R_.C_.,
Westmount,
Montreal,
Canada.
Dear Father:
Again, thank you for all that you have done. In your reply to my telegraph, you ask why I veto Miss B., but am fine with Miss M. Yes, Miss M. is an eccentric. I know that a man isn't expected to notice these things, but If you look closely at the photograph, you will see that her "odd" dress is actually a safety-pinned window curtain! It would be one thing if her shoes were not so expensive, but as they are, I'm left to conclude that she thinks that she is being "creative." Which you could read between the lines in her letters of recommendation, anyway.
I'm sorry, I can't explain, but my instincts are warning me about Miss B., while Miss M. strikes me as perfectly satisfactory as a physiotherapist. We're not hiring her as a lady's maid! (Although she'd be much more economical if we did. Hmm. . . No, never mind.) Actually, I am confident that she is the best of the lot --even better than the highly recommended Miss J. I look forward to meeting them both at the train on Wednesday.
Vickie is doing well. She longs for more of her mother's touch than the iron lung will allow, although it is a very nice iron lung (something I need to remind myself of, whenever I fume about Uncle Henry's latest adventures), with room enough for me to crawl in with her for short periods. Fanny, with her girlish figure, is positively comfortable in there.
You write that you have been getting nowhere in the matter of Mr. and Mrs. Easton, and neither has the Earl. We simply must do better than that. Perhaps the civil war is all over but the shouting, but I cannot for the life of me believe that anything the Soongs put their hand to would ever turn out so well. If and when the Communists do advance across the Yang-tse, the Eastons must be able to enter Hong Kong, and I cannot believe that we have not made enough money for that side of the family for them not to bend on this matter.
If Uncle George reads this, do please find some way of reminding him that he is only human. He has been so full of himself about his friend and Philco!
"GRACE."
"GRACE."
PS: Speaking of, Uncle George is off to the new Western capital of sin for a weekend in the company of his friend --and to have a look at this matter of the hotel.
 |
| Las Vegas has no idea how to advertise itself. Fishing? Cowboys? Girls? (Gambling?) |
The
Economist, 2 November 1946
Leaders
“Reason and Russia” Russian and
American statesmen say this; reasonable people in both countries think that.
Soviet leaders are bad; they must be resisted firmly. Russia has legitimate
interests. Reactionaries and “neo-Fascists” are awful. Wallace is naïve. War is
bad. War by diplomatic means is bad because it might lead to actual war. If it
did lead to war, it might be cathartic. In conclusion, we should have WWII
soon, although no-one regrets that more than the paper. (Seriously: “If it is
thought of as the psychological problem of curing the present schizophrenia of
the world, then even a drastic treatment –perhaps a very drastic treatment—has
a chance of success.”
 |
| On the downside, Beyond Thirty's explanation for why Europe disappeared when no-one was looking wasn't nuclear war. On the upside, the cover art is great. |
“Welsh Independence” Parliament had
a special debate on Wales. Is its problem primarily economic, or political? The
paper thinks, economic. It further adds all sorts of reasons why Wales
shouldn’t have the same status as Scotland. (The border is too long!) Instead,
we should send it some money, and have a Reconstruction Committee to explore
sending them jobs, too. Money? Oh, that sounds painful. Perhaps it’s time for a
bit of a rethink. If the Welsh are dead set on Home Rule at the “expense of
prosperity,” then, well, off they go!
“After Brighton” The TUC had its
annual conference. The paper is pleased at the bits where it wasn’t radical,
and delivers a stern lecture in subjects where it was. It remains to be seen
how the TUC’s advocacy affects the government on subjects like the forty-hour
week and Polish resettlement.
“The Veto” The small and medium
powers would like the United Nations to get rid of the Security Council veto.
The Russians would like the UN to proceed by Great Power consensus. Argument
continues.
“Public and Private Service, III:
The Craze for Training” The paper is looking at the “main magnetic forces
drawing young men and women into trade and commerce.” Having looked at the
armed forces and the Ministry of Labour’s Appointments Department, it is time
to look at job training. The paper thinks that it has gone too far. There is a
training programme for nannies, which it thinks is silly.
I don't know, seems training intensive.
(Which I think is
silly.) It also detects a sinister trend to convert “open markets [for labour]
into professional closed shops.” Why all the training schemes? First, blame
wartime disruption of schools, apprenticeships and vocational training. Second,
blame the war, during which there was so much pressure to increase the amount
of work done by each set of hands that all sorts of new approaches and
techniques were found. This led to pressure to accelerate the acquisition of
new skills within the work force. Now, “Training within Industry” schemes are
everywhere. Third, blame insecurity, born of the high unemployment of the
Twenties and Thirties, which leads parents to aim their children away from
“blind alley employment” and towards education. However, the “closed
professional shop” is at work here, too. The paper singles out both trade union
demarcation, which results in “four men to renew a broken sink or repair a gas
stove,” in the music hall sketches; and in developments like the recent effort
to create professional standards for accountants and architects. The paper is
also concerned that training will come to replace education, and will reduce
the “flexibility” of English society.
At some point, though, I think Mr. Crowther is just upset for
being billed for the apprentice who showed up to help fix the stove.
Notes
of the Week
“Stalin and Molotov” Are bad. Mr.
Molotov made a fire-eating speech in New York, Stalin a very conciliatory one
in Moscow. The paper quotes General Martel on the theory that Stalin no longer
truly controls Soviet policy, then speculates that General Martel has no idea
what he’s talking about. Perhaps it is
because Molotov is losing influence? Or perhaps it has something to do with the
related fact that Stalin was officially stating Moscow’s interest in an
American loan, and that he acknowledged for the first time that reconstruction
won’t be complete at the end of the Five-Year Plan. He’s being nice because he wants
something.
“Sudan” Egypt and England are still
arguing about Sudan.
“Coalition at Last in Delhi” The
Congress government in Delhi has acquired a few ministers from the Moslem
League. The question is whether this will be enough to prevent escalating
communal disorder. The paper goes on to point out that the only reason it works
at the provincial level in Bengal is that it has a British governor, hint hint.
“Royal Commission on the Press” The
Press has too many problems to-day. (The chain Conservative press is either
satanic or the last bastion of freedom, depending, for example.)
“Health Bill in the Lords” The Lords
managed not to die of apoplexy.
“When Rationing Can Cease” Rationing
will cease when the Government is sure that “[T]here is enough of it for
everybody to buy, in the quantities they choose, at a price they can afford.”
It is rising wages, more than anything else, which have put the country in its
current predicament, since the effective rationing system of old was poverty.
Far more food is being consumed than before the war –47.6% more milk, but also
more jam and cereals. Yet the average consumption
of food is 93% of prewar. The quantity of some foods will need to rise 30 to
40% before they can be derationed.
 |
| The Mailonline does a story about a Beebs story. |
“Government Trading” The announcement
that the United States Government will no longer act as agent for the British
in buying food on the American market has caused consternation in London, even
though no-one officially thinks that it will cause prices to rise,
notwithstanding increases in America. The paper thinks that that the Government
is a bit wet, as it had to happen eventually. However, perhaps stories of bad
buys abroad (bricks in Belgium, pulp in Sweden) shows that the current
Government is not very good at trading?
“The Employment of Germans” Probably
German labour shouldn’t be shipped back and forth across the continent to build
houses in Russia and V2 missiles in France and so on, like herds of slaves.
Austrians and Bulgarians are excitable.
“Capital for Agriculture” The paper
can agree with Tory squires that food subsidies are wrong, farm subsidies are
wrong, and the world price for food is wrong, but what is to be done? Why not
huge, interest-free loans to recapitalise the farms of England? It’s the free
enterprise solution! In related news, the paper almost brings itself to admit
that there’s nothing wrong with the Forestry Commission, except that it is
planting too many pine trees, which are ugly.
 |
| The horror! Get it away from my poor, defenceless eyes! |
“Safety in the Air” The new rule
that aircraft (medium-range airliners for the most part) not equipped for
blind-approach must use Croydon instead of Northolt this winter is very
inconvenient for the paper, but shows that everyone should hurry up and buy
good, English planes to replace their DC-3s as soon as possible.
“Dutch-German Frontier” Some Dutchparliamentarians want border adjustments that would put 100,000 Germans and
perhaps some coal mines into Holland. All the other parliamentarians think that
this is a horrible idea. Debate continues.
“Occupation in Japan and Korea”
The Japanese Government has now
raised the basic ration from 297 to 360g. This is still dangerously low, but
has had “an encouraging effect” on the Japanese urban population. The American
occupying authorities, who have had to make up the difference between this and
basic survival, as they could, have “modified” their views about the
de-industrialisation of Japan. General MacArthur now wants the Japanese
textiles industry rehabilitated, and Sir Stafford Cripps has now said that as long as “unfair competition” is prevented, this would be fine
with the English. So the Japanese are free to get on with it, and probably
will, and fairly quickly, too. This is not the case in Korea, where “anarchy,”
“disorder,” and “terrorism” are rife. General Hodge wants American troops to
keep the peace, but the US Government is extremely unwilling to see this
happen. The paper notes that anarchy is incompatible with American occupation
–the question is how many men the Americans actually have available to beat
Korean demonstrators and sweep through villages shooting “bandits.”
In shorter notes, the Colonial
Office is talking about a college for the Caribbean, and Bristol University has
put out an appeal for funds to assist in doubling its current capacity from
2500 students, which the paper thinks is too little.
Letters
Alexander Fleck, of Norton Hardwock,
Norton, Stockton-on-Trent, thinks that the future for coal is undergroundgasification, in the veins, somehow. L. G. Cope writes to point out that the
Appointments Bureau worked well for him, and probably many other people. H. L.
Binney points out that there are good reasons why current shift work isn’t
rationally arranged in 8 hour increments -mainly that the busses stop running
at 11, and haven’t started again by 6.
 |
| Drawing a picture makes it seem plausible. By Bretwood Higman, Ground Truth Trekking - http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/WildResource/Issues/UndergroundCoalGasification.html, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16045085 |
American
Survey
“Continuous Royal Commission” America
has a Council of Economic Advisors and a Bureau of the Budget, and by roaming
back to Harding and the Engineer, and ranging forward to the “sixty million
jobs” people, you can turn these facts into a page-and-a-half of print.
American
Notes
“Republican Congress?” With every
election that has passed for more than a decade, Republican Party managers have
promised that this time around, the New Deal was finished, and that the
Democrats would be back to being a permanent minority party after they win the
election. This time around, they probably will win and take the Congress. What
then? American public opinion can’t possibly like international communism any
less, so foreign policy won’t change. At home, all controls will be gone by
1947, anyway. They want a $10 million Budget economy drive, some revision to New Deal labour laws, and abandonment of the idea of
a national 65 cents an hour minimum wage, and a two-term limit for Presidents.
“Coal Strike Off”, “Wages and
Output” and “Closed Shop at Sea” There won’t be a coal strike anytime soon, and
industrial wages have risen to an average of $1.10/hour, up 2 cents since
August, an increase that probably will not continue. The Reserve Board has recently weighed in on
productivity increases, saying that its data shows that productivity is up
since the war, contrary to management statements, and that the reason this does
not appear to be the case is largely labour hoarding, or, as the Federal
Reserve phrases it, “anticipatory hiring.” Current plant and technological
improvements have rapidly remedied the problems of reconversion, and material
shortages are the main cause of quality problems. The 26-day shipping strike,
which has caused so much concern for the English is half-way to settlement,
with Eastern and Gulf owners ratifying, Western ones still holding out. It’s
about union membership for masters and mates. (It says here that the English
are importing American grain. Why hasn’t someone mentioned this to me? –I am
practicing sarcasm for the physiotherapist. Is there any way that you can get
Misses M. and J. on an earlier train?)
 |
| A. O. Smith is stil around, but its "first fully auotmated automobile frame factory, capable of making a frame every eight seconds," was closed in 1958 and is now down the memory hole. Even Fortune seems to have to crop an old article for this photo. |
The
World Overseas
“The Belgian Municipal Elections”
Belgians are divided on the King, and on tenterhooks, since this will b the
first election in which women can vote(!), and will be a weathervane for
national elections. The thought is that women are more conservative than men,
and will swing towards the King. This tends to show that the paper doesn’t talk
to women very much, I think. But what do I know? I’m only a woman! The
paper is also concerned about Belgium’s “over-employment problem.”
Coal production, at 76,600 tons for October, is “only” 75% pf pre-war production, the main limit being a shortage of coal. Most of the rest of internal industry is in the same range of improvement, but external trade has not recovered, and the balance of trade is in deficit, a problem which the paper discovers to be in government policy, somehow. Belgians continue to punish collaborators and practice “civil reconstruction.”
Coal production, at 76,600 tons for October, is “only” 75% pf pre-war production, the main limit being a shortage of coal. Most of the rest of internal industry is in the same range of improvement, but external trade has not recovered, and the balance of trade is in deficit, a problem which the paper discovers to be in government policy, somehow. Belgians continue to punish collaborators and practice “civil reconstruction.”
“Marketing in East Africa” Early
statistics suggest that modern monopoly marketing schemes might be exploiting
the native farmer in exactly the same way that the old concessions did. The
paper suggests licensed markets.
“Wages and Prices in the British
Zone” Wages and rations are balanced to each other by the fact that the wage
script and ration cards are linked. The problem is that people cannot live
without the black market, which means that black market prices are the true
index of inflation, which is quite high. Germans are currently living on their
savings, and this cannot continue. The solution might be a new currency.
“French Shipping Reconstruction”
France had a small but robust merchant marine before the war. It suffered
heavily during the war, and is now being reconstructed. The first step was to
buy 75 Liberty ships, but French yards are building some 300,000 GRT more. These
will all be oil-fired, and another 100,000GRT is under construction on various
contracts. When the programme is completed, the French will have a fleet of
2.774 million GRT, of ships 1000GRT or more, of which almost half will be new,
but the other half decrepit. Renewal of the fleet will be a generation of work
for the builders at an annual construction of 300,000GRT. The rebuilding,
renovation and extension of the yards will absorb 7,400 million francs through
1946, 1900 in 1947, and 1800 thereafter. 1,278 million of this finance remains
to be found, and the shipbuilders have formed a consortium to issue bonds.
The
Business World
“Facts About Savings” I’m
sufficiently morally confident that the “facts” are that the Government is
BUNGLING saving that I’m not going to bother with this very long article.
Business
Notes
The “Tap” Opens I seem to have
misplaced my Banker-to-English dictionary, and will not further comment. I am
sure the upshot is BUNGLING and DOOM.
“Coastwise Shipping Predicament”
Before the war, the “balance” between rail and coastwise shipping had gotten
out of balance, and subsidies were required for small, coastal shippers, which
were agreed with the railways. Postwar, the railways think that the same
subsidies are appropriate, even though the coastwise shipping industry has lost
half its tonnage, 600,000 to war causes. Meanwhile, the coasts of coastal shipping
have doubled, and the Chamber of Shipping wants to fix everything by massive
interference in rail rates. Hold on, says the paper, and probably everybody
else.
Rubber, Jute and cotton industry
owners and anyone who takes the train or the bus in London are excitable.
In shorter news, the paper approves
of the responsible way that the Danes are dealing with their public debt, and
not the irresponsible way that the Norwegians are dealing with theirs. The
International Shipping Organisation will soon have the Liberty ship matter
dealt with, and the price of silver is falling with the withdrawal of the
English silver coinage and the appearance of Russian silver on the market.
“US Rayon PMH” American rayon
production rose substantially during the war, but productivity declined.
Currently, America has 60,000 operatives producing 850 million lb of fibre,
Britain has 23,500 producing 181 million, which isn’t very good, but could be
very much improved by better machines.
 |
| It's Rita Hayworth, so it's probably actual silk, not rayon. |
“Iraq Currency Contraction” Inflation has stopped,
and hoarding is up.
Flight,
7 November 1946
Leaders
“University Air Squadrons” There
will be (eleven) university air squadrons again soon. Minimum flying
requirements for members are laid down as 20 hours per year in term time, which
the paper thinks isn't enough to make a pilot.
 |
| Ripped without apology from the CUAS Facebook page. |
“Air Armament Mission: ‘Thor II’ Is
Prepared at Manby: Work of Empire Air Armament School” Thor II is a demonstration Lincoln belonging to the Empire Armament
School at Manby. It is off to spend the winter flying over America and Canada,
showing off its new turrets with gyro gunsights. Manby is a very nicely
appointed school with “library, examination rooms, laboratories and cinema that
would do credit to any scientific institute.” The crew is top-notch, armaments
are very important to air forces (Lord Trenchard himself is quoted to make this
critical point clear), and tally-ho, off to the land of gas and coal!
 |
| The prewar Operations Control Building at RAF Manby, now demolished. |
“Leonides Air Tests: Alvis Engines
Complete 50 Hours Flying in an Airspeed Oxford” I will give Alvis this. In its
persistence with the small, commercial radial, it has ended up producing a very
sleek and shiny installation for the Cunliffe Owen Concordia. I suppose that it
is a better bet than most of the new engines being floated these days, since
Alvis has been working on it before the war, but it will need more customers
than Cunliffe-Owen to be much more than self-indulgence!
Here
and There
Another famous plane off to junket
in fabulous North America: Aries. In
top news today, a Verdon-Smith is getting married, Frank Whittle is off to
America to get a gong, C. D. Howe probably didn’t really say that TCA had the
only reliable trans-Atlantic service right now, and Brigadier-General Mervin E. Gross was recently killed in a P-80 crash. P. G. Crabbe will succeed Francis
McKenna on the board of Gloster, and the Australian Air League is accepting
more members, and are especially interested in anyone who might be able to
type, have a driver’s license, or be old enough to be admitted to a bar. The Beaverbrook press is covering aeronautical affairs in an embarrassingly trivial way. A
72-year-old lady from Glasgow recently flew to Australia to see her sister in
Melbourne, flying 15,000 miles by way of Paris, New York, Vancouver and Sydney, and thought that it was all delightful.
Mr. Francis Chichester, the ace navigator who will be attending the upcoming
PICAO conference (as a delegate!) has a nice new line of aeronautically-themed
games and puzzles, perfect for Christmas. The 10,000th
passenger to fly on a Channel Islands Airways Wayfarer was given a decanter
containing 100 cigarettes by a Bristols representative.
James A. Bridge (ex Lieut. (Air),
RNVR), “Deck Landing: Special Conditions Demand Different Technique from that
of Land Operation” Landing on an aircraft carrier is hard.
“Remains of Juan de la Cierva Flown
to Spain” Mr. Cierva died in the 1936 air crash of a KLM DC-2 flying out of
Croydon in poor visibility, but various persons of the Cierva Autogiro Company
thought that now might be a good time to have a ceremony and send his body to
be reburied in his native Spain, now that it is not Fascist at all (and never
was.) I hope that this was a family
request, and not another cynical attempt to generate publicity for the Cierva
interest.
“The Saro SR/A1: A Single-seater
Flying Boat with Fighter Performance” Taking off from the water used to be hard
because the airscrews would dip in the water. Now it is hard because water gets
into the turbine intakes. In conclusion, flying boats are wonderful, no matter
what everyone says.
 |
| No mention in the article about the flotsam-caused landing accident mentioned in the clip, above. |
“Royal Air Force Reserves” The
arrangements for the university squadrons and the Auxiliary Air Force are
published. The other reserves, and critical hat-related details will follow.
“Spearhead Airliner” De Havilland is
pushing ahead with its tailless sweptback airliner project, which leads the
paper to publish an entire page of sketches of various tailless projects.
American
Newsletter
This month, “Kibitzer” talks about
the fact that large civil aircraft are very expensive to develop, and it is not
clear that it is economically feasible without some kind of state support.
He
notices that the Navion is out in quantity production, and seems very nice,
even if its performance is not as high as initial publicity suggested(!) The
Bonanza is the natural competitor. Also, rumours about the American speed
record attempt continue. The P-80R is supposed to have been a failure, as was
the P-84 modification. The new North American navy fighter might make a run,
and an attempt on the 1000mile closed circuit record is likely.
“Britain’s Test Pilots: No. 15:
Sydney Albert Thorn, Chief Test Pilot, A. V. Roe and Co., Ltd.” Thorn joined
the Coldstream Guards in 1919 straight out of losing his war factory job to
support his widowed mother, did not flourish, left the army in 1922 when he
came into some money, which he and his siblings invested in a farm that failed,
joined the RAF on a short service commission, left it in 1027 to be a test
pilot in various ephemeral concerns, so it must have been very nice to come on with Avro as
a test pilot for its production Fokker license aircraft that became the Anson.
He has lost only one machine in 5500 hours of test flying of 110 types, a
Desoutter with a Hermes engine. I notice the interesting detail that, while
flying a Fox with the Curtiss D-12 engine that was so controversial in the day
(“RAF won’t buy supposedly superior American engine,” as James puts it), he had
it catch fire in the air. The D-12, we are told, was the first engine
authorised by the RAF with its carburettor between the cylinders. I'm glad that he survived all of that, and that a man who was living on an airfield in a trailer with his wife in 1930 finally has steady work and good employment.
 |
| Prototype Tudor 2; crashed on takeoff from Woodford Airport, 23 August 1947, banking right and stalling from 60ft, Killed were Thorn, co-pilot David Wilson, flight engineer John Webster, and Roy Chadwick. |
“German Technicians for Britain” Ten
German technicians are being brought over to work in various British research
establishments.
Civil
Aviation News
“Still Flying” With the completion
of the Hythes, Short Empire-derived flying boats are now officially going to
fly BOAC services for even longer than they have already flown them, which is a
very long time. In the near future, it might actually be practical for passengers
to step out of the plane and onto the jetty, as opposed to being manhandled
into a launch because they are too cold to move their legs. Progress!
A headline says that “KLM Practise
GCA.”
In shorter news, there are to be
more Atlantic weather ships, the jet Lancastrian will be at the Paris Air Show,
gliding will not be included in the 1948 Olympic Games, BEA is going to issue
rebates for circular trips, Cathay Pacific Airlines will operate a weekly Hong
Kong-Manila service, TCA will be operating Vancouver-Victoria and
Victoria-Seattle DC-3 services, and LaGuardia is offering public tours of its
control tower for 10 cents.
“Most Powerful Hercules: Latest
Version of Classic Bristol Engine Breaks into 2000hp Class” The new Hercules
230 is 50% more powerful than the original of 1935, but only 20% heavier. It is
also economical. “At a maximum continuous weak-mixture power of 1305bhp, the
specific fuel consumption is reduced to 0.428 lb/bhp/hr, and this is still
further reduced to 0.411 at lower powers.” Modifications include a stronger
crankcase, also changed to accommodate main bearings of “considerably increased
load-bearing capability,” stronger cylinders machined from light alloy by an
improved process, stiffer pistons, and “better” sleeves. More importantly, the
cylinder heads have been redesigned for greater heat conductivity, so that the
new heads run at 25 degrees cooler for a given boost.
“Blind Approach Problems: Second
Part of a Lecture by Mr. H. C. Pritchard: Some Suggestions: The Discussion” The
problem remains one of giving the pilot a good guide path indication. The
German system which simply assumes an exponential curve, is not very good.
Radio altimeters might seem to answer to the need, but are currently only
accurate within 10ft. Radar-guide beams have a reflection problem. Currently,
there are efforts to apply centimetric radar to GCA, as 3cm beams have a small
enough wavelength to prevent reflection problems on “well-designed” airfields.
In the comments, Mr. Jones disagrees. There’s also an odd bit from one
commenter who wants the landing to be practiced by a pilot on the ground in a
synthetic trainer while the plane is landing, with the results broadcast to the
plane and shown “in the tank” to the pilot as reference.
Flight,
14 November 1946
Leaders
“Paris, 1938—1946” It has been eightyears since the last International Aero Exhibition, and, needless to say, a
great deal has changed. In 1938, the fastest plane at Paris was the Spitfire,
so “hush hush” that no performance statistics were available. This year, it is
the Gloster Meteor IV, with its homologued 616mph. In 1938, we had to settle
for knowing that 335mph was claimed for the Hawker Hurricane, also present. So It’s not just interesting that the plane has changed; so has the way it is covered. Is it a matter of
a period of near-war versus post-war, or the sonic barrier? In 1938, the most
powerful engine exhibited was an untested Hispano-Suiza of 2000hp, while the
Merlin II of both the Hurricane and Spitfire gave 1000hp, similar to the
also-shown Napier Dagger.
 |
| Oh, yeah. That. |
This year, the most powerful British piston engines
are giving 300hp, and jet engines are already at 4000lb thrust. The only German
bomber on display was the Do17, and its British counterpart, the “long-nosed”
Blenheim was there. (The paper gloats a bit.)
“A Psychological Error” The RAF
recruiting tableaux in the Lord Mayor’s Procession was just too silly.
At least I skipped "Upper Class Twit of the Year" for the Verdon-Smith bit.
“The New Flat Engines” More details
of the Nuffield flat-four 100hp engine are now available in time for Paris.
Inasmuch as that it uses a downdraught carburettor instead of the hoped-for
fuel injection, it is a bit of a disappointment. The other new, flat engine is
a Fedden flat six of 150, or 180, or 120hp, depending on which page you are
reading. It is direct drive, steals some details from Jacobs engines (I am
stealing a bit from the article, by the way), and really, actually exists and
will certainly be manufactured and isn’t just another narcissistic figment of
Fedden’s imagination with a bit of sheet metal attached.
“Britain at the Paris Show: Message from
W. R. Verdon Smith, President of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors”
Wider still and wider the bounds of Empire set, etc.
“Military Aircraft of Tomorrow”
Ahead of the Paris show, the paper has commissioned short articles consisting
of long strings of words attached to some quite nice tables showing the
officially claimed performance statistics of current British fighters,
trainers, bombers, civil transports and small civil aircraft. I haven’t been
able to see any reason to summarise the words, with the exception of this first
article, which is actually quite interesting in the way that it highlights
problems with building long-range escort fighters that can compete with “local”
fighters, medium bombers that are as fast as fighters, heavy bombers that
actually achieve a useful weight and range performance, and two-set night
fighters for naval use that are small enough to land on decks. In other words,
the old constraints haven’t miraculously gone away.
I would include the tables with this
letter, but they’re awfully ephemeral,
so there really isn’t much to say about these articles. Unfortunately, that
also means that there really isn’t that much to say about this number of the paper!
“Fedden Flat-Six Engine: A New 5.3L
Unit to be Shown at Paris” Given that Fedden is a world-renowned designer, I would
have more to say about this if it weren’t, well, Fedden, and I have acquired a
low opinion of him as a businessman. If thought
I had anything of use on investing in aviation to share with you and Uncle
George, it would be my intuition that the day of the “flat” configuration,
designed for burying in a wing section, are well past. The idea is useful for
big aircraft, but 100hp engines are likely to go into wings so small that even
seventeen inches is asking for a lot.
Here
and There
Three Lincolns have shown up in
Chile to fly over the presidential inauguration and load up with as much
butter, cheese and meat as they can carry home to England. Philip Stainbury has
been promoted at Gloster, and chief test pilot Eric Greenwood has been
appointed in his place as technical sales manager. Sir Alwyn Crow has been
exiled to Washington as the something-or-other in charge of “liaison” with the
Americans in all non-nuclear technical matters. If England ever buys another
American plane, he’ll be in charge of kicking the wheels, that sort of thing.
The Louis Bleriot 1000km/h Speed Contest has been extended for another six
years. The paper reminds us of the rules. The paper is also giddy with glee
that Fortune said that the American
jet industry is behind, and that some footage of the Vickers Viking will show
up in a new British film. A firm called
Planet Aircraft Ltd has alerted the world that it intends to produce an
all-magnesium light civil aircraft soon. It will also have elevators going in
odd directions, novel construction methods, an engine in the middle of the
fuselage, and all sorts of novelties of the kind that only small firms you’ve never
heard of before can bring to fruition.
Fifteen hundred food parcels a month
are being flown from Australia to Dunlop employees in Great Britain. They
contain butter, meat, cooking fat, chocolate, jam, honey and fruit.
 |
| But not food yeast. I'll bet it's not even rationed. |
KLM wants
everyone to know that, contrary to rumour, there are no priorities for bookings
on KLM flights, which are going swimmingly. Unlike, say, strike-closed TWA. Mr.
Harry H. Howell, a Boeing researcher, recently told the SAE in Los Angeles that
there remains a vast amount of research to be done on the effects of flight
above 35,000ft before satisfactory civil performance is guaranteed. Worldwide
humidity and temperature variances at ground level are also a concern.
“British Military Aircraft,” “To-Day’s
British Transports,” and “British Small Civil Aircraft.” As already mentioned,
these articles are very little more than commentary on big tables. If you want
to see them, it might be best to get your own copy of the paper when it comes
out in Montreal.
“Nuffield Flat-Four: Preliminary
Details of an Interesting British Light Aircraft Engine” I hope Nuffield’s isn’t
too cheesed that Fedden has stolen some of their limelight.
Civil
Aviation
“Procrastination: Air Traffic
Control and Blind-Approach Aids in the U.K.: The Immediate Possibilities of GCA”
The paper is very upset that GCA radars are not being installed this ivery
winter at the three London area civil airports, as it considers that the
technology is already well-enough proven by RAF use.
In shorter news, there is to be a
Stockholm-Moscow service. In other Swedish news, Scandia is working on a new
medium-range transport. The paper has a very oblique bit on the controversy in
Australia between private airlines and the government owned one. (Qantas, I
think.) The paper notices Philips’ new “IGO,” or “Impulse Governed Oscillator,”
a new crystal-control unit for radios that improves automatic channel control.
Rollason’s will sell Grumman Seabees in Europe. The TWA strike has ended, and
British European Airways is making progress in miniaturising radar components.
The Canadair, Merlin-engined version of the DC-4 is said to be 80mph faster
than the original Skymaster. The paper points out that, if true (never take a
North American claim about performance at face value!), that has to be flat out
in “S” gear, but still shows a very useful improvement.
 |
| The problem with a Merlin-powered airliner wasn't speed, though. It was the fact that the engine was so militantly noisy due to its high operating rpms! On the other hand, they're apparently the most reliable trans-Atlantic service, so what are you going to do? |
“Industrial Exposition” This is the
part where the poor component makers get their chance to shine, as much as they
can. Fractional horsepower electrical motors (Miles Aircraft –I didn’t even
know they were doing something like this!) and the like cannot compete with
sleek, shiny planes, but they get their place, at the back of the paper. Rotol,
Rotax, Hobson, etc. But I cannot take my eyes of a “Marshal-Birlac” air
conditioner, which looks for all the world like a suitcase. (Of course, so does
the picture of the Fedden engine from a few articles above, but in that case it
is probably because it is a
suitcase.) Sorry. I just find that when I think about Mr. Fedden, I imagine
Uncle Henry, and all those contradictory emotions flood in. So, as I was
saying: air conditioner. I want one. Though perhaps not on a day like this,
sitting in the nursery at my portable writing desk, listening to the iron lung’s
rhythms and looking south into the hills through the gray rain.
 |
| Look: Another workstation precursor! Something something "full emploment" "automation" something. |
Correspondence
An RAF Erk points out that there are still Swordfish in service. T. R. Thomas of the Air Registration Board responds crossly to “Inspection’s” “garbled statement,” demanding more information on the alleged maintenance deficiencies of English civil aircraft. G. M. Shipway, of Dunlop in India, is very pleased with Transport Command. Keith B. Crosby writes that “Indicator” is too pessimistic about safety aids. Yes, there are too many in many control cabins, and it can be confusing, but the state of radio control of blind landings has reached the point where they are safe. Responding to recent talk of ultra light aircraft, R. W. Clegg volunteers to be “Hon Sec.” of the Light Aircraft Association, while Graham K. Gates takes frivolous tandem-wing enthusiasts out behind the barn and gives them a sound, aerodynamical thrashing. V. N. Dickinson thinks that it is foolish to build the main air terminals of metropolises such as London and Manchester as close as 30 miles from the cities, as even at that distance he has encountered blankets of obscuring smoke while trying to land. He suggests some remote plateaus, at least by English standards. “On the Spot” is curious as to where B. J. Hurren might have heard the details of a supposed Swordfish 11 1/3 mile overload takeoff run for a North African mission back in the war. From out of his drink-sodden backside, I would reply, if I were your humble editor, but as he has already nodded off to sleep, dreams of the first flying boat-gyrojet helicopter dancing in his head, I am not heard.
“Carving Costs in Hydraulics Production: How Electrol Went Back to Basic Design for Simplified Manufacturing and Maintenance” The Republic Seabee’s hydraulics are so cheap because components were redesigned to reduce production costs.
 |
| By Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK - Swordfish, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24199557 |
The
Economist, 9 November 1946
Leaders
“The Republicans Return” War
weariness and restless might explain the Republican victory in Congress.
Naturally, the question is whether this is 1918 all over again, in which case
Mr. Harding is a shoe-in for 1948. (Though he will be a bit more dead this time.) The paper fears the consequences of Republican hostility to the
idea of “full employment through world stability,” which is code for giving the
English what they want in the name of world trade. The paper does not, however,
expect the “New Deal” to be “repealed.” The Welfare state is no Eighteenth
Amendment. It remains to be seen what “smaller men and “rapid changes” do to
American government, and the world can only wait and watch.
 |
| "One of these faces is not like the others/One of these faces doesn't belong. . . " |
“Preaching at Symptoms” There has
been much talk of an economic calamity this winter. Supposedly informed people
talk about the shutdown of “non-essential” factories to save coal, and even of
a 1921-style depression. The paper wonders if this is a “concerted” campaign,
in which case someone knows something. What it
knows is that the shortage of manpower, dollars and fuel make it impossible
for the nation to achieve the priority tasks it has set itself. With national income not up to needs, will the nation have to abandon welfare services,
reconstruction, or accept a permanent reduction in its standard of living? And
if the export drive fails, there will be no alternative but the return of siege
economics. The paper’s preferred strategy is to roust out the slackers by
paying them less so that they’ll work harder, plus full technical efficiency.
“Equal Pay” Paying people less so that
they’ll work harder is clearly a promising start –look at how it has done with
women! The women on the Royal Commission on Equal Pay have said as much, and
have been sent to their rooms to think about what they have done.
“Trusteeship” Mr. Molotov gave a
long talk and tour of the horizon about the new Uno trustees. To sum up, the
national representative of the international working class does not think that
the capitalist powers are up to the challenge. He points to the disaster in
Indonesia as a particularly egregious example, but also notices an island in
the South Sea made of solid phosphorus, which presents real problems in
a “trust” relationship with its inhabitants. How much money are they left with
after the entire island is dug up out of the sea and shipped to Australia?
Notes
of the Week
“The German Crisis Deepens” So,
really, like every week. The British do have a reason for pushing it now, though. The Ruhr is about to go through its steel production cap under
Potsdam with over a month to go, so this might be the time to abandon Potsdam,
in time to work in a “Christmas present” of sugar, fats and meat. Or,
alternatively, there could just be more famine.
“Foreign Ministers and the United
Nations” Uno delegates like Swedes. Further bulletins as events warrant.
 |
| I'm not doing the Swedish Bikini Team, so restraint. Anyway, Sweden, Afghanistan and Iceland are in the UN in spite of not being Allies. No-one can agree if this is good or bad for the organisation |
“A Home for the United Nations”
Further bulletin: Uno delegates like New York City.
“End of Session” and “Permanent
Conscription” Parliament has gone home for Christmas, and National Service will
continue indefinitely, so as to supply 465,00 of the 750,000 men required. The
paper suggests that Labour’s hostility to conscription should be channelled
into keeping the term down to 18 months rather than in futilely agitating for
its elimination.
“World Food Fights” The Americans
are still abandoning government buying of food for foreign states, and they are
still not interested in John Boyd Orr’s World Food Board.
“Full Employment at the ITO” At the
ITO, the Americans want “free trade,” at a maximum volume of trade in good
years, and the Australians and others want “full employment.” Neither side will
admit to any contradiction between the objectives, but the only solution they
seem to agree on is a sort of economic Kellogg Pact, in which all the nations
guarantee never to have a slump; if they do have a slump, they become the
common enemy of all mankind, and everyone can go back to trade discrimination
against them so that they cannot export their unemployment. The paper wanders
the terrain and then arrives in a heap at the idea of a “floor on minimum trade
of nations, in pairs or in groups.” It points to the acquittal of Dr. Schacht
as putting this back on the table, and then does that English thing where they
dig America’s ribs for being such a yokel.
“Appeasement in Palestine” You would
think that not having money, or bayonets, might be a reason to appease, but not
a bit of it! “The appeasement of the Semitic races does not pay.” And,
meanwhile, the world is taken with a generous impulse to “help refugees in
general, and Jews in particular, into any country but its own.”
“Better Housing Progress” Whatever
was bothering Mr. Crowther is definitely on the mend, because this article
actually manages not to sound discouraged that housebuilding is up.
In news relating to recruitment, the
Colonial Office and metropolitan police forces are having trouble finding
staff, probably because they are not paying enough.
The Japanese are excitable. [The Greeks are not, but that is because they are semi-starved,
which makes people yearn for security, not revolution.
“Italian Partisans” Under Carlo Andreoni,
men of the old Popular Resistance Movement have launched a rural movement
consisting of “squatting” in depopulated villages and working the land.
Naturally, various disreputable elements have taken to hanging around them.
Meanwhile, closer to the centre, Fascist sympathisers allege that the Allies
are favouring a Monarchist coup d’état, and have smuggled Umberto in and out of
the country several times in the last few weeks. The paper asks for an
“authoritative denial.” Also in not-Fascist at all, now or ever notes,
Argentina and Spain have signed a trade agreement, even though Spain is not in
the Uno and Argentina still has its problems them.
American
Survey
“Veterans and the Government” The
American Legion is squabbling with General Bradley of the VA over various
things. Does this portend a new and difficult front of American politics? The
Legion is particularly concerned with “on the job training,” which it believes
all too often is effectively wage subsidy.
 |
| It's like people aren't thinking clearly about "training" and "learning." Oh, well. Sure that'll be fixed up in a jiffy! |
“End of an Era” The Democrats are so
shell-shocked by their defeat that Senator Fulbright has suggested that
President Truman resign. The paper thinks that a “two year hiatus” in government
would be far too costly for America and the world right now, especially when
there has been a “methodical weeding out” of Progressive Republicans, ending
the “Willkie-the-wisp” days and producing the most conservative Congress in a
very long time, even as defeat sharpens dissensions within the Democratic
Party, with Mr. Wallace and the left claiming that Truman was undone by losing
the support of labour, which the Southern and conservative wings claim that it
is because he was too conciliatory to it. The paper concludes that the
effective choice for the Republicans in 1948 is likely to be Dewey or Taft, and
that progressives have no choice but to support Dewey. Hooey! (Not hooey, the wonderful old Bakersfield newspaper I found that translation in. Who knew that you could write "Hooey" in classical Chinese?)
American
Notes
“The Republican Sweep” Republicans
have the House, at 250 seats, and the Senate, at over 50, and have won three
more state houses, securing the states even more securely. Taft will be
Majority Leader, Vandenberg will chair the Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Consumer Credits” plus “—And Margin
Dealings” Recent shakeouts in the economy encourage the finance industry to
look for relaxation of regulation on consumer installment credit plans and
stock purchases on margins.
“SEC for Commodities” Senator Thomas
of the Cotton Bloc wants “rigid Federal supervision of all commodity exchanges”
on the same line as the SEC for stock exchanges. The paper sees no call for regulation.
The
World Overseas
“Liberia, an American Colony?” The
paper hasn’t ribbed its American cousin in just pages, so off it goes.
 |
| I hope this is the right Monrovia. There weren't a lot of photographers snapping shots of picturesque old Liberia in 1946. It's kind of like the Indonesian war: "This revolution will not be televised, or even photographed." |
“The Finances of Hong Kong” by Our
Hong Kong Correspondent
The government of Hong Kong is this
year spending three times its revenue on the costs of rehabilitation. An income
tax is to be brought in, as the War Taxation Department is satisfied that it
can untangle Chinese finances. Trade is up, especially with the United States;
shipping is up, the airport is overflowing its grounds, and more cars, busses,
rickshaws and pedicycles are all desperately needed to replace the existing
push bicycles, which crowd the streets.
“Eire’s International Balance of
Payments” Our Dublin Correspondent is never going to change,
whatever happens to Mr. Crowther. Eire is doing
perfectly well, as you would expect given its situation and its main exports,
but if you squint, all sorts of indications of a future downturn are there
to be seen.
“The World’s Wool” The International
Wool Conference will meet in London next week to agree on a world wool policy
in the face of abundant supplies and good prices. Surely this cannot last, etc.
The
Business World
“The Fund Opens its Doors” The IMF
is open for business and ready to do the business that it does. If I recall
correctly, I wrote the Earl a long note about all of this two years ago or so,
and it must be kicking around somewhere.
Business
Notes
“The Tap Trickles” Sales of the
recent bond issue have been tepid, and the paper is so very, very sad.
“Exports and Prices” Exports are not up as
much as hoped, but the balance of trade is better than expected because import
prices are lower, because of world problems.
In shorter notes, the paper talks
about Anglo-French trade, notes that the rubber market still hasn’t fallen
apart, and that the Indian coalition government has clarified that it is
ratifying Bretton Woods and wants to be a member of the IMF and World Bank. The
industry is in talks to improve weavers’ wages, there will be less timber for
housing, the award to stockholders in the nationalised Shorts Brothers has been
finalised, and deflation continues in Palestine, where increased crops and more
imports have allowed the relaxation of ceiling prices on essentials. Industrial profits are trending upwards,
industry having benefited from cheap money.
“American Cotton Efficiency” The
American cotton industry has often been held up to the English as an example of
what Full Technical Efficiency can achieve. Dr. Toy, of the industry’s research
association (British Cotton Industry Research Association) went to America to
find out for himself. While impressed with organisational aspects, he found no
evidence of revolutionary new machinery. They just do more “high drafting,” and
there is the usual quality versus quantity trade-off.
Aviation,
November 1946
Down
the Years in AVIATION’s Log
Twenty-five years ago, Bert Acosta
won the Pulitzer Trophy in a Curtiss CD-2 Navy racer at 177mph.
The Army JL-12 Liberty-engined, heavily-armoured attack plane flew N.Y. to Washington in 2 ½ hours against a 60mph headwind.
The Army built an airship hangar in Aberdeen,
Maryland, a Sgt Chambers made a 24,850ft parachute jump at Fort Sill, Oklahoma,
and General Mitchell set a new Dayton-N.Y. record in a DH-4, flying blind most
of the way. Fifteen years ago, Pangborn and Herndon flew nonstop from Tokyo to
Wenatchee, Washington in 41 hr 13 minutes in a Wasp powered Bellanca. Japan was
rated sixth in air strength by someone, and a crashed trans-Atlantic Junkers
plane was kept afloat 158hrs by its fuel tanks.
 |
| "The bad boy of aviation." By Findagrave, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30728564 |
The Army JL-12 Liberty-engined, heavily-armoured attack plane flew N.Y. to Washington in 2 ½ hours against a 60mph headwind.
The paper stuffs some pages with a “New Products” column, which is even more boring than the ones
in Radio News. But there's a metal meal tray and a
buffet unit for aircraft installation, so I guess it tells me that the airlines know that a passenger flies
on his stomach.
Line
Editorial
James H. McGraw, Jr., “Depression in
’47: Controls Can Bring One” The only way there is likely to be a depression in
1947 is if Government wage, price and production controls continue to distort
the market. Various industries, notably automotive, electrical equipment and
rail equipment are “bumping” along at maximum achievable production without returning
either profits or meeting market demand. Yet retail profits are up 150%. Again,
workers in low-profit industries are being squeezed by lower effective wages due
to the end of war overtime and higher prices. The solution can only be higher
productivity, and controls stand in the way.
Aviation Editorial Leslie Neville is
concerned that “export lethargy” will lame the American industry, and points
out that only Government-Military-Industry cooperation can assure guardian air
power.
Kendall Perkins, Assistant Chief
Engineer, McDonnell Aircraft Corp., “Design Development of the McDonnell FD-1 Phantom” The new McDonnell navy fighter was quite a design effort for a
manufacturer which had never had a major navy contract before, and it looks
like quite a pretty aircraft. The result was a conventional and underwhelming
aircraft to afflict the Navy, and a nice bit of change for McDonnell. Maybe a good one, next time?
W. O. Meckley, Aviation Division,
and J. L. Fischer, Aircraft Gas Turbine Division, General Electric,
“Compounding Aircraft Engines” The authors show how compounding an exhaust gas
turbine with a reciprocating piston engine is still a good idea. For one thing,
the turbine blades last much longer.
“Design Details of the Bristol
Theseus Turboprop” Still can’t fill the paper? Steal an article! (It’s not just
another turboprop. It has a heat
exchanger!)
 |
| It was the Proteus that sold, not the Theseus. |
“Carving Costs in Hydraulics Production: How Electrol Went Back to Basic Design for Simplified Manufacturing and Maintenance” The Republic Seabee’s hydraulics are so cheap because components were redesigned to reduce production costs.
Captain Harry Marx, et al, “New
Hydraulic Cylinders Meet Rigid Operational Needs” It has been a while since we
have heard from the Navy’s special technical advisor on hydraulics, and he has
had a promotion, if only in the USNVR, and congratulations! His new cylinders
(I think he works for Hydra-Power[?]) are quite nice, too.
John E. McDonald, Engineering Staff,
Autogiro Company of America, “Practical Engineering of Rotary Wing Aircraft,
Part V” Otherwise known as, “Autogiros are better than stupid helicopters, part V.") Elaborate math on free-flapping rotary blades would be more interesting if
anyone was going to build free-flapping rotary blades when they can just run bigger engines through more gears.
“Mallard Amphibian Presented by Grumman” Not letting Republic get all the business, Grumman does a Mallard.
“Northrop Pioneer is a Trimotor
Workhorse” At least Republic has established a market. I’m completely at a loss
with this Northrop push for a next generation tri-motor. The article does not
enlighten me.
 |
| This is just so stupid. Words fail to express how stupid it is. And yet the Air Force bought 23 of them --and then put them in storage.; |
“Stinson Reveals 1947 Voyager;” “Dallas
Firm Grooms Four Seater” At least Stinson has an established market. I have no
idea what Mr. Weatherly and William Campbell of Dallas are thinking,
except perhaps that money makes a nice, warming glow as it burns. (Fairchild
and Aeronca have new models, too.)
 |
| It's actually being built for an Army light plane competition, so that makes a bit more sense. |
“Swedish Concern Unveils Postwar
Civil Planes” Not only the Saab airliner, but yet another light plane.
And the Fokker pops up again. . .
“Up to Date Rigging for DC-4 Flight
Controls” Just in case you were troubled by thoughts of safe flying, here’s an
article in a major national paper on how to adjust the controls of the DC-4
properly. And the DC-4 is one of the safe
ones!
 |
| I just am not sure that you want to be promoting the image of airlines mechanics thumbing through Aviation t figure out how to set the ailerons of your transatlantic airliner. |
Wayne E. price and E. M. Hassell, Sperry
Service Department, Sperry Gyroscope, “Maintenance Testing of Automatic
Direction Finders” On the same subject, continued, as they say in the old
books. If you were wondering why blind landing aids haven’t brought immediate, universal
safety, it turns out that it’s more complicated in practice.
Raymond L. Hoadley, “These Are the
Export Markets” The rest of the world. That’s your export market.
George M. Galster, Latin American
Analyst, “Colombian Air Transport at the Crossroads” Colombia has air
transport, now.
Aviation
News
The Air Coordinating Committee has
set up a 5-year industrial mobilisation plan, in case WWII happens all over
again in 1951. The air force is basing B-29s and P-51s in Alaska, because
America is open to attack across the ice cap, and the B-29s will, obviously,
defend against that. By dropping atomic bombs on Moscow. That’s defence, right?
Private aircraft deliveries look to reach 3500 in 1946. In the paper’s new way of looking at things, this greatly exceeds expected targets. (50,000/year? No-one was ever serious about that!) The War Surplus Board has junked 21,000 more warplanes. Yellow
Cab is going to operate two helicopter routes between Cleveland’s airport and
the downtown. The Navy is looking at submersible aircraft, which will dive to
avoid attack. “Air vents would close automatically.”
Warplane production is up from 67 in July to 130 in August. NACA is complaining that it has no resources for civil work with all the military testing it has to do. Luscombe’s new flying wing has passed CAA tests. Martin has orders for 20 PBM-5A amphibians from the navy. The new Philadelphia air terminal will be the bee’s knees.
 |
| When you think about the technical challenge, R and D can't start soon enough. This isn't what people were hoping for, though. |
Warplane production is up from 67 in July to 130 in August. NACA is complaining that it has no resources for civil work with all the military testing it has to do. Luscombe’s new flying wing has passed CAA tests. Martin has orders for 20 PBM-5A amphibians from the navy. The new Philadelphia air terminal will be the bee’s knees.
Worlddata
. . . By “Vista”
V. notices the death of Geoffrey de
Havilland, and the recent installation of backwards-fitting seats on the Vickers
Viking, which might be a good alternative to restrictive lap-belts. General
Chennault and some colleagues are trying to set up a “Chennault Air Transport,”
to work in China. My eyes are rolling.
 |
| "Sixty percent of ownership remained with Chinese investors." An Air America courier aircraft on a covert landing strip in Laos, 1969. |
Fortune, November
1946
Leaders
“Labour’s Cause” Labour’s cause is that it wants more money.
That’s why it strikes. That’s why everyone’s upset at labour. This is the issue
of the paper where it gets upset, for pages and pages. (But not too upset, or
it would be struck!) Of course, it needs to be pointed out that profits are the
governor. You can’t have higher wages without profits, so labour and management
are really in the same boat. More productivity and higher profits mean higher
wages! As Wendell Willkie once said, blah blah blah. Actually, that's not what he said, but what he actually said isn't much more interesting. I'm just pointing out that the paper is still quoting him.
The Fortune Survey
People tend to think that organised labour has gone too far,
and the richer they are, the likelier they are to think it.
“The Labour Situation: It Has no Precedent: In all
Probability, It Is Not a Precedent, Either, But the Past Year Has Raised
Questions That Demand Good Answers” The paper dives into its navel for a
serious gaze at the future. It is not happy with some unions’ policy of “make
work and monopoly,” or with strikes against vital services, such as New York
truck drivers and the Duquesne Light Co in Pittsburgh. Labour used to be so
noble, and now look at it.
 |
| John Neagle, Pat Lyon at the Forge, 1826--7. Aristocracy of labour! Also, check out the old-fashioned leather apron. |
 |
| And now look at them. They're coarse. |
“Anatomy of the Labour Force”
Charles D. Gregory, “Something Must Be Done” The paper
presents a scheme for labour law reform that will eliminate many day to day
abuses, satisfy public demands for relief, and head off the danger of “harebrained
repression.”
“Labour Drives South” Even as the public in the North reacts
to strikes, organised labour is pushing into the South, which is fat and placid
as cotton sells at 36 cents a pound, so that a farmer with a hundred acres can
make $15,000 to $20,000. Prices high, wages good, jobs plentiful. Not the time
to be organising unions, you might think. Time will tell, I guess. The Oak
Ridge organising drive is one kind of indicator. Coloureds, who are much more
enthusiastic about unions, are a second, and employers’ intransigent resistance
to unions, a third.
Much of the body of the paper is devoted to articles about
various unions and workforces. I find them all a bit boring, except one about
Hollywood’s troubled scene, because, first, well, Hollywood, and, second, because I am still hoping that the Engineer’s
boy will become a Corrupt Union Boss, just in way of spiting his father. (It
makes a change from his legitimate children becoming corrupt businessmen. . . )
 |
| Old Hollywood. This is what happens when you differentially hire for bipolar disorder. |
“The Automatic Factory: The Threat and Promise of Laborless
Machines is Closer Than Ever: All the Parts Are Here” People have been fussing about the automatic
factory in economic thought and Wells novels for years. Early in the thirties,
the paper even heralded its dawn with a story on the A. O. Smith Corporation’s
amazing semi-automatic production line, capable of fabricating automobiles so
fast in six months it could supply a normal year’s requirements. Of the kind of
cars that factory could build, which was the problem then, but I’m sure that it
is all fixed up, now. Two young Canadian radar men, Eric W. Leaver and John J.
Brown, have proposed a new kid of
automatic manufacturing assembly line on the continuous-flow process. New kinds
of circuits, developed for gun-laying and radar, allow electrical linking and
direction. Well-known electrical and magnetic devices are integrated into a
fully automatic system, thanks to a theory of machine design based on
twentieth-century electronics.
(illo.)
E. W. Leaver and J. J. Brown, “Machines Without Men”
Manpower shortages can be alleviated with more automation. Not the bad kind of
automation, like the hundred thousand-dollar cylinder-head machining machine
that was built for one aircraft engine factory, and which is now scrap metal
because the cylinder is no longer being made, but a new, fully thought=-out
kind of automation that concentrates on basic operations instead of product. It
will be made of components plugged together, and will replace unskilled
operators with highly skilled technicians. It will not cause massive
unemployment, because new wealth will create new jobs, but it will force
society to find a new use for men reduced to being machine operators.
Machines such as telephone relays can record, while microphones and so on can see, and punch card systems can calculate.
Collation-control units, consisting of a chassis of electronic stubs and circuits, accepts
information fed into it and feeds controlled power into processing units in
accordance with this information. Finally, the third kind of machine unit does the actual processing. Leaver and
Brown go on at more detail about how these machines might work. They think they
will be far more flexible than old kinds of factories, and will be able to lead
to a new industrial order, because they will be able to go from prototype to
new production much more quickly, stimulating progress, where the older
factories are tied down by their investment in the old kind of automation,
which requires long production runs to be profitable.
Then more articles on various unions. Standard Oil’s union has given thirty years of labour peace, because pay is good, while the Garment Workers have had to fight hard for the seamstresses of new York, for equitable piece rates, but also outings for all.
Then more articles on various unions. Standard Oil’s union has given thirty years of labour peace, because pay is good, while the Garment Workers have had to fight hard for the seamstresses of new York, for equitable piece rates, but also outings for all.
Shorts and Faces
Even “Shorts and Faces” is devoted to unions, which is a
problem, because there is no-one in the unions that the paper needs to kiss up
to for party invitations. Except to the New York Hootenannies, I guess, which is
why they lead.
“Joads Are Better Off” Better wartime wages have
even reached migrant farm workers, who benefit from nicer cabins and
contractors to arrange transport. They are also inreasingingly scarce, which is
why the government is bringing in Mexicans, Bahamians and
Jamaicans.
No comments:
Post a Comment