FEELING THE PINCH

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 194, 17 December 1941, Page 4

FEELING THE PINCH

NOW we realise just how much we have come to depend upon the varied uses of petrol. The enforcement of the drastic new regulations curtailing oil fuel and. limiting the use thereof for only the most vital services has seriously cramped our style. There are however no complaints from those people who concede the opinion that the Government hrfc only acted in the best interests of the country as a whole and the sight of empty streets and dwindling business turnover so close to Christmas is taken stoically on the main as a necessary development following the measures which will make for national precaution. The sudden cutting off of the whole of the petrol supply, though it seems to have been too sud.den to have been carefully premeditated has had a paralysing effect upon every walk of life,, every sphere of business and every section of industry.

Dislocation has followed, which would have been, complete but for the balance of petrol held in the tanks of most cars which enabled the owners of such vehicles to make temporary arrangements to tide them over the difficult period ahead We are now slowly but surely learning that 90 per cent of our living was possible only, by virtue of the quick easy means of transport at our disposal. It seems a far call back to the pre-motor-car days of thirty years ago, yet in that comparatively short time we have grown to depend upon the driving force of petrol to practically maintain us in our accepted mode of life. A taste of the days of horse-drawn, vehicles is bound to d.evelop unless the present restrictions are lifted. Possibly the slowing up of our tempo of life will be beneficial from a health point of view, even though our business should suffer. On the other hand we cannot be expected to recreate thirty-year-old conditions and apply them successfully to modern conditions at twenty-four hours notice. Quick adjustments are necessary and these should be made to reach over a period of from two to three months. Again, this may not be possible owing to the acute labour problem. Farmers, whose men have been called to camp a,t short notice will find the harvesting operations a very real difficulty unless organised labour is placed at their disposal. In business the position is the reverse for by depriving customers of the means of travel the direct result will be a shrinkage of turnover and the subsequent slackness which preceeds a. reduction in staff to meet the altered outlook. There are however, as we remarked before 'no grousers' the general feeling being that if the move was necessary it must be borne with patience and fortitude.