Land transportation (Bus Lines)

Title

Creator

James, L. G.

Language

English

Source

The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume XXIV (Issue No.5) May 1948

Year

1948

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

168________________________AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL________________ May, 1948 The Northwest Airlines, which operates1 over the Nor thern Pacific from Manila to Shanghai, Tokyo, Anchorage (Alaska), Seattle, St. Paul, and up to Washington, D.C., is operating a feeder-line between Tokyo and Seoul, Korea. It plans to open a direct route between Shanghai and Seoul. At present, passengers from the Philippines or China going to Korea have to pass Tokyo and take the NWA plane from there to Seoul. At the time of this writing, the Office of the President has authorized Colonel Jesus Villamor to extend an invitation to the International Civil Aeronautics Organiza tion (ICAO) to hold its next conference in the Philippines. It will be recalled that the last ICAO meeting was held in Montreal, Canada, headquarters of the ICAO. The site selected is Baguio, and the convention opening date is July 15, 1948. Should the ICAO accept the invitation of the Philippine Government, the aviation role of the Philippines will be definitely established in international aeronautical activities, a confirmation, as it were, that the Philippines has become the aviation-hub of this part of the civilized globe. * ★Column-editor's note later: “It seems that India got ahead of us and that ICAO has accepted an invitation to hold the conference at New Delhi.’’ Land Transportation (Bus Lines) By L. G. James Vice-President and Manager, A. L. Ammen Trans portation Co., Inc. OF special interest to the transportation industry during the month was the end of the strike which haq caused a complete cessation of operations by the Batangas Transportation Company for a period of three months. The striking employees returned to their work at the end of April after the refusal of the management to grant any of the demands which resulted in the walkout. Various basic questions involved are now before the Court of Industrial Relations for decision. This has been the longest and cost liest of the various strikes affecting land-transportation operations in the Philippines. Other companies will be vitally interested in the final decision of the Court of Industrial Relations on a number of the points at issue, such as wartime back pay for employees in service as of December, 1941, and the basic demands for increases in vacation-leave and sickleave with pay. Public utilities operate under government supervision and their rates are fixed by the Public Service Commission. Increased cost of operation cannot be passed on to the pa trons but must be absorbed by the operator. Factors such as increased wages and other extra cash benefits accruing to employees were, in the cases of many operators, not taken into consideration at the time when presently prevailing rates were established. The operator of a large fleet of busses prefers a mass volume of business at a narrow margin of profit per bus kilometer, provided he can look forward to a more or less fixed cost of operation. The recent labor trends have com pletely disrupted ideas on operational costs, based upon years of experience and practice. Many companies are finding the margin between income per bus-kilometer and expense per bus-kilometer so narrow that profits are negligible. The majority of operators recognizes the advisability of providing for employee benefits to the extent that they do not pass beyond the limits of sound judgment, but they Add General Fireproofing's unique ball-bearing roller cradle suspension rolls the heaviest-laden drawer at the touch of a finger. Office jammed ... people falling over each other... filing cabinets flooding the place? Here’s help! General Fireproofing’s smart FIVE drawer filing cabinet puts down f on the same floor space 25% more filing space! And no towering giant, either! Yet every drawer has full-height filing space. This is only one of the space and money-saving tricks your General Fireproofing Survey man has up his sleeve. If you’ve had an easy feeling that office overhead’s too high lately, call him in. He won’t charge you a cent... and he’s saved others lots .of pesos. HEACOCK CO THE STORE OF QUALITY 454 Dasmarifias, Tel. Nos. 2-79-78 & 2-79-79 16th & Atlanta Sts., Port Area, Tel. 2-94-89 May, 1948 AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 169 also insist that the stockholders, whose investments rep resent the capital with which the business is operated, deserve a fair rate of return on their capital. Recent labor trends present a serious problem in this respect to the management of land-transportation enterprises. Base Metals By Chas. A. Mitke Consulting Mining Engineer THE Philippines contain fairly substantial deposits of iron, chrome, and manganese. Coal, necessary for the treatment of these ores, is found in lesser quantities in a number of places. Recently I had a conversation with a representative frory SCAP, who had come to Manila to investigate the raw-materials situation. According to him, SCAP finds it absolutely necessary to stimulate industry in Japan in order to remove, from the American taxpayer, the burden of supporting millions of unemployed. At the moment, there is a lack of a suffi cient amount of high-grade iron ore for the basic needs of the country. Two hundred fifty thousand tons have been purchased from Hainan Island this year, but this is not sufficient to supply the need. Before the war, one of Japan’s principal sources of iron and coal was Manchuria. There were also twelve other sources of high-grade iron scattered around the Pa cific, including four in the Philippines. A certain amount of semi-anthracite coal was obtained from Indo-China, which was mixed with certain Japanese coals (Nagasaki dust) to form a good “steely” coke, for the Yawata furnaces. At present, coke is being purchased <n the United States at-a very high price, and SCAP is now investigating the possibilities of supplementing the coal supply in Japan with, possibly, some from the Philippines and Ffench Indo-China, in the hope of again making a satisfactory coke for the steel industry. There are several places in the Philippines where coal can be obtained running over 12,000 BTU, with a low ash-content. In >he course of the conversation, I mentioned that the fo- r Philippine iron mines, and several former pro ducing coal-properties, which operated before the War, must bj rehabilitated before production can be resumed. The WAr Damage Corporation has not paid their claims so far, ,o.nd it is not known when this money will be forth comings I suggested, therefore, that if SCAP could see its way to finance the re-opening of these properties, it would not take lc;ng before a sizable production might be expected, as the f • ir iron mines, in particular, are all open-pit opera tions^? (There is really a precedent for my suggestion. Since the War, SCAP has found it necessary to supply the JapanfSC farmers with phosphate rock in order to increase the rice production. It is said that the plant in the Pellau Islands, which supplied Japan before the war, was privately owned, and that after the termination of hostilities, the operating company was in no position to resume produc tion SCAP had to come to the rescue, and, at present, at least 500 tons a day of phosphate rock are being mined arid shipped to Japan. What is said of coal, iron, and phosphate rock, can equally apply to low-grade chrome and manganese. Before the war, high-grade metallurgical chrome was shipped to the United States. Also, high-grade manganese. The lower grades, which could not stand the freight rate to the United States, were, until all shipments were frozen in the middle of 1941, sold to Japan. There, the low-grade READY-POWER PUMPS MODEL LB ENGINES &or INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURAL AND CONSTRUCTION USE Economical and Long Lived... Ready-Power Engine Driven Pumps, power ed by the famous “INTERNATIONAL LB” single cylinder, water cooled engines, give the pump user dependable, long lived eco nomical pumping units. The self-priming centrifugal pump is of advanced design, unique for its simplicity. No check valves, diaphragms or other quick wearing parts are required to maintain the self-priming feature. Suction and discharge 2" and capacity up to 7,000 gallons per hour depending on total head. INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY OF PHILIPPINES 154 Marques de Comillas, Manila CEBU BACOLOD DAVAO

pages

168-169

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