Political Commentary By JAN US
Page 40
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Precious Bane
pETROL is an innocent-looking liquid with explosive properties. Users of the precious bane must often have wished that supplies of fuel could be produced on their own premises, where it would not be so easily controlled by taxation and rationing.
Recent discussions on petrol rationing have been heard with mixed feelings. Sufficient fuel is available, it is said, to provide an increased allocation to users, even if it be not possible at this stage to meet their requirements in full. Dispassionate argument on the subject, however, has been handicapped by lack of precise information.
Perhaps with the idea of shining a light into a dark place, Mr. Winston Churchill, in the course of one of his election speeches, expressed the determination of the Conservatives to put an end to petrol rationing at the earltest possible moment. His opponents, who were in a better position to give the exact figures, chose instead for the most part to attack the promise on general grounds Sir Stafford Cripps described it as an "irresponsible act," Mr. Aneurin Bevan as a "bribe," and Mr. Attlee as a "little bit of window dressing."
Mr Gaitskell, although cautious, was not completely discouraging. In saying that the prospects of an increased petrol ration was " not bad" if the dollar position improved, he shifted the debate from the national to the international plane, where it more properly belongs. The supply of petrol to this country depends to a large extent upon what is happening in other countries.
The decision by the Australian Government to put an end to petrol rationing affects the position in the whole Sterling area. Much is to be said in favour of the decsion The great distances to be traversed by road in Australia meant serious losses in the volume and efficiency of production while restrictions on petrol continued. Last year 80,000 British motor vehicles went to Australia, and it might be difficult to keep imports up to this figure if fuel were not available.
Dollars and Sterling There is not so much strength in the argument that much, if not all, of the extra petrol needed in Australia would be found within the Sterling area. The more that is taken by one country in the Sterling area, the Less remains for others, whether payment is made in dol'ars or not. Moreover, dollars may enter into the cost of the processing, transporting and distribution even of Sterling oil, which, in fact, is often the refined product of American oilfields.
Australian derationing may, therefore, make . the position more difficult in this country. Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd, Minister for Petroleum during the war, is of the opinion that there is plenty of crude petroleum available, if necessary from British-controlled sources, but that lack of refinery capacity in this country has proved an obstacle.
An announcement in 1946 promised the construction of a large lefinery extension during the next three years. If the promise had been kept, sufficient petrol would have peen produced to save 50,000,000 dollars a year and, in the view of Mr. Lloyd, to dispense with petrol rationing in Britain. Practically the whole of the eel estimated time had been taken in securing the approval of various Government departments, and the work did not begin until June, 1949.
Official intervention and form-filling are inseparable from the petrol situation these days. Mr. R. G. Menzies, the Australian Prime Minister, estimates the administrative cost of petrol rationing in that country at £600,000 yearly, enough to provide 9,000,000 gallons of petrol. In Britain the cost must be much higher, and. there is no way of assessing financially the effect on commerce and industry, and on the good temper and efficiency of the population.
The motoring organizations have recently stated that the present ration to car owners uses only a fraction of the motor spirit available. If this be so, the case for immediate and complete abolition of fuel rationing for commercial vehicles is indeed strong.
Shortages Remedied
The introduction of red petrol put an end to the possibility of any large-scale abuse of the rationing system. At the time, it should have been possible to take supplies for commercial vehicles off the ration. On the whole, now as then, most operators are being granted whatever fuel they need The rare complaints of shortages are usually remedied when brought to the attention of Licensing Authorities.
When supply is so nearly equal to demand, there seems no point in continuing to fill up forms, keep records, count coupons, and se on. The commercialvehicle owner is growing suspicious that the purpose of fuel rationing is no longer merely to ensure fair shares of a scarce commodity, but in addition to keep control over his activities.
A good deal of heart-searching followed the Sergeant case in which the Appeal Tribunal upheld the decision of a Licensing Authority who refused a contract-A licence on the ground that, as Transport Commissioner, he would not feel justified in issuing fuel to operate the vehicle. Since then, conditions, not easily to be found in the 1933 Act, have been imposed upon applicants for contract-A licences.
These conditions may be intended to safeguard the applicants. The principle can be applied, in theory, to any type of licence, A, B or C. Not all operators are completely satisfied that the threat is innocuous.
Recently, district transport officers have been asking for additional information. Hauliers applying for fuel supplies have to say whether they are prevented from operating beyond a distance of 25 miles from their bases. Replacements or additions to the C-licence fleet evoke a five-paint questionnaire, designed to find out what the vehicles will carry, the area to be covered, how the traffic was carried previously, and why the trader now needs his own vehicles Requests for information of this kind are not new. They remind operators that the petrol-rationing system may, if necessary, be converted into a system of licensing by fuel. Now that the dust has settled after the General Election, the organizations representing goods and passenger operators should lose no time in pressing for the immediate freeing of commercial motor spirit. Fetters that are scarcely felt are often the most insidious.