O TTR FIRST editorial note of the week deals with the
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Government's projected scheme of legislating.for "key" industries, and it is ehown that industry in this country is rapidly realizing that the most urgent problem, callingefor legislation is the :question of the rates of exchange, with a view to the limitation of iMpartation of those goads favoured by rates of exchange.
A NEW type of nne.euan hood, devised by Karrier Moters,•Etd.' for the protection of passengers c, on motor oaualses, is described in Our page dealing with recently-published patent specifications.
• A NEW service depot opened in -Lenclon's streets for supplying petrol, oil, and water to commercial motors and hackney carriages is desCribed by vs. Private vehicles are net supplied, thus avoiding competition with the garages.
SOME time ago we dealt very fully with the Scarab system of oil-firing steam wagon/ boilers. Elsewhere in this issue will be found some interesting details of another method of tackling this problem, in which the oil is pressure fed to the jet instead of being sprayed out by means of air or steam.
THE arEicIe on the bus services in and around Oxford is interesting, because the University city is an outstanding example of the success, from the point of view of public convenience, achieved by the motorbus_ovet the tramway system which it displaced. At the same time, the restriction on fares by the unique Act under which the company operates must be to the disadvantage of the public in many ways as well as to the company. *
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WHERE the horse-power is low or the owner does not wish to be restricted in the purposes to which he requires.. to put his -vehicle, is there anything in the Finance, Roads, or Motor Car Acts to prevent him from registering it undei para., 6 of the second schedule of the Finance Act, paying the taxat the rate of 21 per h.p. 7 The question is frequently put to us in one form or another, and we deal with it in our "Transport Tips for Tradesmen."
THE city of Manchester is now at the limit of its endurance of the congestion caused ,by the tramway running through the narrow streets at its heart and, because the money sunk in the system pre-: vents it from being scrapped, expedients that would inconvenience the whole of the population are being proposed. Our article dealing with the subject should be taken to heart 'everywhereand !particularly where a passenger service system is projected.
What Shall Be Done for the "Key" Industries?
WRILE practically all sections of the engineer,. ing trades are beginning to-have cause for • anxiety on the grounds of Germancbmpeti• tion, actual or prospective, there are certainly some sections which are more open to attack than others from this quarter.
One might instance British machine tool makers and the manufacturers of many kinds of motor accessories and components. Among the latter it is genera ally presumed that magneto manufacturers occupy a somewhat privileged position. From the early stages . of the war it has been realized that a British magneto • industry is essential to our national safety.
The fact that, prior to the war, we were dependent -upon Germany for our magnetos aroused special sympathy for the endeavours of British manufacturers to . create a home industry. We may, therefore, assume that magnetos will figure in. the probably short lintel industries which will be classified as " keys " when the Government's legislation for the safeguarding of key industries comes to be introduced.
It remains a more open question whether systems of ignition alternative to the magneto system will be similarly regarded. There is, of course, a distinct possibility of the battery and'coil system supplanting 'the magneto in many classes of work. Consequently, it would seem that any measures taken to safeguard British magneto manufacturers would be of strictly limited utility if they failed to embody aray provisions calculated to limit the importation of alternative ignition systems. , In this connection, it remains to be seen what will be the conditions or penalties imposed upon industries which may accept classification as "keys." It may be that the conditions will be so onerous that many people would rather, sacrifice the safeguards than comply with the conditons. Then again, the nature of the safeguardS which would prove sufficient is in itself a very difficult question. The impositon of a fixed import duty, unless this duty were enormously high, would probably prove ineffective, owing to the abnormal rates of exchange. There is at least some ground for believing, that the German Government, at the instance of German manufacturers, is making no effort, to increase the exchange value of the mark. Unquestionably, so long as German currency remains so debased as it.is at present, it is practically impossible for British nianufaettuers to compete with Germans in any open market, unless the product is such that the raw materials for it have to be imported into Geriminy, in which case their cost is inflated, and so also is the cost of the finished article.
The More Important Problem of Rates of Exchange. .
THE FACT of the matter is that those concerned with British industry are realizing more and more fully that the question of the rates of. exchange is the Most urgent problem demanding legislation. The Key Industries Bill enn only at the best benefit' a trill-mg percentage of British firms. The Anti-Dumping Bill, if it merely deals with dumping in the ordinary sense of the term, will not be of any -greats aasistance. What is really wanted is to compare the actual purchasing value of the currency of various countries and to_ -classify as dumping the sale of goods in this country at a price representing _ a lower purchasing value than that at which the goods can be profitably sold in their own country.
One suggestion that hasbeen tentatively put forward is that importations favoured by rates of exchange should -be limited, the degree of limitation bearing some relation to the degree of unemployment in the competing British industry. We cannot ignore the fact that other countries, by ' enlarg-ed import duties. or other emeans, are showing. an increasing tendency to check imports from Great Britain, and, this being so, it is difficult to see how unemployment here can be reduced unless our manufacturers are at least given an opportunity of competing on fair terms intheir home market.
Linking Up With the Traders Overseas.
WE ARE ALL of us, whether motor users or members of the motor trade, more or less concerned with the development of the overseas business of British manufacturers. As we have pointed out on several occasions, the largest quantity output is only.obtainable by an industry which has a grip of the world's markets and, consequently, without exploiting those markets the full economic bene• fits of large output cermet be realized and the purchasers of motor vehicles are accordingly compelled to pay more. Thus, in the interests of motor users, just as much as in those of the manufacturers themselves, we would suggest what appears to ue to be a plan by which the relations of the manufacturer_ with motor traders in other countries might be improved.
With this in view, we would propose that overseas traders' organizations expressing any interest in British vehicles should, if possible, be in some way officially associated with the manufacturer's own organization in this country. Some sort of affiliation of this sort, even though it might be a -very loose one and might not have any very tangible immediate objects, would, at least, have the effect of forming a kind -of link which would encourage oararaunication and a general atmosphere of friendliness. Possibly, such anassociation could most effectively be based first on the principle of hospitality. That is to say, when a member of any of the associated bodies visited this country, he would have someone to whom he might look for welcome and assistance as a right. Equally, the representative of a British manufacturer touring overseas would be able to apply to associated bodies for assistance that they had undertaken to render, and this would bring him into closer contact with their members and give him almost the statusof an ambassador on behalf of the
British industry. _ When a man finds himself in a strange country, he is more than usually susceptible to small kindnesses. A ..chilly reception certainly discourages him from doing business. A cordial reception and a real effort to help him in small ways to make his trip both pleasant and useful will create in his mind the feeling that he is certainly desirous of placing business with those who have received him well, and that, in a sense, he is almost morally bound to do so.
We believe that, if .a loose association of the kind 1114 proposed were once started, it would lead to correspondence which would, in turn, lead to the crystallization of ideas as to how the association could be rendered more valuable and more tangible from time to time.
Conserving Fuel Supplies.
ECONWAY IN the use of motor fuels-has never been more necessary than it is to-day. At present, alternative fuels to petrol and homeproduced fuels, suitable for use in internal-combustion engines, have not been sufficiently developed to makeany appreciable difference in the amount of ' petrol consumed and, as a matter of fact, they have not even inereaseel -the supply in the same ratio as the increa-se in the number of motor vehicles employed.
Although great efforts are being made to exploit petrol-producing districts in various parts of the world, we must not base any great hopes on increasing the present petrol supplies to any great extent. It is quite possible that new sources of petroleum may be discovered, but., by the time this is so, some of-The old sources may be running dry, and the effect; of the new supplies will probably hot do much . more than balance the loss of supplies from these. It must also be remembered that a considerable proportion of our adverse trade balance is due to the enormous purchases of petrol from America and other foreign countries. .
Taking all these facts into account, apart from others, to the enumeration of which we -cannot now give space the need for the practice of national economy in the use Of petrol would seem of vital importance, and yet this need is certainly not being .ecognized in many quarters.Private -and commer; cial vehicles are often run with little regard to the amount Of petrol they consume. This is. probably because the • heed for economy has not been '
• Imptiasized sufficiently, and few incentives have been given to the drivers of commercial vehicles to make them anxious to keep down to the minimum whichallows efficient working the consumption of petrol on heir vehicles. ' •
in some concerns bonuses are given to the drivers for every gallon of petrol they save under a given quantity, this quantity being based upon the average consumption of similar vehicles. We have heard of cases in which it-has paid a concern to give as a bonus to its drivers half the value of the total quantity of petrol saved, which, in the course of ea year or so, may amount to a considerable sum. We do not L suggest that it is always advisable to pay such a large proportion in bonuses an this, but the scheme is certainly valuable enough to merit far more attention than it receives at the present moment.
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In another part of this -journal will be found a paragraph giving particulars of a national, petrol economy competition which is -being promoted by the.R.A:C. It is claimed that, if users throughout the country will pay sproper attention to the question of fuel economy, a saving of more than '40,000,000 gallons of petrol annually will be rendered possible.
An independent test of six different, motor vehicles recently conducted by the R.A.C. showed an average increase of-mileage for a fixed quantity of fuel of 22 , per cent., and this by merely changing to a smaller carburetter jet. That such a big increase •can• be ' obtainealewith but little trouble is proof of the great --. economy which could be effected if the whole of the motor vehicle-s in this country were supervised in this .respect, but obviously just as something can never be obtained for nothing, so this gain in fuel can only be obtained at the expense of a. loss of efficiency—particularly upon hills and gradients—and of a loss of engine flexibility.