n by
letter, and banks and financial houses will gradually realize that large
savings can be made by utilizing air mails for the transaction of
business. A difficulty lies in the fact that the area of the British
Isles is not very favourable for an extensive air mail service, which
can only operate by day, since by the existing means of transport mails
are carried during the out-of-business hours and can generally reach
their destination in a night, while the distances to Paris and Brussels
are too short to afford outstanding advantage.

Lastly, we require public support and a spirit of confidence in the air.
This can only be secured by increased reliability, reduction of charges
and keeping the public informed of the progress made. It is the nature
of man to distrust new departures. He disliked the introduction of
mechanical devices into the Lancashire weaving mills. He scoffed at the
steamship and railway. To-day he is inclined to treat as premature the
serious exploitation of the air. In spite of the great decrease of
accidents, in spite of the increased comfort of air travel, in spite of
increased regularity, the average person is slow to realize that the
communication of the busy man of the future will be by air. The majority
of the business world is too conservative to make general use of the
opportunities offered by aircraft for the quick transmission of its
correspondence, while, though speed must be paid for, the high fares
hitherto charged have deterred the general public from substituting the
aeroplane for the train or boat. The running costs represented by these
fares are being materially reduced as a more economic machine is
evolved, and the reduction of fares which helps to place competition
with foreign subsidized services and with the older forms of transport
on more equal terms must for a time depend upon the assistance of
Government grants.

WEATHER CONDITIONS AND NIGHT FLYING.

The safety of the machine and the reliability of an air service largely
depend on accurate weather forecasts. In order to co-ordinate the
meteorological work of the country as a whole, and for the special
assistance of aviation, the Meteorological Services of Great Britain
have been amalgamated under the Department of Civil Aviation, and,
working in close co-operation with the Communications Branch of the
Department, have made improvements in the rapid collection and
distribution of meteorological information for all purpo