NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16035, 29 September 1915, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

COTTON AND CONTRABAND. The attitude of the Government of the United States toward the question of making cotton contraband during the civil war, has been described by Mr. Bayard, a former Secretary of State, as follows :— "Cotton -was useful as collateral security for loans negotiated abroad by the Confederate States Government, or, as in the present case, was sold by it for cash to meet current expenses, or to purchase arms and munitions of war. Its use for such purpose was publicly proclaimed by the Confederacy, and its sale interdicted except under regulations established by, or contract with, th© Confederate Government. Cotton was thus officially classed among war supplies, and as such was liable to be destroyed when found by, the Federal troops, or turned to any use which the exigencies of war might dictate. Cotton, in fact, was to the Confederacy as much munitions of war as powder and ball, for it furnished the chief means of obtaining those indispensables of warfare. In international law there could be no question as to the right of the Federal commanders to seize it as contraband of war, whether they found it on rebel territory or intercepted it on the way to the parties who were to furnish in return material aid in the form of the sinews of war—arms or general supplies." The contention of the Entente Powers is that as cotton is the basis of smokeless powder, it is, in fact, a munition of war. Wharton states the American practice in a sentence —" Cotton was contraband of war during the late civil war, when it was the basis on which the belligerent operations of the Confederacy rested."

WORK FOR EDUCATED WOMEN.

One result of the war is an increasing tendency on the part of educated women in England to take up various forms of domestic service. In many large households such women are replacing man servants. In one agency in the West End of London which deals with gentlewomen only there is a great demand for the •woman chauffeur who can do running repairs, and also for the woman gardener who can do light garden -work. An increasingly large number of women are qualifying as drivers, taking advantage of cheap tuition in various polytechnics and motoring schools, and they make up for their lack of experience of London traffic by their extreme carefulness. The usual wages in private service is from £1 resident to 35s or £2 a week.

BRITISH AIRCRAFT. In a speech at a meeting of the British Aeronautical Society recently, LieutenantColonel Brancker, Assistant Director of Military Aeronautics, mad© several interesting references to aerial developments during the war. He remarked that a few months ago the German aeroplane showed a great improvement in speed and climbing power, probably owing to the introduction of a more powerful engine. The reason for the German advance towards an equality in aeroplanes with us was due to the fact that on the outbreak of war the aeronautical engine trade was practically undeveloped in England, and. we had had to content ourselves with the comparatively low power French engine. Already, however, higher-power Britishmade engines had made their appearance at the front, and the pendulum was swinging back again-. British designs backed up by sufficient horse-power, was once more proving its superiority, and we had already given the Germans some very ugly surprises with our new machines. Colonel Brancker went on to say many points of interest had been brought out in the war. Possibly the most interesting was the conflict between the necessity of carrying weight and the desirability of rapid climbing. The development of fighting in the air made great demands on weight-carry-ing qualities, practically every machine having to take up some form of defensive armament, or firearms, or bombs, as well as field glasses, cameras, wireless equipment, etc.