THE AUTOCAR B Journal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall~ propelleb roa~ carriage .

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 708 . Vo L. XXII.l

SATURDAY, MAY 15TH, I ')0g.

[PRICE JD.

The Autocar.

(Publi,hed W eek ly. )

Regi~tered as a NP.w.;paper for trans ni:sion in the United Kingdom. Entered a s second-class matter in the New York (N.Y.) Post Office.

T h re e Editio ns eve ry F,iday,

The TH REEPENNY E DI PIO N, prin t ed on A,t Paper. The P E NNY EDITION, printed u pon thinner paper. The FO REIGN EDITION, price 3d. 1 printed on thin paper for transmission abroa d .

Editorial Office :

COVENTRY.

Publishing Offices :

20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E . C. , England.

CONTENTS. NOTES

NOTES 0~ THE 8UDGE1' ..

U'iEFUL HINTS AND TtPS (ILLUSTRATED )

DOES A SPRAY CARBURETTER SPRAY? ( I LLUSTRATED)

A MILITARY MOTOR R ECONNAISSA:-.1CE (I LL USTRATED)

O N T H E R OAD

TH E VOITURETTE GRAND PR I X RACE

TH E IlLERIOT LIGHT ING AND C HA RG ING D YNAMO (JLLUSTRATED)

AERONAUTICS

M oTOR UNIO:-r KoTES

TH E PECULIAR RE QUIRE)JENTS OF PECUL IAR COUNTRIES.

A MACHINE FOR TESTING ROAD El.'!o'fCIE~CY ( I LLUSTRATED)

CORRESPONDE NCE ..

THE SIMMS :f\•IAG:VETO Sw l T CH STARTE R ( ILLUSTRATED)

FLASHES

CLU B DOINGS

QUERIES AND REPLI ES

PAGE.

6i; 676 677 678 -680 68 1-683 684 -6 85

685 686-688 689 -690

69 1 692 693 -694 699-703

704 705 .70 6 707-708

Subscript ion Rates :

l3riti .s h l s le.s-Home Edition, 16s . ; penny {thin paper edit ion), 6s. 6d.

Abroad {thin paper edition ), 22s. 8d. per annum. /nd.,x to Adv.,rtiHm e nt s appears on page 38 .

(

Notes. Uno/e Blame. In !fe indignation whi -h has been aroused o ver the • nr) to r ta xa ti on proposals of th e Chancellor of th e Exchequer we think there has been a tendency to unduly blame th e motor in g o rga nisatio ns, p artic ul arly t he Royal A.C. a nd th e Union . Obviously it has been wrong a ll through that these t1ro bodies should not have been 1rorking in absolute ag reement , so far as their parli amenta ry po li cy was conce rned, but it is possible 10 overrate the seriousness of their schism and to saddle them ·with the so le responsibility fo r the proposed inc rease in moto r taxation as a d irect consequence of their disagreement . Th en th ere a re others who bitte rl y reproac h th e C lu b for inac ti on a nd th e Union for pr ecipitancy, and who attribute the extra taxation to th ese causes alone . What we do not think has been quite suftic iently realis ed is th a t if a Cbancc: llor or the Exchequer and h is advisers have made up th eir mind s to tax anything it is most i.r_prob a bl e th a t they wi l I b t: turned from their purpose. When ,re see 1·ast ly greate r inte rests than our own unabl e to protect th emse lve.; from th e o ns laughts of the Chancellor of th e Exchequer we quite overqte the potenti a liti es of th e rr:otori ng o rga nisa ti ons if we imagine that by ,Yorking i!1 concei, they cou ld have stemmed th e tid e uy 11·hich th ese much more powerful interests ha1·e been tempo ra ril y sub me rged.

• While the re is not th e least doubt that th e ca use o f motoring wo ul d ha ve been fa r more strongly presented had one body alone att empted to represent it in P arl ia ment, o r had th e ex ist in g bod ies decided up on a common poli cy, it is ne, ·ertheless a mistake to i ,;· agi n, • that even when united in cre:1sed taxation co ul d Inn: been entire ly warded o ff . \V e believe that, i f t h~inner hi sto ry of the re la ti onship of th e motori11g organ isations with P arliam ent is ever written it will show that th ey have hampered each other and more o r less nullifi ed each other 's work to an even g reate r extent th an is now believed entire ly by th i; ir foo li sh persistency in acting independently of each othe r o n matte rs of vital importa nce. \V hil e l\'e hotel this be lief very strongly 1;,e sti ll say th a t un ited they cou ld not have wholly averted increased taxat ion at a tim e when such a huge reve nue must be ra ised to meet ex penditure.

, vhat we have said is , ire admit , practically a stri ng of truism s. but we make no apology for utterin g t hem, because th ere has undoubted ly been a te ndency to ignore tru e p erspective ancl to speak a s though the powe r of the combined motor organisa ti ons we re aln- ost equa l to that of the Government itself. Our case has been bad ly presented, owing to division, but it has not been lost on account of thi s. 1\"e shou ld have had a n adverse v rdict at the best, but ,re mi ght, nay, wt.: believe we should, have had a lighter sentence had our advoca tes been united. "\:Ve 1rould also urge our reade rs to su pend judgment o n th e action of the two bod ies, because it is impossibl e, fo r the present a t any rate, that a, good ma ny of the negotiations in which o ne if not both ha ve been engaged sho u ld be made publ ir. They may be bl amed unh esitat in g ly for acting inrl ependently and in p a rtial opposition to each other , but th e ir act ion o r appa rent inactio:1, so far as representat ions to P a rli amenta ry officials is concerned, is quite anothe r matter, and for the ti Te being compa ri sons are out of place. because a ll the fa cts and a ll th e reas :)ns 1rh ich have led up to the representations they have made can not be disclosed, so that eith er condemnat ion o r praise would be eq ually vain . All we ask no ll' i · tha t from h en eforth both shal l \\'Ork tog;etber in this matte r. Tf eith er bodv refuses to do this direct)\' o r in cl irect h· it will deserve th e strongest condemna·tion, as it ·1rill have betr;\\·ed its men~bershio. Both ha1·e disregarded a ll warnii1gs, but 11 011- th e (nevitable has happened th ey should decide on a common po li cy before 11·orse thing s befa 11.