f "f-lE AUTOCAR B Journal pubhsheb in the interests of the mechantcall~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANE"t

No. 716. VoL. XXIII.] SATURDAY, JULY IOTH, 1909.

[PRICE 3D.

The Autocar.

(Published Weekly.)

Registered as a Newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom. Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.Y. ) Post Office.

Three Editions every Friday,

The THREEPENNY EDITION, printed on Art Paper. The PENNY EDITION, printed upon thinner paper. The FOREIGN EDITION, price 3d., printed on thin paper for tran~missio abroad.

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COVENTRY.

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CONTENTS. NOTES • • M EMBERS OF THE R USSIA~ Dm,tA IN SCOTLAND UsEFUL HINTS AND Trrs .. ROAD 1vV ARNING$ .• THE MOTOR CAR AND PETROL TAXES .. BALANCING PETROL MOTORS (I LLUSTRATED) • . SOUTH TO NORTH ON A SHEFFIELO-STMPLEX (ILLUSTRATED) ON THE TRACK (ILLUSTRATED) , . THE R.A.C. MIDLAND MEET. THE STORY OF A BURST TYRE S)t ALL CAR TALK • • SPEED INDlCATORS IN POLICE CASES • . 9,000 MILES ON A 10-1 2 H.P. ADAMS . • l\[QTOR UNION NOTES

PAGE.

39-40

40 41 . . 42-45 .. 46-47 . . 48-,1,

SI , · 52-55

55 . . 56-57

A NON-PUNCTURING INNER TUBE (ILLUSTRATE D)-How TO l\•1EE r

.17 58 59

POLICE PERSECUTION-MOTORISTS AVOID MERIONETHSHIRE.. 60 BODY DESIGN AND CONSTR CTION (ILLUSTRATED) • • 61 TRIAL OF A TYRE PROTECTOR-A PROSPECTIVE MOTORIST-R.A.C.

LAMP T ESTS. ENTRANTS CORRESPONDENCE .. A FUEL EcONO)tiSER (ILLUSTRATED) • . FLASHES CLUBS (ILLUSTRATED)

62 · · 67-7,

72 , , 73-74 , , 75-78

Subscription Rates :

British Isles-Home Edition, r6s.; penny (thin pap,r edi tion). 6s. 6d.

Abroad (thin paper edition). 22s. 8d. per annum. Index to Advertisements appears on page 40.

Notes. The First Deputations to the Chancellor. On Thursday la.st ll'eek the Chancellor of the Exchequer receiveu the first deputations \Yhich have 1rnited upon him in connecti'on ll'ith the motor anu petrol taxes proposed in the Budget. A.- 11·e mentioned a fortnight since, it ,ras announced that Mr. Lloyd George would r cei,·e the representati l'e of al I the automobile associations on one and the same day and at one and the same tirrte, but for reason 1Yhich have not been made public it \\'as decided to receive ueputations from the Motor Union and the oventry Chamber of Commerce, ll'hile at some later date the deputation from the Royal Automobile Club and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders 11·ill be rec~iYed . The Birmingham ancl \Yoh·erhampton

Chambers of Commerce, although in sympathy with the Coventry Chamber, are not apparently taking any steps to approach the Chancellor, and we regret this lack of enterprise on their part. On another page we publish a report of the speeches and the Chancellor's reply. It 11·ill be seen that the attitude of the motorists may be su,nmed up in that of first showing how unfair and unneces ary the additional taxes are and then going on to pray that if they 1\'ere imposed in the face of their arguments, certain matters not provided for in the Finance Bill should be taken into account, an I the necessary mo lifications made.

The Result of the Deputations. The tll'O most important sugge tions were undoubtedly that the horse-power tax should be by unit of horsepower, and not under the proposed scale, which means that a very small increase of horse-power gives a fifty per cent. increase in the tax. It ,ms also pointed out that the licences should be made arnilable for short periods, so that people buying second-hand cars could take out licences for three, six, nine, or twelve months as required. Both these points have been insisted upon in these columns a most neces ary improvement , and ll'e need only say now that we are very glad to see that the Chancellor appears to regard them favourably. Beyond this it cannot be said that the result of the deputation was satisfactory.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, after expressing his a ffection for the motor car and all that appertains to it, stated that if he consented to a reduction on the i;nposed taxes there 11·ould not be enough money to establish the central road authority and road improvement organisation upon which his heart is set. Here again 11·e have already shown that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is mistaken, because on his own figures it is quite clear that if he were to drop either the increased car licences or the petrol tax the remaining extra revenue from either tax would approximately provide him with a quarter of a million a year, and there is no question that this is more than sufficient to carry out all reasonable improvements to the roads, not, of course, in one year, but gradually. If more money be available it will probably be wasted .

There is no question that in this matter the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been misled by his advisers . He thtnks, quite erroneously, that enormous sums are required for making the roads suitable for motor traffic, while as a matter of fact the roads do very well as they are. All we want is to reduce the dustiness of the roads, and this can be done without pending any more than is now being pent upon them.

The Policy for Future Deputations. It is quite evident, therefore, that the neirt deputation from motorists which "'aits upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer hould bring facts and figures before him with regard to the roads. The Chancellor thinks that the threequa1iers of a million or so which he is going to extract from automobilists is really wanted for road imprO\·ements. It is therefore our 11·isest