BRITISH NAVY'S GRIP.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 April 1917, Page 6

BRITISH NAVY'S GRIP.

t "UNBROKEN UP TO NOW"

Tacit confession that the yoke which the British Navy has fastened round Germany's neck has throttled her into sudden passion for peace is contained in a recent issue of the Frankfurter Zeitung—now a highly "inspired" Government organ. In the course of a remarkable three-column front-page leading article entitled "The Decisive Question," the principal mouthpiece of Hindenburg and the great commercial, shipping, and financial classes adjured Germans to face certain immutable facts of the war in calm and reason. On the "immutability!' °* * ne §"P which Britain holds on the sea and the completeness Jvith. which Germany is banished from fhe markets of the world the Frankfurter has thjs to say:

"In land warfare we have advanced far beyond the purely defensive stage. But th> problem of the west cannot be solved exclusively by victory on land. It is true that England has exposed herself to certain perils by being tied to the conquest of Belguim—above all, the great battle on the Somme. German conquest of the coast of Flanders—is a fact, too, which has great value in peace negotiations with England—one has also to think of our colonies—but this whole land war in the west is wholly inconsequential as far as Great Britain's real sinews of war are concerned. English sea power is, of course, not absolute. To a very considerable extent it is entirely powerless. Nowhere is it omnipotent or capable of deciding the war, because as an absolute weapon, either in battleor- the starvation war, it is ineffective and will remain so; also because it is hopelessly incapable of overthrowing our main strength—i.e., our unshatterable and inexhaustible Continental power. *

"ENEMY'S SEA SUPREMACY UN-

BROKEN"

"Nevertheless the tea supremacy (Seegowalt).of the enemy exists. Far and wide it has not been overthrown. These, too, are facts which suggests certain lines of action for those who arc not blind. Summarised in one. sentence, the true import of an impartially drawn map of the war is that the Continental question has been decided by strategic force, while the problem of sea power remains still to be solved. All attempts to solve it have thus far failed —for both sides. Whether that state of affairs will continue, .remains to be seen. As we are looking at the war map of to-day we need not bother about the hopes or to-morrow. What we have to ask ourselves is: Has the question of sea power thus far been irreparably settled? Our answer is 'No.'

"EUROPE'S DESIRE FOR PEACE."

"If Europe to-day wishes the air to be cleared—and she must wish it; if Europe to-day desires peace, then the decision of the sea question, like every other question which cannot be solved by force of arms, can only be found in free, untrammelled negotiation. "That is the fundamental thing to be realised. One ,may regret it, but one must. acknowledge it. . . . The war has thus far not produced a solution. The peace of to-day must do so! It can do so if both sides will recognise that which has actually happened in the war and are determined to do away with what existed before the war and constituted a considerable cause of enmity. The immutable fact is that after two and a-half years of war that Ger-man-English world problem remains, in its real inwardness, at the self-same point it was before the war. Germany stands forth in the world undefeated, and English seapower is to date unbroken.

"We have triumphed on the Continent, but just as'little to-day as since the time Germany became united and strong can Continental opportunities alone satiate our hopes and our powers of production. Our trade aspires to activities beyond the seas. We shall open the door, in one way or another, either through treaty or by force, but if we desire to accomplish it to-day, in the midst of the third year of war, then the solution must be by other methods than, a policy based on our newly-won political and military foothold in the Near East. Then we must negotiate, and we must make treaties (verhandeln und vertragen). The enemy has the choice as to whether the solution is to come now or later, whether through treaty or by force. But he has not the strength permanently 10 bar the door against us!"

The plain meaning of this "inspired" production in the German export organ is that Germany, if given the chance, would attempt to negotiate for that access to the sea for which her paralysed trade is panting by offering to evacuate the Continental territory she now holds enslaved. ' " • ' \"

ELECTRIC LIGHT AND TRAM- ... - WAYS. . _

ANNUAL REPORT.

TRAMWAYS* FIRST YEAR,

. i SPLENDID RETURNS,

R. H. Bar Hey,, electrical engineer, in his annual report to the Borough Council last evening, stated the tramways will not have been working a complete year until Hay 20. During the period ' },257,504 passengers were carried, the total number of miles run by ears was 18G,940, passengers per mile 0.7, average fare per mile 1.71 d, average miles per car 104, total revenue from fares approximately £IIOOO. Total ex. penditure, including proportion of first year's' interest and sinking fund, approximately £7700, operating expenses per car mile S.4Sd.

He regarded the year's working as very satisfactory. The equipment was in good order. The general freedom from accident was largely attributable to the carefulness of the stall.

The electric light department showed good progress. Regarding thello s of 204,111 units, or 10.3 per cent, of the total, this occurred in transmission from the power-house to sub-station, and was due to the old conditions existing four months this year. These conditions are now altered, and the current was being transmitted at a pressure of 6GOO volts, and the loss has been reduced from 25 per cent, under the old arrangement to V/« per cent, at present. The 10.3 per cent, loss as shown was made up of four months' running under 25 per cent, and eight months under 3 '/a per cent, conditions. New consumers totalling 191 had been connected, and 100 additions were made to existing installations. The increased demand for current was rapidly overrunning the power station capacity. This was partly attributable to the tramways, and in the winter he expected to find the power-house plant would have to carry an overload.' The borough engineer and he would report jointly on the matter.—Received and adopted.

TRAMWAYS' WORKING ACCOUNT.

The town clerk, in his annual review, referred to the working of the tramways in the following terms: The running of the ears throughout the year has proved very satisfactory. 'The smooth running of the cars, their cleanliness and the uniform courtesy of the motormen and conductors, even under trying conditions, have been most favorably commented upon both by visitors to the town and by local residents.

The number of passengers who have travelled on the cars has exceeded anything which even the most optimistic could possibly have anticipated. The effect upon the town lias been little short of wonderful. The running -of the cars has given an air of briskness to the town, due principally to the great number of people who now come in frequently from the suburbs, and who prior to the owing to the difficulty of transit, only came in at long intervals.

It is impossible to give the actual finiutcial results until the commercial bal-ance-sheet hn,s been prepared, and this will not be ready for some few days yet

The following, however, is a comparative statement showing the estimate; compared with the actual receipts ant' expenditure for the year:—

TRAMWAY WORKING ACCOUNT RECEIPTS.

—To Mar. 31, 'l7 Estimated. Actual. £ s. (1. £ s. d. Traffic receipts.. 7500 0 0 808S 3 C Advertising, cars and ticket, .. 121 10 0 223 15 a Paper coiitratc. 15 0 0 210 0 Carriage of mails- 10 0 0 4 0 0 Lost luggage, timetables .. 0 0 0 6 5 6 Reimbursements _ 00 0 35 211 Refund ins'ranee -0 0 0 21 711 Special rate for interest 0 0 0 1201 1 9

STATISTICAL I The following statement gives a sum-! Mary of general statistical information relating to the working of the tramway-' for the year. This statement, however cannot he completed until the balancesheet is available, when further information, mainly financial, will be included. This being the first year's running we have no previous figures of our own to compare with. In the 'hope that it may prove interesting, I have therefore made the comparison with the first year's running of the cars in Wanganui (VVanganui in brackets): — Population of whole borough, 8700. Estimated population served by tramways, 6000 (9000). Mileage of single track, S'/ 8 (SJ4'J. Number of ears. 6 (5), .

Number of passengers. i,257.5f1l (1,275,158). Passengers per ear mile. 0.73 (7.10). Car mileage, 18(1,940 (170.448). Revenue per ear mile, 11.02 d (11.77 d). Average fare per passenger, 17L1 ! (1.71 d). Working expenses per car mile, excluding power cost (approx.)l. G.'fld (10.53). Working expenses per car mile, including power Co3t (approx.), 8.48 d (12.25 d). Average journeys per head of population served per annum, 20fl.fi;! (141.08). _ Average journeys per head of population of whole borough per annum 144.57. ' GROSS REVENUE COMPARISONS (excluding rates). N. Plymouth, Wangnmii, Ist year. Ist year. „ , £«. d. ,c' s. (1. Car fares S!)SS 3 ti 9114 1 4 Advtg. on ears and tickets... 223 15 5 78 5 0 Sundries GO fi 4 32 14 4 £9281 5 3 £9225 0 8 TICKETS SOLD. 1(1 209.000 2 <i ~ mm 3J •'.• 118.038 4 (1 10,1141 Luggage 4d \ 070 Concession Is 104.811 Concesison 9d -.- 1 S(i3 Tota l 010,027 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENSUING YEAR.

. The lollowing matters should receive consideration during the coming year:— Waiting Sheds: A certain amount of loan money has been set aside for the erection of waiting sheds, and it is desirable that some of these sheds should be erected before the winter months. Rolling-stock: More, rolling-stock, as set out in the tramway engineer's report, is required.

Screens for Protection of jiotormcn: This matter came before the committee in a casual way last winter, but the work should be taken in hand within the next few months. The work of the motormen in (boisterous weather is not to be envied, and sl.ould be made as comfortable as is possible. Sunday Time-table: Jt is desirable that a special' time-table be prepared for wet Sundays It is obvious that on wet Sundays adhering to the ordinary time-table means an unnecessary loss.

Street Watering: An electric street water-cart would do the work of several water-carts and would keep down the dust. I would recommend that inquiries be made as to the cost of such vehicles with a view to one being purchased.

Signal Lights: A large number of passengers take the Morley Street ear at times in mistake for the Fitzroy or Breakwater car. The lights at present behind the destination signs are just a little too strong, and the signs cannot be read at any distance at night. This can easily be remedied, and in addition a special distinguishing light should ibe fixed on the Morley Street car.

Bonus to Motormen: In some of the larger installations in England it is the practise to allow a small bonus to each motorman who has come through I a fixed period, say six or twelve months, without any accident tfof which the blame could be attached to him. It has been found that this leads to greater care, and consequently less claims for compensation. Although;, so far, we have not had any serious accidents, the system might well be tried here. Workmen's Concession Tickets: The Council last year could not see its way to grant special concession tickets to workers. This matter, however, deserves re-consideration, and, if granted between certain hours only, I believe would lead to an increased and not decreased revenue as was anticipated. Hand Recitals: Arrangements should be made to hold frequent band recitals at the breakwater during the summer months, both on week evenings and on Sunday afternoons. In this way the daily taking* can be much increased, and at the same time the band funds benefited.

Saltwater Baths: During tli'e past year 1 recommended that arrangements should ' lie made whereby for pertain hours in the early morning tickets would lie issued on the -tramways entitling the purchaser to travel to the baths, enter the baths, and return home •for the one fee. The fee would be a reduced one. the idea being too induce persons from a distance to make use of the baths. The result would lie twofold, increased popularity of the baths and increased traffic on the cars in the early morning, slack hours at present. A resolution was passed by the Council referring the recommendation to a combined meeting of the Baths and Tramways Commitees to re,port upon, but so far the conference had not been held.

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE. '£ s (1. Installation to date 57,735 l(i 1 Reported Electric Suppiy Installation '. 19,000 0 0 Remaking and tar-scaling roads '. '. 20,!i!)l S : Reducing width of foot--paths in Devon street 1,(184 fl ■' £08,411 4

£ 7G40 1ft 0 £10,542 7 0 Or. balance.. SI 1 5 £7727 11 5 EXPENDITURE. • -r - E S -To ;im Mar. 31, -17— tted. Actual. ' '' |£ a. d. £ s. d. Wages (exclusive or repairs to track, overhead and plant 3G00 0 0 3352 3 10 Extra labor ... 80 0 0 0 0 0 Salaries .1296 0 0 547 12 10 Management .. 300 0 0 253 8 11 Oil and Sundries 80 0 0 85 3 3 Printing tickets 7!) s 9 fi-2'10 3 Office expenses.. 30 0 O 28 17 9 Repairs to track 100 O 0 107 5 0 Rep. to overhead 90 0 0 • S3 0 0 Repairs to plant 135 15 O 37S 4 1 'ire insurances. 38 12 8 73 1 2 Occident insur.. 52 12 0 41 13 2 I'uli. risk policy 75 0 0 90 12 3 Current for trae0 O 1229 13 7 Current loss in conversion .. 175 0 0 0 0 0 Current lighting 19 0 O 20 4 "5 ?ioportion cost motor car ... 0 0 0 92 10 0 Sinking fund and interest .. 0 0 0 1138 5 0 '£7727 Cr. balance.. 11 0 £ 77S4 5 3 — — 2758 1 9 £10,5<I2 7 0 Cr. balance 1st April, 1910.. £15 4 0 Or. balance, working acct.. 2758 1 9 ..£•2773 5 9