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Alien Enemies in England.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
11374] Sir,—With reference to the question of "German Spies" in this country, which, in view of the remarkable self-complacency of the home Office-, appears to have grown somewhat acute just lately, we are wondering whether any of the many wellkn o w n firms of motor-wagon manufacturers who advertise in your columns and who, from time to time, correspond with you, have had the same experience as ourselves.
When the present deplorable war broke. out, we received a good number of inquiries for our wagons, and we still continue to do so, but the remarkable thing about many of them is that when pursued to their ultimate sources they appear to come from firms and individuals whose names are highly Teutonic. We have made investigations to the best of our ability in one or two eases, but so far we have always found that these firms., though Teutonic in name, have been established here for a great many years and that the principals appeared to be English.„ We finally became very puzzled as to thetorigin of all these inquiries, and we got our London representative to go and quote, not only our own War Office but, also the Russian Automobile Committee, and in the case of the former he was informed that the authorities did not require any more motor wagons at the present time, having obtained sufficientJor all necessities. We have the War Office's letter before us as we write., so there is no doubt of this. The Russian' Automobile Committee would have nothing to dos with steam, and as our representative put it, "As soon as they heard the word mentioned, showed him the door with more speed than politeness."
New the question that obviously arises is, who or what is at the back of this search for three-tonners It is the more odd because the majority of these firms, in the words of our London representative, literally " Do not know a motor wagon from a wheelbarrow." Is it, possible that Germany is trying to obtain motor transport somehow in England? The inquiries are for all sorts and sizes of wagons, but principally for three-tonners, and the chief question seems to be "Whatnumber can you deliver immediately ? One firm in the Midlands asked us to quote for 1000 wagons, but this company had a, thoroughly English name, and stated plainly that the wagons were. for Army transport.
Even so, it struck us as being a remarkable inquiry, since this represents a sum of somewhere between £600,000 and £700,000.
If neither our Army nor the Russian wants the wagons, who does ?-,Yours faithfully, '6 STEAM-WAGON MANUFACTURERS."
IA considerable number of intermediaries has been endeavouring to handle a few of the large enquiries which have been afloat for machines for the Belgian, French, Russian and Italian Governments. We think it is unlikely that any such enquiries are for ultimate German or Austrian delivery. There would be extreme difficulty in exporting, even via neutral ports. Commercial vehicles are conditional contraband. Germany hat ample motor manufacturing facilities for its own purposes.—Eri j.
Tire Companies and Mileage Guarantees.
The Editor, THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR.
[1375] Sir,—Regarding the present efforts of the Solid Tyre Committee of the S.M.M. and T., to take advantage of the present situation by way of withdrawing all mileage guarantees oh solid tires supplied in the future, I think most of your readers, outside those interested in -tire companies, will be rather surprised at such a. suggestion. Such a policy in my opinion is extremely short sighted, as surely the British manufacturers do not think they are going to have the monopoly of the solid tire trade after the termination of the war.
A mileage guarantee on solid tires is a perfectly reasonable matter for a buyer to expect, and it is an essentially important item to the salesman of motor vehicles when he is going into the question of running costs with potential buyers. Continental manufacturers of solid tires have taught us by practical experience that, if a solid tire be properly made, there should be no difficulty in its accomplishing a very considerably greater distance.pthan 10,000 miles. If, therefore, the Britishemanufacturer is not prepared to guarantee 10,000 milesewith 'the protection he has previouslytstipulated as to fair usage, etc., then the only logical interpretation the general public can put on such an action is that the manufacturers in this country practically adraft their want of confidence in their own productions.
I trust the Tyre Committee will see the wisdom of not pressing their suggestion further, as otherwise it will have the effect of estranging many chassis manufacturers in this country who at the present time are thoroughly in sympathy with the efforts of the British tire trade to secure the market for their own produc tions.—Yours faithfully,