The Prince on Air Transport
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LAST Friday's conference of municipal delegates at the Mansion House, London, to discuss the provision of more municipal aerodromes, which is briefly reported on our air-transport news page, and will, of course, be fully dealt with in our next air-transport supplement, is acknowledged to have been an event of vital national importance. This matter of aerodromes and air services closely concerns the motor industry and the road-transport field of that industry. It is concerned with the country's trade prospects, and it affects the country's defence ; no apology, therefore, is made for referring to it in our editorial pages.
The Prince of Wales spoke forcefully at the conference, and Lord Londonderry said that the provision of aerodromes was one of the most pressing needs of this country to-day.
Municipal delegates, who this week are back at their posts considering how most effectively to follow the recommendations of His Royal Highness, should scrutinize the transport-service maps of their localities, and, in reviewing the potentialities of alternative sites, should bear in mind the essential part that will be played by public road services when flying becomes a more normal method of travel.
Close co-operation between these officers and the managers of passenger transport services— municipal and non-municipal—is a fundamental requirement of the deliberations that must now follow.
Hardships Caused by Suspending Driving Licences
ANUMBER of cases has occurred recently in which local magistrates have suspended driving licences for purely technical offences. The employment of such a method of punishment is severe enough in the case of an owner of a private car, but is far more drastic in the case of a man whose livelihood depends upon his ability to drive. In one instance which occurred recently, the licence of a van driver was suspended for a year because, out of the kindness of his heart, he brought from a seaside town a few adults and some children who had been stranded.
The difficulty, in such cases is that although, on appeal, the suspension might be revoked, usually the driver has not tile financial resources available to invoke the necessary legal machinery.
There is also, apparently, an impression amongst some local magistrates that any serious infringement of the traffic laws, technical or otherwise, automatically demands the suspension of the driving _ licence of the culprit concerned, whereas, in many instances, particularly where technical offences are involved, they are entitled to use their own judgment.
Servicing Equipment—Good Scope for Sales
CLOSE contact with the various sections of the industry at the present time emphasizes the excellent scope which exists for manufacturers of servicing equipment. So many. foremen and service managers who have been slow to see that an expensive plant will pay for itself in the long run —and such arguments are not always easy to accept—are now finding themselves in real need of the latest appliances.
The reasons are manifold but united in their effect. Pioneers in the use of modern equipment are now forcing the pace. so that others, not so enterprising, have to come into line if they are to prevent lass of business ; that is the principal factor. Secondly, the quantity of work, and, more important, its regularity, are creating conditions that bring the up-to-date plant into a favourable economic light—the new legislation is sure to accelerate this movement. Thirdly, British-made servicing equipment has recently shown marked improvement as regards its practicality of design and its general level of price. The motor trade reaps the benefit, and the time is ripe for a big sales effort by all maintenance appliance makers.