The Washington herald., 1909-05-30

! Ing brought back several hundred thou
I sands Of dollars Of European money. the
most they can hope for al present from
4 their own government is S25.o20 a medal
voted by Congress. and q reception by
! the President in the East Room OF the
1 White House
As far as the WriShts are personally
/ concerned. this makes little difference. as
\ they have already made the beginnings
I Of large fortune which IS certain 10 in
{ crease. and have received a sfTfeit Of
{ h0nors. but as an Indication Of a lack
/ OF interest IN this new science on the
/ part Of our government. especially from
+ a military standpoint. II is a serious mat
ter. Even the fact that the United States
was the only great power 20 sign the
/ declaration Of The Hague Conference
! against hurting Of explosives from air
craft indicates a failure TO grasp the true
military significance Of aeronaUtics-
Canada sees Advantages.
/ As q last straw. while Congress fatty
/ refuses TO appropriate funds for the ex-
/ tension Of aerouauticaI experiments by
/ the Signal Corps Of the army. even TO aid
+ the Wright brothers. the greatest living
( aeronauts. the Canadian government has
voted <000O merely TO encourage the par
tally successful experiments Of McCurdy
/ and F. W Baldwin at Baddeck. Nova
! Scotia last winter. From n military
standpoint the most colossal blUnder this
( country could possibly make would be 10
! permit our Northern neighbOr, however
/ friendly we are and VIII probably remain.
/ to outstrip US in the construction of an
/ aerial war feet. Il would not be difficult
/ for Canada TO free herself from any Obli-
| cations contracted by England at a peace
/ conference at The Hague. and nothing
would disturb more the present good re-
/ latiOns between the two countries than
I TO have Canada, a colony Of Great Brit
l ain. armed with a military power which
would place Us virtually at her mercy.
I The only possible way this could happen
/ Is by a superior air feet and the bare
/ fact that the Canadian government has
/ appropriated S50.OG3 10 make experiments
along these lines indicates that the
I thought may not be foreign to the Cana
( dians
France Willing 10 Spend.
France has spent nearly 100000 in the
past year in experimental work in aero
nautics. Germany has spent more than
| g. OF, ,OOG. counting the amount raised by
Z
! The British war Office has spent $26.S5o
and has established a special laboratory
school for the study Of heayier-than-air
machines in the United Service College al
Windsor. officers Of the Italian army in
the balloon corps are required TO take a
three months course in aerial navigation,
and Wilbur Wright was their first teach
er. Before the end Of the year Italy viii
have feet Of six dirigibles. Russia has
appropriated more than Si00 900 in the
interest OF aerOnaUtics. Austria is like
wise taking an active interest in the new
science
While virtually all Of Europe, govern
ments and private persons. are doing
everything possible 10 encourage aerial
navigation, and while Canada Is doing
the same thing. the United States gov
ernment remains practically inactive Be
fore long news VIII probably be received
that Mexico has outstripped il in the
building Of a an aerial navy.
Air Currents Not known.
Only a short time ago the army dirigi-
be No was packed and shipped away
from the Capital OF tho country because