Would Send Omnibus Board to Prison

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 339, 26 April 1928, Page 1

Would Send Omnibus Board to Prison

TRANSPORT WAR ADELAIDE LOSES £60,000 IN YEAR The omnibus war in Australia is at its height at present. In Adelaide the position has so far advanced that the General Omnibus Company has made applications to have tie Metropolitan Omnibus Board committed to prison for refusal to grant licences as ordered by Mr. Justice Isaacs. The members of the board are Messrs. W. A. Webb, W. G. T. Goodman, A. O. R. Tapp, and Sir Wallace Bruce, the last-mentioned being an exLord Mayor of Adelaide. Victoria and Melbourne are also having quite a brisk tussle, and of this area “Smith’s Weekly” narrates that the Melbourne bus men are endeavouring to evade the regulations by selling their patrons apples and charging nothing for fares. POROUS REGULATIONS The journal remarks: “It is proverbially possible to drive a carriage and pair through most Acts of Parliament, but the Victorian Bus Act is notoriously porous, and frantic efforts are being continuously made to patch up, by means of amending regulations, the gaping holes through which the motorbus men are driving. “In Adelaide the fight between the board and the buses is even more strenuous, and quite as discreditable to the Government/’ The Adelaide owners adopted an even more ingenious scheme to avoid ;he crippling regulations of the Metropolitan Omnibus Board, and started an inter-State service. Destination boards were marked “Murrayville, Victoria,” and all tickets were issued for this destination. Passengers were allowed, however, to break their journey at say Port Adelaide or Birkenhead, and for this portion of the trip a few pence was charged—on the understanding that the journey would be resumed at some future date. There was a five-minute service to Birkenhead and the Port, but only one bus each day between Adelaide and Murrayville. Despite the ingenuity of this scheme prosecutions were taken, and the companies retaliated by taking action in the High Court against the State and the police, claiming that there was no right to interfere with a purely State service. GAOL THREATENED The judge agreed to make an order according to these contentions, and the Government representative agreed. However, the Omnibus Board refused to grant licences, and the Government passed a very significant Act providing penalties from £IOO upward for breaches of the Act, such penalties to be paid immediately on infliction regardless of appeal. This was considered as a measure to ruin owners and prevent appeals because of lack of funds. A fortnight ago the bus owners carried the war into the enemy’s court by preceding in the Supreme Court of South Australia, and in 'the High Court, to have the members of the board committed for refusal to grant the licences ordered by the judge. Incidentally, it is reported in Auckland that Adelaide lost £60,000 last year on its municipal transport operations.