THE CORPORATION BUS SERVICE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19531, 14 July 1925, Page 4

THE CORPORATION BUS SERVICE.

TO THE EDITOR. Sik,—lt is a trite but true saying that “ everything has its clay,” and to tire observant citizen it is patent that the day of trains and trams is slowly but surely passing, and that a new era of locomotion and transportation is dawning. The day is not distant when the rail will give way to rail lass traffic as surely as the horse-drawn tram gave place to the electric M e are living in an age of progress, and it is difficult to predict what thy next few years will bring to us. At the present time our city fathers are considering ways and means for catering for passenger transport during the Exhibition period, and have invited tenders for the supply of 12 buses, in addition to those already operating and on order. According to the discussion at the last council meeting, a short-sighted policy has been decided upon. By some mysterious process certain councillors were in possession of information to the effect, that cheap buses were to be purchased —this much waa reported in the daily press, indicating that the matter of purchasing these buses had been previously discussed, and that the make and. price of the buses to be purchased had been decided upon, despite the fact that at that time tenders for buses had just been called for. Can it he, Sir, that the matter of putting extra buses on the road and the particular type and make and capacity of such wore cut and dried before tenders were invited? If this be so, then an injustice has been done to those who tendered. If not, why was it so definitely stated at the meeting of the council that cheap buses were to be purchased, the usefulness of which would end with the closing of the Exhibition. The experience of other centres should teach us that the bus traffic has come to stay, despite the absurd and uneconomic restrictive measures that are being introduced to eliminate private enterprise. The City Council would be well advised to invest its available money in dependable and durable and thus provide for what is inevitable, rather than incur an expenditure on machines which will have to be scrapped just at a time when railless transport will gain in popularity. Far better to have fewer buses of an efficient type than many buses of inferior quality, the employment and eventual scrapping of which will not bo flattering to the “ powers that be,” and an irrecoverable expenditure of the ratepayers' money. . Should the council give effect to its disclosed policy, it will appreciably encourage competition from private companies which will probably put into use the best that Britain can produce. This in itself will make an appeal difficult to resist by a people so definitely patriotic. The goods we got from Britain are not, generally speaking, cheap, but it is common knowledge that the best is the cheapest m the Jong last, the first cost, being the mam cost. In this regard, provided we mean what we say we could measurably assist the Motherland at this time by giving preference to British manufactures or to those of her closest Allies. The Empire is being exploited by outside nations, and to this fact is attributed in a large measure the necessity of the dole amounting last year to over £50,000,000. The Prime Minister (Mr Stanley Baldwin), as reported in Saturday’s paper, stated that one "ay by which the people of Britain could help was to insist upon buying only British goods wherever practicable. As we have practically given over buying goods marked “ Made in Germany.” let- us meet our requirements by purchasing goods made m Britain. Surely there is no disposition on the part of our city fathers in repeating in connection with the buses the blunder that was made in connection with tno mirth-making caricatures of number plates that are attached to many kinds i am, etc., Dunedin, July 13.