Conducted by EDMUND DANGERFIELD.
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Vo!. XX. No. 501. Editor: EDWARD S. SHRAPNELL-SMITH. 15t13 October, 1914.
"Keep the Wheels of Industry Turning."
The Two Dominating Topics—Civilian and Military Employment.
To such an extent is this industry of ours dominated by its intense participation in the present worldstruggle, that most of us find it hard to concentrate upon the less crucial problems in which we are professionally interested in more peaceful times of development.
It is difficult for any of us to arouse much enthusiasm for abstruse speculations, shall we say, as to induction velocitiEt;. It requires more than ordinary mental effort. to settle down to a consideration of the proper viscosities of oils for internal-combustion engines. We all of us have to confess it we are concerned in the main—we have been for the past ten weeks, and presumably shall be for n-tany more weeks to come, on the one hand with the all-important part which the motor lorry is playing in the operations of our small but all-efficient army, on the other, with the extraordinary effects which the state of war has had, and will continue to have, upon users and makers of commercial vehicles. These are the two great problems which dominate the situation, and without disproportion we can honestly lay claim to having devoted our energies to their consideration, to the questions which arise from them, and to the answers which, with more or less assurance, may be given to them.
Our apt slogan, " Keep the Wheels of Industry Turning," went forth from theseoffices by poster widespread in the first weeks of tha war. Our principal Editorials have been almost. exclusively devoted to the various phases of. the extraordinary situations which have arisen as the result of the improssment of thousands of civilian lorries, and to the other effects that are traceable directly to the activities of the War Department-. We are continuously occupied in the endeavour to find solutions to the fresh, if temporary, difficulties with which the user, in particular, is being faced. The enormous demands of the Russian, French, Belgian and other Governments have, this last week, presented a fresh productive problem. Already we learn, of considerable inquiries for American " trucks " as the only available alternatives, with the eNception of steam, in the scheduled time. We learn, too, of American activities to take advantage of this temporary congestion, and that in spite of something like a boom in commeycial moto-is in the U.S.A.
On the other hand, we have given, and, with anything like luck, shall continue to give to our readers. what we consider is valuable service in respect of news of the • happenings which are the., direct cause of the crises amongst makers and users. We are in the unique position of having quite a number of special correspondents an the Continent, who are charged with the duty of sending exclusive reports ofincidents connected with the operation of the Army Transport, and_of happenings to them., from which lessons, valuable whilst war rules, may be drawn. In the performance of this service we are scrupulously regarding the necessity for discretion and caution.
There is no need to recapitulate the manner in which we, alone, have recorded historically the first wild rush of assembly during the first week of the war, nor need we remind our readers of the unique series of photographs which we. have continued to,.reproduee in our pages from that day onwards. Manufacturers and users alike have been generously appreciative of the very considerable efforts which we have had to make to ensure proper service from the Front concerning those thousands of machines which are carrying ammunition and food to the troops with such unfailing regularity, and , with such remarkable results on our artillery intensity, our infantry and cavalry operations, and the geneval well-being and comfort of the troops as a whole.
Our " Despatches from the Front.'' are being read weekly with eagerness by all those concerned with our industry who are still left in this country, and, by special arrangement, by not a few who have gone abroad in its service.
The time has not yet. come by any means to attempt anything like conclusive analytical criticisms which may benefit the industry as a whole. Nevertheless, there are certain lessons which we may extract as we go, and which we feel sure the authorities are already taking steps to turn to accOunt. Their owrmeources of information are, of ,eourse, ample, and their means to modify and alter arrangements as they think fit are unlimited. We Ire content to leave matters at that, in the knowledge that the enormous problems that continue to present themselves in an undertaking of this magnitude will be tackled in the end as we, as a nation, always have tackled our problems.
It ri not too much, to claim at the present time that this journal is unique in respect of the services it can render to its readers concerning the two great phases of the -commercial-vehicle situation as it exists to-day. We shall continue fo concentrate upon them. The problem of keeping the wheels of industry turning at home, despite the many extraordinary circumstances in which transport, as the life of txade, must be maintained, and the remarkable importance of the operation of the thousands of 1-orries. and other Service motors in the field of this gigantic struggle, are tasks sufficient to consider for all of us at the moment.