Impending Changes That Will be Important to the Industry.
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Changes of considerable import to the industry are current. Not only is this so in respect of the hitherto purely military method of control of that department of the War Office which purchases motor vehicles and the additional necessary material for the A.S.C., M.T., but the imminent completion of the bulk of the original scheme for national munition manufacture is shortly to supersede the piece-meal expedient of "back parlour" shell making, which, while ludicrous in its inefficiency, proved an excellent means of effectively assisting to "carry on." It is no longer any secret that for some while past the Ministry of Munitions has had its eye turned—avariciously, shall we write ?—in the direction of the Mechanical Transport Department of the War Office. The latter organization has heretofore controlled the whole of its own purchases. This state of affai,.s, while making for high technical efficiency, has appeared to many people, as being anomalous, in that so important a supply as the motor chassis should be dealt with in a manner quite apart from that pertaining to the acquisition of the thousand and one other things which now rank as munitions.
In not a few cases has there been friction between Armament Buildings and those who have been engaged in endeavouring to secure for the Government rtut.iinura output of British-built motor lorries. This is a state of affairs which should not have been possible in a i.; time of crisis; it certainly is nnir.cessary.
The supervision of motor-vehicle contracts and purchases is being gnidually undertaken by the civilian-enlarged department of the Director of Contacts, so that the Ministry of Munitions is before vcry long likely to have a big say in all that pertains to the acquisition of subsidy and other models and tlie replacements necessary for them.
Acute., though not always well-informed, criticism of e...cisting and contemplated contract purchases has already been initiated. It is always well that a new broom should be generously supplied with bristles, especially when the broom is the. property of a neighboar with a very active interest in the tidiness of the people next door. But sweeping for the mere sake of sweeping is to he deprecated. The existing authority has performed very well on the whole.
All this will have its effect on the industry itself, but fortunately it is Departmental and will little affect the actual user.
The completion of the national shell factories and other rapidly growing activities will put an end to many of the relatively small shell contracts which have been undertaken by some of the motor-vehicle concerns. That is a circumstance which increasingly will affect the user by freeing output, providing always that Derby-Group and other claims on labour do not have an oVerwhelrningly insistent effect in the other direction.
We repeat that the industry has arrived at 'another stage in its remarkable war progress. Its relations with the Government are already being modified considerably on the lines indicated above. The dependence of the nation for all the important shells upon " adapted " factories will shortly become less eomprehensive and extensive.