Conditions and Openings in India.
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(By Our Own Correspondent in Calcutta).
Indian Motor Imports.
In Government circles out here the year ends, not. -on the 31st December, but on the 31st March following. In other words, the official year runs from March to March. The present year, for instance, is spoken of as 1911-12. The official reports for the past year (1910-11) are now making their appearance, and a pleasant feature about most of those dealing with sea-borne trade is the special mention that is made of the growing imports of motor vehicles. There has been an increase under this head in all our leading ports—Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Karachi, and more particularly in Rangoon, which is the chief port of Burma, in which province, as I said recently, railways are scarce, and the opportunities for motor traffic are many and more or less urgent.
Climatic Influences on Body-work.
The Indian climate, of course, is very severe on any but the best-seasoned of wood and the highest class of work. No body otherwise constructed could have the faintest hope of holding out against the extremes of climate which are encountered in the tropics. This is a point that is very important and should not by any means be overlooked by any firm hoping to expand its trade in India. But there is a rapidly-growing tendency here not to import bodies at all. This is not so much because you cannot make reliable ones on your side, but for the more practical reason that it is cheaper to make them here. The complaint, is that bodies made in England and Europe are too dear. The reason is probably that you have to import the wood and then to pay very dearly for labour and factory space. In India some of the best. woods in the world, notably teak, are comparatively cheap, and the cost of labour is miles below what you have to pay. Another drawback is that importers have to pay five per cent., duty and heavy freight on all bodies imported. The natural result is that firms out here prefer to make their own bodies locally, or, at all events, have them made here for them. There is, for example, one large firm here which does not, except in very exceptional cases, import any bodies at all. it has obtained expert builders from Europe to supervise the native workmen. I must say, having inspected a large number of cars locally built, that the work turned out is very good both in quality and finish. The coach-building firms here are also kept very busy constructing bodies for importers. Cheapness of Ox-wagon Transport.
The Editor desires rue to say something about the remarkable cheapness of ox-wagon transport and the extremely-low fares payable, circumstances which are a hindrance to the development of road transport by motor. To put the case in a nutshell, the fact is that India is an agricultural country, parcelled out into millions of small plots each worked by a farmer
(ryot) and a pair of bullocks. Those bullocks do all the ploughing, pumping of water for irrigation purposes (for India, as you know, is in the famine zone), and carting of goods to market, and, when not thus employed, they are free for transport or other work. As I said on a previous occasion, these carts do fully nine-tenths of the transport work that is to be done. In England the pay of a driver may be 5s. a day ; in India it is about 4d. So that we can here hire 15 drivers at the price you might have to pay for one. Then in London and perhaps in all your big cities the cost of garage accommodation is a very considerable item. Here, a mile from the centre of the commercial quarter of the city, it is practically nothing, and the 15 ox-wagons we are thinking of could be stored away every night for is. a month each, or even less. in like manner there is a vast difference between the general charges payable here and in England.
To be sure, a single motor lorry could probably do the work of the 15 carts and do it infinitely quicker and better, but the cost would be considerably greater, when full consideration is given to interest on capital cost, depreciation, working expenses, including higher wages for a trained driver, and so forth. Hence the native merchant, who is never in a hurry and often believes that 11 or 12 o'clock is early enough to begin werk, prefers the old-fashioned dreadfullyslow and wholly-inconvenient ox-wagon. European firms, with whom time and convenience are, however, considerations, are commencing to introduce the commercial motor.
Motors as Railway Feeders.
In other parts of Bengal the railways are beginning to turn their attention to the commercial possibilities of motors. I see that the Eastern Bengal State Railway has introduced motors on a small scale, and should do so on a larger one later on. The head office of this railway is in Calcutta, and home makers should keen their eyes on this concern.
The East. Indian Railway, which is one of the llrgest, best managed, and most paying in the whole of India, has already introduced two motor services in connection with its traffic. Instead of putting down rails over the country concerned, the isast Indian people seem to find that the motor does the work equally well, and acts as a " feeder " to the main line for both passengers and goods. Railway construction is forging ahead in all parts of this country, and with it a growing demand for feeders arises. No doubt part of this demand will be met by motor services, and I shall try to keep you informed of any such openings as they occur. In the meantime may add that the head office of the
East Indian meantime, is also in Calcutta, but there
is a London office as well.
In Eastern Bengal and Assam the commercial motor has also made its appearance. The summer capital of that province is at Shillong, to which the journey is made by rail and river as far as Gauhati, and thence by motor to the hill station of Shillong. The motor part of the journey is, I believe, about 30 miles, and the rapidity and comfort thus afforded have done much to make Shillong the popular resort it now is.
Motor-omnibus Service for Burma.
have suggested the possibility of Burma's becoming a motor-using country, in my last letter, and have now to report that Rangoon, which is the capital of Lower Burma, is shortly to have a motor-omnibus service. A few days ago a trial was made there with a sample vehicle, built according to the London bus model and capable of carrying 40 passengers inside and out. The trial, I am assured, was satisfactory. It is intended that this kind of bus should ply for hire in Rangoon, and it is asserted that the prospects of such a venture are bright. At present Burma is a very much undeveloped country, particularly in the matter of railways. It is often alleged that she suffers adversely by being forced to be a part of the Indian Empire, instead of having a separate Government of her own. Her present condition, however, is favourable to the development of motor traffic within her borders to supplement railway transport. I am not therefore surprised to find that the Mansut Co. of Minhu, Burma, is ordering two motorbuses of the type selected for use in Rangoon, and I shall be less surprised if many other up-country towns in Burma follow suit.
A Venture that Failed.
As to fares, they are often very low. A Dative may travel from the centre of Calcutta to Chitpore, a distance of about four miles, for 11,-d., this being the fare charged by the Calcutta Electric Tramway Co., Ltd. A year or two ago an omnibus company was started here, but it did not seem able to make headway against the tramway fares, and it failed. It should be added, however, that it was under native management, and T am not aware that natives have had any experience whatever in running a motor-omnibus concern.
Tire-making in India.
There is a good deal of rubber being grown in parts of India and Burma and, under present conditions, this is shipped to London, is perhaps manufactured into tires and, in that form, is re shipped to India. This involves double freight and other charges and payment of import duty besides. There is, therefore, a move on foot to start a tire factory in Calcutta and thus to scoop in a large share of the tire business that is done here. I have been favoured with a prospectus of this concern and was so impressed with the arguments therein contained that I was about to take up a few shares in it. I notice, however, that it is to be under native management, so I am going to keep my money. Motor engines for Dacca.
Still another prospectus has reached rue, but this time it is for an electric supply company tor Dacca, which is to be the seat of the Government of Eastern_bengal and Assam. The price of coal up that way is hign, and the proposal is to get over this difficulty by using motor engines. Any or your readers interested in tills matter should'write to Messrs. Octavius Steel and Co., Old Court House Street, Calcutta, which is a very old-standing and respectable firm, and is to be the managing agent of the Dacca electric supply scheme.
Roads and Motors for Afghanistan.
The Government of India seems to have taken quite a fancy to motorcars of late, and when it happens to want to be particularly nice—to walk round a person's affections, as it were—it presents him with a motorcar. It did this, for example, to the Amir of Afghanistan, and this proved to be one of the finest day's work that the Government of India has done for a long time. The possession of motorcars compelled the semi-civilized Amir to construct roads in his wild, lawless territory, and thus to contribute —.without perhaps realizing it—towards the development of trade and the welfare of his very-benighted people, while at the same time hastening the march towards civilization. Such matters, under ordinary circumstances, would not have troubled the Amir to any great extent, but he realized the pleasure of motoring when he last visited India, and he resolved not to abandon it on his return to his native highlands. To an autocrat of his calibre, the problem was a sweetly simple one. He had only to issue orders right-and-left that roads, leading from his capital at Kabul to certain other places, had to be constructed in double-quick time, or somebody would be drawn and quartered. They do not mince matters in Afghanistan. Of course, the Amir will point-blank refuse to pay for any roads that are constructed. That work must be done by forced labour. This sort of thing is a trifle rough on the labourer, who is, in other countries, supposed to be worthy of his hire ; but even he will benefit later on. At present he must. consider himself very highly honoured to be permitted to work for his ruler—for nothing. In days gone by, the people of England and Europe were treated very much in the same way ; now Afghanistan is having her day.
The net result of this forced road making in Afghanistan is that the Amir is now about to introduce a motor service from Peshawar, which is a town in British territory on the North-west frontier of India, through the celebrated Khyber Pass into Kabul, a distance of over two hundred miles. In connection with this service I hear that. the Amir has placed an order to the tune of over five lakhs of rupees (about £33,333) with Mr. P. Stewart, of the Bombay Motor Co., Bombay, who very lately motored from India to the capital of Afghanistan to demonstrate the use of the motor for trade purposes to the Amin When I say that there is not a single railway in the whole of Afghanistan, your readers will be the better able to grasp the opening there is for motor services in the considerable territory over which the Amir holds sway. English manufacturers should keep an eye on this potensial market
You may think it strange that the Amir will not tolerate either railways or telegraphs in his country, hut the fact is that he trusts neither EngIanci. or Russia, who are the two great Dowers that impimze on his frontiers, one north and the other south.. ills firm belief is that such facilities would only invite the conquest of his country, whereas without railways an invading army would have, he believes, but little chance in his rugged well-armed country.