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Co-operation Not Amalgamation

6th October 1944, Page 32
6th October 1944
Page 32
Page 32, 6th October 1944 — Co-operation Not Amalgamation
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Welcoming the Editorial Acknowledgment of the Importance of Co-operative Grouping and Suggesting that the Growth of the Movement is Justification for Terminating the Government Haulage Scheme

By E. B. Howes,

Vice-chairman, Hauliers Mutual Federation, Ltd.; Chairman, A. Saunders and Son Co-operativeGroup, IDERIVED great satisfaction from reading the leading article which appeared in " The Commercial Motor " for September 15, for it was pleasing to see that the Editor had decided to come down heavily on the side of those hauliers who see in grouping their salvation and the salvation of the industry as a whole. The pioneer work of the Saunders (Harpenden) Co-operative Group, formed in 1936,. is bearing fruit. The methods adopted so long ago serve as a guide to the rest of the country, throughout which operators are now realizing that I was right after all.

This is naturally a particular source of gratification to me, for I have been laughed at for years and told that my ideas were impracticable. At the Caxton Hall, before the war, many people said that they had heard enough of the grouping idea. What a change has come over the scene since then! Those who caine to scoff have stayed to praise; those who despised grouping are now forming groups. The example I set nine years ago is at long last being followed.

It seems to me, now that hauliers all over the country are grouping themselves—a new group is formed every few days—that the situation ought to be brought to the attention of the Minister, of War Transport, for there is, in this movement, a .programme for the orderly organization of the industry which, in its effectiveness and simplicity, surpasses any previous scheme.

It is timely, too. The need for the Government emergency scheme, the Government Road Haulage Organization, has passed. It can with safety and with profit to the Nation be terminated now, without awaiting the end of the war. In this connection the letter from Lord Leathers, signed by him personally, and circulated in January of this year, has an important bearing. Its purport was that the scheme was first and foremost, if not entirely, a preparation for the emergency—for D-day.

Implicating a Promise The letter was, in effect, a plea to hauliers to support the scheme and help it all they could because it was necessary for the time when the emergency did arise. In that way it was undoubtedly an implication that so soon as the emergency was passed the scheme would be scrapped. I put it to Lord Leathers that he should now implement that implied promise and, at the same time, direct his officials—the Regional Transport Commissioners—to lend their aid to operators whenever that seems desirable in order to facilitate and encourage the formation of groups in every locality.

I am convinced that if the scheme be not shortly

withdrawn there will be some form of direct action against it by hauliers. None of them likes the scheme, all are longing for ifs withdrawal. As time goes on, their indignation and sense of frustration, already strong, will become more powerful. Desperation breeds desperate measures. I can well imagine a meeting of 12,000 hauliers in Berkeley Square calling emphatically for the cessation of the scheme. If they do take such direct action they will get what they desire just as, so soon after the meeting in Caxton Hall, the previous schetne was withdrawn. On the other hand, if the Minister recognizes the value of the grouping scheme and takes such action as I suggest, hauliers will, at long last, begin to hope and believe that the purposes of the Ministry of War Transport are really benevolent and not inimical to them. There will be engendered a spirit of co-operation such as has not yet been known in the industry.

An Independent Body

,Above all, _I should like to call attention to the fact that this new movement is entirely independent of any existing association. The National Conference of Road Transport Groups has specifically stated that it is not its intention to link up with any association or, on the other hand, to deal with any of those matters which arc specifically the business of the associations. It even recommends its members, those who are in the groups, to join and give their support to one or other' of the national associations.

At the same time, I would like to make this point: This National Conference of Road Transport-Groups has no provision for political activity of any kind ; in fact, it specifically bars this, The Hauliers Mutual Federation is based on grouping; its Articles of Association provide that the build-up of the Federation shall incorporate groups. I suggest that a link-up between the National Conference and H.M.F. might serve a particularly useful purpose. The National Conference can continue to deal with the operational side of grouping, the purpose for which it was formed, and place its political problems in the hands of H.M.F.

In conclusion, I would like, with the Editor's permission, again to remind readers that my little handbook on road-transport matters deals with this and kindred subjects in detail and at a length which is not . possible in my occasional contributions to the technical Press. It will be issued shortly, and already I have reservations from readers of " The Commercial Motor " which will very nearly absorb the whole of the first edition.


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