THE PETROL ISSUE

Grey River Argus, 8 September 1939, Page 11

THE PETROL ISSUE

A MOST STRINGENT CONTROL. Some days will require to elapse before the full effect of the petrol restrictions is indicated in the reduction of motor traffic, but fewer cars are now to be seen in and about Greymouth. Many of the motorists have either taken to walking, or have purchased bicycles- The issue of limited quantities of petrol to private car owners ceased on Wednesday at midnight, and from now on, under the Oil Control Regulations, no person can obtain any petrol ox- power kerosene unless he is the holder of a license. Private car owners, therefore, have no alternative but to garage their cars, once they have emptied their tanks. Officers of the Transport Department have authority to stop any vehicle on the road,to investigate whether it is being used for the purpose authorised, and checks will also be made of vendor’s records. The Chief Postmaster at Greymouth (Mr C. W. Browne) stated, yesterday that it had been found that the public generally and the applicants for licenses were meeting the position in the right spirit, and there had been very few cases where applicants for licenses had endeavoured to overstate their requirements. He wished to make it clear that the licenses stipulated the amount of petrol allowed the holder each month, and if the consumption in any one month was less than the stipulated amount, he was not allowed to carx'y over the additional into the next month, or draw the balance ovex' the last few days of the month. The Oil Control office at Greymouth was fairly wen un with the applications, and he did not think that anyone had been unduly inconvenienced. In an admirable spirit of co-operation, to assist in the speeding up of the licensing, several members of the Red Cross Society, both women and men, had offered their services voluntarily and several offers had been gratefully accepted. These workers were assisting the public by ensuring that applications were dealt with as expeditiously as possible.