Looking on the bright side of things, the "Daily Express" reminds us that this is Leap Year, when Service-men and day labourers will get an extra day's pay, season ticket-holders will get an extra day's travelling; and 231,000 people will enjoy their first birthday for four years, The writer adds that he "wouldn't give a dogs chance to a bachelor soldier, sailor or airman who starts his leave on February 29.
Several new laws have come into effect for our good. There is the Prevention of Fraud (by bucket-shops) Act, and the Prevention of Damage by Rabbits. There is also the Prevention of Profiteering, officially "Price of Goods," Act which is fo prevent unscrupulous vendors from over-charging us for clothing, household requisites sandbags and and black out material. All these acts sound good, but whether the ingenious people at whom they are aimed (rabbits included) will not easily get round them is another question.
One new Act, for which one hopes the best, is for the proper control of riding schools and stables which hire out riding horse. I wrote about this Act when it was being debated. The extraordinary increase in the popularity of riding in recent years made it most necessary. Many horses were being almost ridden to death at week-ends and scarcely exercised at all in the rest of the week, besides being very badly housed. There is less pleasure-riding now, of course, as, with the petrol restrictions, more and more horses are put to work.
One unpleasant thought is that Sir, John Simon has refused to listen to all the pleadings of M.P.'s and motor-manufacturers to drop the 25s, tax per lip. on cars and keep it at 155, The responsibility probably lies more with the Treasury officials, a greedy soul-less lot, who advise him, than with the Chancellor of the Exchequer personally. One cannot help thinking they are wrong. By the estimate of moderate papers like the "Daily Telegraph" fully half a million cars will be laid up this year. Besides the loss of their licence fees to the Exchequer, the loss of their custom will put hundreds of garages and salesmen out business and seriously affect the manufacturing business, thus sending up the numbers of unemployed. It really does seem a conspicuous case of penny-wise pound-foolish.
Meanwhile such motor cars as remain continue to kill record numbers of pedestrians or it might be fairer to say that record numbers of pedest"ians continue to commit suicide under motor cars. In most of these accidents it is fair to say that the pedestrians are to blame. They simply will not keep to the pavements, although in every bus notices entreat them to remember that they can see the bus (the same of course applies to cars and lorries) but that the drivers cannot see them.
The police have been trying to enforce a "keep to the left" rule It feiled, and they tried a "keep to the right." That also failed. Now the London Passenger Transport Board has concluded that there is something inherently vicious in London pedesttians, that they consider themselves free to walk where they please and won't be controlled. It may be 50, but certainly it was not so in by gone years, when we all naturally walked on the left. Then some purblind reformer insisted that we must walk to the right as all other nations. So now we really don't know where we are.
One good thing is that cyclists are being dropped on heavily for breaking rules, specially for having no rear lights, when they at once become a menace to everyone. One man said that he thought lights unnecessary in ihe moonlight and another actually argued that he was doing enough in waving a lighted cigarette behind him.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.