Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-01-06
CALL FOR A CODE
OF AIRSHIP LAWS
Professor Baldwin Of Yale Tells
Why One Is Needed.
OPENS new JUDICIAL FIELD.
Old Theory That Landlord Owns Air
Up Into the Heavens Likely to Give
Way Before Modern Prosress-How
State May Give Right to Fly.

state May Give hight TO Fly.
Professor Simeon L. Baldwin of the
Yale Law school and chief justice of
the supreme court of errors of Connec-
ticut told an audience in the Yale Pea
body museum at New Haven. Conn,
the other night that the lawyers would
soon have to get their wits together
and frame laws for the government of
airship navigation.
He said that Awyers had been busy
for the last 100 years making laws for
the railroads. for the telegraph and for
the telephone. and now they must con
slider the law for the airship.
The arship, in the judgment of the
chief justice. is out of the field of eX-
pertinent and into the field where it is
bound to be used for transportation of
passengers. of goods. of spies, of bur
glars criminals flying from Justice and
Illicit trade of every kind, for it flies
as irresponsibly us a bird. The qucs-
tion at once asked ic how far the pre-
cepts of private law can be applied 10
the airship. Can one worldwide law
be framed for the air as for the high
seas?
Question of Navigating the Air.
The chief justice asked if any one
had right to navigate the air. Then
he quoted various authorit who took
the position that private landowners
owned the air even to the heavens, the
acceptance of which authorities would
mean. in his opinion. that the naviga
tion of the mir would be an infringe
mcnt of private rights. These autho
tiles. however rre ancient. He wei .
on ms follows
"PhySiologists tell us that man is so
constructed that he never can develop
wings to fly and that in order to navi-
gate the air man must fight continually
against the law of gravitation and that
his flights through the air must always
be menace to the safety of those be-
meath.
"The navigation of the airship is not
a natural right The question IS
whether right to navigate the air
cannot be secured from the state The
state owns the soil. 1t can tax it; 1t
! can reclaim it for the public use from
! private owners by the payment of a
| reasonable sum. Successful naViEa-
| ton of the air will no doubt be useful
TO the public.
1T is granted that every railroad
operated under franchise from the
Z In Saf nf tho I1tIih,
| lie. but the public interest iustities
| this. The question, then, is whether
the state can give 10 airShips similar
| right to navigate under certain condi-
tionS. This might he done under Il
| franchise or license. Has land
owner any right under the circum-
| stances?
Perhaps the landowner has no legal
! right in the air except as the occu-
! paucy of the same may be Il detriment
! to his land. This seems to be in ac-
| cordance with the tendency of the
| times. An alrship is thing of pas
sage. 1t carries to each and all the
same measure of danger.
should a person be hit by an air
ship the prima facie evidence would
| indicate that he could bring an action
against the proprietor of the ship and
the master who was sailing it whether
the person was hit on his own or on
the land of some one else.
I'm one OF the Wrights' flights some
time ago the airship was directed right
over the head of the German emperor,
and slight accident might have chang
ed the whole history of Europe. The
emperor might have possibly encour-
aged an action"
In the opinion of the chief justice
the government can permit the use
of the air by airships under certain
restrictions without involving the
rights of landowners unless actual
damage results.
Cause For Action.
Should ali airship in passing over
the property OF Il landowner ruin his
trees or should the proprietor of a
fleet of airships continually menace
the safety of the landowner or dam
age his property then, in the opinion
of Professor Baldwin. there would be
cause for action. Should the govern
ment establish an aerial highway over
the house Of n citizen and his property
be damaged by bad odors or smoke or
other nuisances an injunction might
be obtained.
Another question" remarked the
thicf justice, 'is whether the govern
ment license would protect the mana
ger of an alrship who accidentally falls
and Injuries persons below"
Judge Baldwin advocated the calling
of an official international congress to
consider the international laws cover
ing aerial navigation and to frame ade-
quate International agreements on the
subject.
A Slim Chance.
Willie-Pa. why do they call our Ian
guage the mother tongue? Pa-Sh.
it's because your father never gets a
chance to use it.-London Tit Bits
Well He Knew.
Emperor Francis of Austria md his
empress once attended the perform
ance of play which abounded in po-
litical illusions. On leaving the the
ater he remarked good naturedly, I'VE
may congratulate ourselves on having