The. American Invasion" a great deal of emphasis is laid upon the service department. This as I understand it, receives the complaints from the purchaser of a vehicle for a two-fold purpose : (1) To enable the purchaser to derive a maximum of satisfaction from the vehicle purchased ; (2) to enable the manufacturer to utilize the complaints for a further improvement of the vehicle.
To the inside man, the second point is more important than the first. To satisfy the second point, there must exist in the manufacturing organization the possibility and the willingness to act in the direction of progress. If, for instance, the statistics of the service department disclose that a certain part is breaking more frequently than some other, a correct analysis of the cause would be the first step, and this requires the service of an engineering diagnostician. The possibility of accepting his recommendations is greatly reduced if material for 1000 vehicles ---either on hand or contracted for—must be changed. The willingness to change for better is very often antagonized by factory traditions, especially when radical moves are contemplated, because it would show to the outsider that the former design wa-s wrong, or not quite " up to the snuff."
From the above, it could be concluded that a service department added to a factory organization is not ipso facto a guarantee of success. Its function is similar to the liver in organisms, i.e., to counteract the indiscretions of the head and stomach. Accordingly, an exceptionally-efficient service department is a big temptation for the factory to take long chances. Whether the financial returns will be satisfactory remains to be demonstrated, and, since a factory is an organization devoted to " Crass-worship," its component parts must be judged from that view-point. The same article contains also the sentence "It is a curious fact, which would need considerable knowledge of psychology and sociology to explain fully, that the British and European engineer who conies over on a visit in most, cases remains to stay permanently." As far as I can look into the matter, and that is a great deal on account of my long nose, no engineer nor any labourer of any kind is allowed to land in the States except as a free man, and accordingly a trip to the States is always in the nature of a " visit "—accompanied by a search for a suitable job. If the explorer failed to knock down a plum corresponding with his standard of expecta 'Lions, he can always back out gracefully by reminding those he left on the other side of the creek that he just went out to broaden his horizon. Mighty few people are willing to acknowledge defeat, and that trait is a recognized fact even in automobile engineering by making the reverse speed the lowest, i.e., the reverse torque the highest ! The reason why many engineers stay has been confidentially -communicated to me by one of them who said : "You know, the ' screw' is so much better here!" Those who are capable of reading between the lines may, unless I am mistaken, find another indication in Kipling's poem "Manda-lay." Really, I think that the whole controversy is out of place; the accident of birth does not make anybody proof against mistakes ; engineering, like art and science, is international, simply because it is exactly the same in London and in Chicago. It would be a regrettable fact to drag into our art factional strife and to judge its product by that spirit only.
Fair play, and let the best truck win !—Youra faithfully, C. P. SCHWARZ, D.Sc. 2146, Payne Ave., N.E. Cleveland, O.