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State Control Ruins A CCORDING t o th e Mexican Railways and "Sunday Times," the Oil Industry . . nationalized Mexican rail ways "have been run to a standstill through politics and inefficiency, and the country's most profitable • industry—oil—has been reduced to bankruptcy in a few years of Government control." Thus Mexico is added to the list of countries that have suffered by experiments in socialization, although, at this late stage, its experience is hardly likely to influence the BritIsh Government. Mexican industry and agriculture are badly handicapped and are having to pay higher freight rates. Transport charges have been increased in an effort to offset a monthly loss of about £325,000, but the extra revenue has been swallowed up by yet another demand for higher wages. Government control of the Mexican oil industry has caused such chaos that there is talk of Mexico importing oil for domestic consumption.
Police in Error Over Permitted Length or Vehicle
RECENTLY the police of a certain area stopped a ‘Leyland eight-wheeler of 30 ft.
length, which was drawing a trailer and was licensed for this purpose. The driver was informed that such a vehicle over 26 ft. in length could not now draw a trailer. Paragraph 87 of the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations, 1941, certainly provided that no motor vehicle exceeding 26 ft. long should draw a trailer, other than one for a gas producer; but this was amended by the Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Provisional Regulations, 1941. It was stipulated by these that the total overall length of a heavy motorcar or a motorcar and a trailer drawn
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thereby should not exceed 60 ft. This amendment was incorporated in the consolidated regulations, and no amendments to these have been made. Consequently, unless the combined outfit was over 60 ft. long, the police were in error.
The Annually RecurIT is difficult to conceive that, ring Menace of Road I after half-a-century's experi
Dressing ence of mechanical road' transport, highways authorities should still spread the roads with loose gravel as a "summer dress." Miinicipal departments are among those who are suffering from the tyre shortage, and that fact alone should deter them from causing an even greater wastage of rubber by scattering the roads with damaging material. Post-war paint is also not of a quality that will withstand the effects of sharp, flying stones.
A LTHOUGH its scarcity "makes it a precious commodity, road space is not -sufficiently valued by many users. Frequently one finds the effective width of a road reduced by a van door that has been thrown wide open. There are several proprietary devices for securing doors, when open, so that they cause neither danger nor obstruction to other road users. If they cannot be obtained, two hooks and a length of cord will meet the case. Road space is also often wasted at controlled intersections in towns, where unnecessarily long columns of vehicle.% are formed by the neglect of drivers to "-pack up" in two ranks. By using a little imagination the best can be made of our poor road system. Road Space Wasted by Thoughtlessness of
Drivers
Workers Exchange Information &bout their Jobs
EXCHANGE visits of em ployees of the respective factories have been held by Guy Motors, Ltd., Wolverhampton, and Brown, Lenox and Co., Ltd., Pontypridd, as an experiment in "domestic industrial relations." Some of the workers at Pontypridd, who were intrigued by many of the unusual steel castings 'supplied to the Guy company, asked to be allowed to see how the castings were used and to meet their "opposite numbers." Mr. W. E. Bullock, general production director at Wolverhampton, says that the scheme is to be extended. Both managements bore the expenses of their respective parties and voted the experiment a fine investment.
Workers Exchange Information &bout their Jobs
0NE speaker at the recent M.P.T.A. Conference — Aid. J. Whitaker, of Todmorden—is always welcome for his humour, even if not all his hearers believe in what he preaches. He said at Southend that the question of determining when conditions and wage rates are unreasonable depends upon whether the determiner is at the " receiving " or " sending " end. The first
Alderman Gives Amusing Views at Southend Conference . . .
usually thinks they are bad and the other good. He told a story of a friend who said to him, " I am determined to ride in the cart, instead of being between the shafts." Aid. Whitaker replied that he would make riding in the cart •so uncomfortable that his friend would be glad to get between the shafts. We wonder whether this could not be applied to certain Ministers,
How French Makers are Producing Vehicles Quickly
0NE of the points raised by Mr. C. A: Hopkins, M.Inst.T., in his pre$idential address to the M.P.T.A., was the serious bottleneck in the production of bus bodies, which had prevented the systematic replacement of obsolete vehicles. In France, a number of bodybuilders has combined to produce bodies from standardized components, mainly or wholly constructed in light metal. In this way production has been raised to a much higher level than could have been achieved by the makers acting individually. There has also been considerable effort to reduce the number of different models of chassis, and no doubt the two factors must go together to achieve real results.
How French Makers are Producing Vehicles Quickly