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ROAD TRANSPORT MATTERS IN PARLIAMENT.

8th May 1928, Page 53
8th May 1928
Page 53
Page 54
Page 53, 8th May 1928 — ROAD TRANSPORT MATTERS IN PARLIAMENT.
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The Chancellor and the Kerosene Duty. The Extra Farthing per Gallon. Benz°le Mixture Prices. The Amended Charing Cross Bridge Scheme. Traffic Control by Stop and Go Signals.

By Our Special Parliamentary Correspondent.

NVHEN the oil-tax resolution was before the House on report last Tuesday, Mr. Churchill, in response to a wide demand, agreed to exempt kerosene from the tax. He said the ground had been very carefully surveyed beforehand, because they had always Intended to keep ih view the need for drawing the line between petroleum and paraffin so as to make some transference of .the burdens of the duty from the horse-power •tax to the petrol tax. An expert chemical committee had been sitting on the subject for three years, and some time ago a new chemical frontier between petroleum and paraffin was drawn up which high experts assured him was not only capable of definition, but also of effectual defence. There was a danger that with kerosene exempt misguided persons would attempt to burn it, or mixtures containing it, in their motor engines, but he was assured they would not long continue that practiee.

The best engineers' advice that had been sought was to the effect that lamp oil could not be used in an admixture with petrol for ordinary road propulsion in an internal-combustion engine without grave disadvantages and dangers to the mechanism, such as condensation in cylinder, dilution of lubricating oil and rapid carbonization. Although there might be some use for the purposes of propulsion, they were sure that those who employed it would desist after bitter experience of its consequences.

The New Formula.

R. CHURCHILL read the new formula to be adopted, viz.: " Hydro-carbon oils or mixtures containing hydro-carbon oils of which oils or mixtures not less than 50 per cent. tiy volume distils at a temperature not exceeding 185 degrees Centigrade, or of which not less than 95 per cent. by volume distils at a temperature not exceeding 240 degrees Centigrade, or which give ta an inflammable vapour at a temperature of less than 22.8 degrees Centigrade when tested in the manner prescribed by the Acts relating to petroleum." In the original resolution the formula was: " Oils of ;which 40 per cent, or more by volume distils at a temperature not exceeding 235 degrees Centigrade."

In the discussion Lieut.-Col. Moore-Brabazon did not agree with Mr. Churchill that paraffin could not be used in motorcars because it upset the lubricating oil. American cars had oil filters to deal with that. He commiserated the Customs officials in the administrative difficulties with which they would now be faced.

An amendment to reduce the oil tax from 4d. to 1d. per gallon, moved by Mr. W. Graham, on the ground that it was wrong to select the motor industry or the users of motorcars for contribution to rating relief of producti,ve industry generally, was rejected by 258 votes to 128.

The Petrol Tax.

THERE has been a singularly moderate amount of criticism of the Chancellor of the Faxchequer's petrol-tax policy, except in so far as it applied to kerosene, and the proposal with regard to kerosene has, of course, been abandoned.

Col. Howard-Bury made the most outspoken attack on the petrol tax, which he called a very clever, trick on the motoring community. Evi dently, he said, the motorists were to be the milch cow for the rest of the community. He wanted to know why the expenditure on derating should be borne by motorists alone. The Chancellor would gradually kill the motor industry if he continued with a high horse-power tax and further taxation on petrol. So long as we had a horse-power tax we could not send out cars to the people in the Dominions. He was told that the cost of distribution in this country would increase enormously as .a result of the duty. When petrol went up in price it would encourage the demand for Soviet petrol. He advocated a 10s. horse-power tax along with an oil tax, which would give the Chancellor of the Exchequer a balance of £17,000,000 or £18,000,000, and it might be possible to cut down some millions from the Road Fund and help the reduction of the rate of horse-power.

Labour Party's Condemnation,

MR. SNOWDEN condemned the tax on petrol, inaintaining that it could not be justified on the ground that petrol was cheap, because there was no guarantee that It 'would remain cheap. For some time an oil war had been going on. He had always' been opposed to a tax on petrol for the reason that he knew the Inland Revenue did not approve of such a tax. They had to abandon the old 6d. tax on petrol during the war because of the loopholes for evasion. If these loopholes were not closed now it would not require much ingenuity to run a whole army corps through the precautions which Mr. Churchill thought he had erected. The reduction in the licence duty on hackney vehicles was not compensation for the increased petrol charge. Mr. Churchill had said that petrol was taking the place of coal, and that it was going to be the great motive spirit for industry in the future. By this proposal, therefore, he was putting a tax upon the raw material essential for a vast number of industries.

Protective Horse-power Tax.

LIEUT.-COL. MOORE-BRABAZON thought the greatest joke the Chancellor of the Exchequer had perpetrated on the nation was the imposition of the oil duty after the monster petition from the motorists Whilst he had always argued against petrol duty as compared with the horse-power tax, he thought it would undoubtedly have an influence on coal treatment. Many of the processes were on the narrow margin between paying and not paying, and this help would be a very great influence on those scientific processes. He approved the tax and thought the advantages to the nation outweighed the individual discomforts of the motorists. He could not help congratulating the Chancellor of the Exchequer on not paying too much attention to the bosses of motoring. It might be a fact that the horse-power tax had had a very bad effect upon our exports to the Colonies, but it had had the saving grace of creating an industry in. this country. Not only was there a an per cent. protection duty, but there was a protection in the

shape of the horse-power tax. It must not he thought that the British motorcar industry had grown because of its own merits. It had been late with everything. It was late with front-wheel brakes, late with superchargers, late with self starters and late with every single thing. There was no initiative or world competition in their trade. He thought the Government were to be congratulated upon allowing the reduction to heavy vehicles fitted with pneumatic tyres.

Price of Benz°le Mixture.

SOME retailers, it was pointed out, had increased Lithe price of benzoic mixture by the same amount as pure petrol. Mr. Churchill said his attention had been drawn to the fact. He explained that if the behzole was imported or derived from imported materials it was liable to the same rate of duty as petrol. Only benzole produced from indigenous materials was free of duty. It followed that if the benzoic in a mixture was imported or derived from imported material the mixture would have paid the full rate of ,duty, but that if the benzole was derived from indigenous material the duty paid on the mixture would vary with the proportion of duty-free benzole contained therein. He understood that benzole mixtures contained about one-third benzole, so that if all the benzole was duty free the amount of duty paid per gallon of the mixture was 2-1c1. as compared with 4d. per gallon in the case of mixtures containing dutiable benzole.

Asked what steps were being taken to prevent the unjustifiable increase in the case of indigenous benzole, Mr. .Churchill observed that he had set out to offer some encouragement to the production of home-developed oil, including benzole, which was a most important subsidiary product in the process of extracting oil from coal. There should be as a basis of policy an incentive on the part of consumers to buy and producers to produce commodities extracted from coal. In reply to a question whether the putting on of 4id. per gallon was an inducement to buy, he said he thought the present relation between benzoic mixture and ordinary petrol was likely to give the turn of the market to the benzoic producer. If the House deliberately considered that they ought not to give these incentives to the liquefaction of our coal deposits, that would be another matter, hut this was the Government's policy for good or ill. If they adopted a decision of this kind in principle, they must face the reaction which resulted, pleasant or unpleasant.

Amended Charing Cross Bridge Scheme.

THE Minister of Transport made the following statement in the House of Commons bearing out the forecast previously appearing in these columns : —I have new received the report of the engineers (appointed last year to examine the scheme of the Royal Commission for a new bridge at Charing Cross). It is generally to the effect that the Royal Commission's scheme for a road and railway doubledecker bridge at Charing Cross would prove to be

• more costly than the Commission estimated. The engineers suggest as an alternative scheme that Charing Cross Station should be removed to the south of the river and additional terminal railway facilities provided there, that a road bridge should be constructed on, the line of the present railway bridge, the approaches to commence at the Nurse Cavell monument and to be carried over the Strand. This scheme, in their opinion, would be less costly and generally more advantageous to traffic. The Government proposes to confer with the Southern Railway and the London County Connell immediately

• -upon the whole matter.

Short-period Licences.

]t 4R. JOHNSTON raised the question of the issue 1.111of temporary licences for short periods. He instanced the case of a merchant compelled by the exigencies of his business to keep a spare motor for use M. the event of a breakdown in his regular car transport, and who was forced to take out a full quarter's licence for his spare car should it be called

026 into use, although only for ond clay. Colonel Ashley pointed out that by taking advantage of the provisions for the surrender of a licence made under Section 18 of the Finance Act, 1924, the owner of a motor vehicle could in effect limit his payment of duty to the cost of a licence for any .one licensing month in the year. He was not prepared to make provision for the issue of licences for any shorter period. Mr. Johnston asked if it was not a gross injustice in a case where a man's vehicle may not be in use, although he had already paid the licence fee for it, that he should be compelled to pay even a month's licence fee for a substitute for possibly only two days' work? Colonel Ashley said he did not so regard it.

Dominion Expansion.

SIR ROBERT HORNTE regarded it as a misfortune that the fund for operating the rating-: relief policy of the Government could only be obtained by a tax on petrol. Motorists would have been much more reconciled if it had been possible to get rid of the power tax on cars. The power tax was an inequitable tax. The petrol tax, on the other hand, was the correct measure of the use that was made of the roads. With regard to the suggestion that a horse-power tax afforded protection to the British-made cars, he had the authority of Mr. Morris and Sir Herbert Austin, who between them, he thought, made two-thirds of all light cars in this country, to say that they would welcome taking off the horse-power tax on cars. They did not believe they had anything to fear from that course as against the competition of American cars in this country. They saw in it the absolute essential if they were to make any expansion in the Dominion markets. Quoting from his experiences in Australia and New Zealand, he expressed conviction that if we were to have any success in business outside our own country the form of tax must be altered.

No Imperial Preference on Oil.

THE Chancellor of the Exchequer informed Viscount Sandon that careful consideration was given to the question of admitting Empire hydrocarbon oils free or on a reduced scale of duty, but the practical benefit of preference would be negligible, whilst the complication which it would introduce into the working of the tax would be great. He had therefore decided not to propose a.' _preferential rate of duty.

Escalators, Signs and Signals.

T'

' Minister of Transport, in a series of replies

to Members of Parliament, doubts whether the provision of escalators for crossing certain points where heavy traffic takes place can be considered feasible. He has no figures as to the probable cost of construction and maintenance. The Ministry has considered the use of movable "stop " and " go " signs, and the matter is still under the consideration of the London Advisory Committee. No decision has yet been come to as to the desirability of carrying out further experiments of controlling traffic by means of light signals, but the matter is under consideration.

Ministry of Transport and Railway Bills.

A REPORT has been submitted by the London 111.Traffic Advisory Committee to the Minister of Transport upon the five English railway road transport bills. The Minister states that his report to the Joint Committee on the bills draws attention to the special position in the London traffic area but does not contain a copy of the London Traffic Committee's report. He has considered all the representations made • to him and submitted them to the committee, whose action must be awaited.


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