TRAM REGULATION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1180, 15 July 1911, Page 6

TRAM REGULATION.

CAR REPORT BOOK, MAKING SPIES OF MOTORMEN. A local authority on tramway matters states that few of tho draft tramway regulations issuod by the Government will provo inoro obnoxious to local bodies than those relating to tho car report book. These particular regulations, he states, plainly indicate a determination by the Government to so force the hands of tho local authorities as to compel them to resign control of their tramways. The "Car Report Book" regulations read as follow :—

(2G) Tho manager of every electric tramway shall cause to be kept a separate book for each car used on the tramway, to bo called a "Car Report Book," in which shall bo tiled in a permanent manner the motormnn's daily report on the carriago upon which he has acted as a inotorman. Tho said book shall be kept iu a place determined by the manager, but, so that the bock shall bo easily accessible to tho majority' of tho motorlneu employed On such tramway, and shall at all times be open to tho inspection of any officer of . the promoters, any certificated motorman, any ollicer of the Tramway Industrial Union-of Workers, or any person authorised by tho Minister to inspect tho same.

(27) Tho manager shall also cause to bo kept and maintained in each carriage, in a suitable pla.ee that can be easily reached by the inotorman, a book of report forms_ containing the particulars shown in No. 3 in tho schedule hereto, with space for such additional information as tho manager may in each case require, and each form in the book shall bear the number of the carriago to which it refers. (28) Each form in. tho book of forms shall be perforated close to the margin where it is bound, so as to be easily torn out. Tho forms shall bo numbered consecutively. (29.) It sliall.be tho duty of the motorman on completing each day's work, or on leaving the carriage for the day, to take one of the forms (in consecutive order) from the book of forms, and to enter thereon as soon thereafter as practicable n report of any defect in the mechanism or equipment of tho car, together, with such other particulars of his day's work as the manager may require, and ho shall thereupon hand ill the said report to tho foreman or other person in charge of-the car-shed or station, at which tho inotorman leaves tho car for tho day. (30.) The person to whom tho report is_ given shall, if he is not the foreman of the car-shed, hand the report to that foreman, who shall thereupon examine tho ear, and shall state what action (if any) has been taken thereon, and the report shall then be at once forwarded by the foreman of the car-shed to tho engineer of the tramway, for such remarks as he may 'consider necessary, and the latter shall thereupon forward tho report to-the manager, who shall take such action thereou as he thinks fit, and shall cause the report to be permanently fixed, according to its consecutive number, in the "Car Report Book" relating to tho car to which tho report refers. "No. 3 in the schedule hereto," of which mention is made, directs that a motorman shall report not only in regard to defects in." or accidents to, the car under his control, but also in regard to such matters as span wires down, ears or hangers broken off, telephones not working, or wires down, street lamps not lighting, obstruction on track, or anv delays in traffic ,aiul tho cause. thereof, "and, in general, any defects which would affect the efficiency of the service." Thcso "car report" provisions as a whole, according to the authority mentioned, are intended to make the men spies on tho management, and will serve no useful purpose at all. The only reason that the men want these regulations, he added, is that, under them, they will bo able to say that any accident occurring was due to the state of a car, and not to their own fault. : "Under the system ill vogue a motorman makes out a report, and ; never sees it again save under exceptional circumstances. "It is considered undesirable," continued our informant, that a motorman should be able to look back over a series of reports, and excuses for himself about some accident that has occurred, as, for instance, that the car had a defective brake a. fortnight previously. Wheu the department gets a-report from a inotorman, if wants a simple statement of facts. The motorman is not expected to draw inferences or to frame theories as to the character and condition, of a car. Tho opportunity to do these things will certainly bo made tho most of. Tho gag of "intermittent failures" will bo made to cover a multitude of sins. Another thing to note is that the proposed system of car reports is cumbrous in the extreme. In Wellington its inauguration would involve an additional outlay of .£3OO or £4' r year. There is absolutely no danger of any injustice being done to a inotorman under the system in vogue. If an accident duo to any defect in a car occurred there would liave to be a conspiracy between the city tramway managers anil the engineers of the Public Works Department, before a motorman could be saddled with tho blame. Tho provisions that motonncn shall report on all sorts of tilings, such as traffic obstruction and street lighting is about as mischievous as could well be conceived. Given full effect to it would mean that motormen would be going around with note-books and diaries, invested with full powers to ferret, out all sorts of little shortcomings on the part of their employers. The position, in fact, would be simply intolerable, and this.no doubt, was-what the Government intended.'