PETROL BAN TEACHES BRITISH MOTORISTS LOT ABOUT DOLLARS

Wanganui Chronicle, 19 January 1948, Page 5

PETROL BAN TEACHES BRITISH MOTORISTS LOT ABOUT DOLLARS

London, Jan. 16. There were many wry looks to-day at the news that the Government has decided against the restoration of the basic petrol ration. Though it is admitted that Sir Stafford Cripps and Mr. Gaitskill, Minister of Fuel and Power, have produced logical arguments to support the case for its abolition, wide discontent remains. Sir Stafford Cripps, who emphasised that it was all a matter of dollars, also said that there were no indications at present that basic petrol would be restored this year. He added that the black market was an obstacle to its return. The abolition was absolutely necessary. Politically it would be far easier and pleasanter to reintroduce some basic ration, but from the point of view of the interests of the whole population it would be quite definitely wrong. It was a question of what the nation could best go without, and for the present there was no doubt it was better to go without petrol than to have to do with less food. Asked whether, if deliveries of petrol under the Marshall Plan began in April, there might be spme reconsideration of the basic ba* Sir Stafford said it was quite impossible to answer that question.

Sir Stafford said that the December saving was equivalent to an annual saving of 880,000 tons of petrol and £10,000,000 at the present prices—enough buying power to cover raw cotton for the whole of the clothing ration, or almost enough lard for the whole fat ration. The Minister of Fuel and Power (Mr. Gaitskill) said that Britain had to consider the sterling area’s dollar requirements as a whole. It was true that British-produced motor spirit would fill Britain's needs, but the balance of the sterling area's requirements had to come from the dollar area.

A three-man committee has been set up to investigate the black market in petrol. One of its members is Chief Detective-fnspector W. J. Chapman, formerly of Scotland Yard, who recently broke the black market In linseed oil. After 14 months, sentences totalling over 7 years of penal servitude were passed on over 100 people, representing 32 firms.