MOTORISTS' INTERESTS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 235, 28 June 1919, Page 9

MOTORISTS' INTERESTS

NEW ZEALAND AUTOMOBILE UNION

ANNUAL MEETING OF DELEGATES

' "The sixth annual meeting of the New' Zealand Automobile Union was held in the Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Mr. P. S.' M'Loan, of Napier, presiding over an attendance, of about twenty-delegates. • The "secretary, Mr. 'W. BeauchainpPlatts, reported that the expenditure: for the year amounted to ,£124 2s. 5d., leaving a balance in the bank of:'.£s6 75. ; 7d., which was £2 Bs. less than' that of tho previous.year.'

.In moving the adoption-of tho annual report, details of which have been published.' the/chairman said' that the-bal-anoe-sheet'-sho.wed that-the union 'was not in the'. position it should be. Speaking of .the roads of the Dominion, he remarked that'n definite expression of opinion should.be placed before tho Government. '/He-himself was in favour of the establishment of, a national non-political road board. Tho Minister of. : Public Works had the" final say' in,'the matter of'- .road improvements. ;' "lie is a good, - honest, obstinate Minister," said Mr. M'Lean, "but the people of the country are entitled to_ a proper combination of roads,and railways, and that /fact should be impressed upon the Minister." '-.Motorists; had i'ot supported the. luiiiott'-sufficiently.'' - In re'gnrd to taxation. , the Minister had .been opposed to 'ft tax oii.motors, but the speaker thought jt Was only reasonable rhat.if they wanted good roads they should>be subject to .taxation. The*., union was striving to improve the whole transport position of the- country. In a country, like New. Zealand good transport „ facilities were absolutely essential.' To. 6aye - tyres and ,to-have good roads'it paid Ho: have a tax. ' Jlr. MT.can 'concluded by expressing'appreciation of, the excellent services rendered to. the union by Mr. Beau-champ-Platts, secretary to the' union. ■/..Motor Insurance. . ;Mr.iT.' Johnston-(Canterbury) said the problem of the country was ithe construe-; tion of narrow strips of rdad'. with arterial roads running off -them. What he wanted-to. know was whether the cost of making/the, narrow strips'of roadway: suitable for ordinary- motor traffic, and even motor-wagon' traffic, would. be prohibitive in -'Canterbury? / Again) would those roads ■'withstand traction-engine traffic? :Mr. -Johnston, suggested that motor-car owners should' go. in , for a: scheme of co-operative/motor insurance, which he -considered would be' a real benefit to motorists/ .'•••"

/Mr. W. H; Wynyard (Auckland) dealt with' the question of road boards, a'nd quoted what was' being done in Victoria in that direction. He considered that 1914, provision was made for the established; in New Zealand, and, ; comprise a nominee' from the Crown, one fr6in the Counties' Association of New' Zealand, and other of contributing interests, including motorists. . Mr. W. S. Wilson (Otago)jthought the Automobilo, Union ' should ; amalgamato \vith the Good Eoads'Association, with a view'to formulating a definite policy of road improvements in : the Dominion. ;

Mr. W; Beauchamp-Platts '(secretary) said that he - was obtaining information from various countries in tho world regarding road construction, and-he would, as soon as: possible, have/a report drawn:: up on the matter. He did not think it would' be possible- for -the Automobile Union to amalgamate with the- Good jßoads Association until' that body b'e- . came incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act. The Automobile Union was not concerned only with the pleasure of; motorists., but- was : ,fjorraed to watch; the interests of all forms of self-propelled 1 traction in its technical, legal. - and scien-; iific aspects. So -far as registration was concerned, lie ,was in favour of the scheme reoently propounded by Mr. Drake, 1 the Wellington City motor ; inspector, providing, for the annual; registration of cars, the fees to be kept sufficiently ;low to cover the cost of administration.- The whole' scheme of registration • needed recasting, and they would go a long way towards better, conditions when a well-thought-out Motor Bill was .produced and passed. ■In the Bill in-, troduced by the Hon., Mr. Justice Herd-\ man, when he was -Minister of Justice, in ' 1914, provision was made for the establishment of a central registry, hajving. deputy .. registrars ; in the . principal - centres. - This >vas an infinitely better idea than allowing, any local authority to deal as it pleased with so important a matter.. ..If such a', central registry were-.established then-the particulars,' required, for registration and' also tlio form of the certificate to'bd issued couldbo so framed as; not only, to 'facilitate adequate and periodical-' checks, but also to aet as a check on; theft, because no sale, transfer, or renewal could be effected without the production of ■ the old certiiicati* held by the vendor. He had heard it? suggested that such - certificates coiud be forged fairly :easily, but 'lie thought that if they r bore: the Royal or, Dominion Arms it could be made a penal pffence to misuse such devices, if-it was not so already: The certificate -find ter should both record i.the engine number, the chassis "number, and; the magneto'number, and it should be mado obligatory on garages and repair nifeu to -report at once' to .the nearest, registrar or his deputy if any. alteration or tain.pering with those numbers was noticed on any car coining; into their -hands.: Further, any such tampering .should be made a felony. .The report and' balance-sheet were adopted.

Painting of Bridges. The following remit i'roni tho Motor' Club wtu approved-.—"That in view of the large number of motor accidents in connection with bridges painted black, it is desirable that all bridges bo painted white." ■ _ ■ A simian - recommenda.'ion was adopts ed in regard to rabbit gates placed across roads.. ' • • The conference' resolved to urgo that local 'bodies should have power to order the trimming, removal, or lowering of trees or fences on. corners of roads wliero such trees, by obstructing the view, woro calculated to cause accidents on highways, reserving to the owner the right of appeal tp a Magistrate. • It was decided- to recommend to the executive, in considering the question of registration, that '-Buch registration bo annual,' the fee to- bo Is., and the old numbers of cars to be retained on re-reg-istration.

' The following motion, moved by Dr. C. Prendergast Knight.(Wellington) was also carried s—"That this meeting of the New Zealand' Automobile Union places on record its appreciation of. the topographical map.on the scale of I: 125,000 now being prepared •by the Defence Department, and urges'upon the Government. the necessity of mapping the. Dominion on. the ..same scale. That such maps' would bV very useful to oil users of roads throughout tho Dominion/ and if piaced on sale'" At a reasonable _ prico would. render the. work.self-supporting."

A ion® ./discussion ..took place on the .rruestion of finance, and it' was finally decided that (ho subscriotinns from the various.. associations'. and ' clubs be the same as last year, provided that the delo-' pates urgently recommend their respective associations to supplement .subscriptions by donation's as follow .—Auckland,' Wellington, Hawke's Bay, /Canterbury, antl Otaso. .£35: and Nelson, .£5. The conference decided to hold another peneral meeting of delegates when _tho Counties' Conference is sittinpr in Wellington.

The Canterbury '_ Association broughtforward thf> following remit, which was adapted-.—"That it ip the opinion of this union that every effort should be made to curtail the nnmh«r of .small associations by merlins; them into branches of the. metropolitan- associations." ' • The. Election of officers resulted as follows President, Mr.-.P; S. MTifenn Cre(■lr^ted): 'vice-oresidents. Me c F: W. ,T«hn»toii (CanMbury) .and '0. .V. Banks fWrttincton); Executive rinmmitt.ee. .P*. P. Knight (WpllincftonV H, .1. S*ott''(Wellington), W. S. 'Wei/ jr. TT. -Wvnyard (Aiink)andV- G.~ R,. : Bullock (Otwo). .-and Martin El"n.r. secetpry and treasurer, Mr.: W. Beauchaiiip-Platts; auditor, Mr. 0. TCemlier. , . ■ >

EARLY SETTLERS

The Early Settlers and Historical Association' announce a "free and easy" night for July 2, at Dustin's (lata Godber's) rooms, Cuba Street. A free and easy night means that there are no fixed speakers/ nothing formal—just a little talk among members and" by, members. As-is usual many interesting reminis-, cences may b6 given, and a chance given to those of later generations to hear how their grandparents worked to make their, homes in the new country of 1 adoption. A'musical programme has been arranged by- Miss H-. Pandell, and songs of other days will tend to bring back memories -of a past almost forgotten. A pleasant evening is being looked_ forward.to, and all members and friends desirous of joining the association are cordiaily invited to- attend.