New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-04-10
.Sugeesrfon for Keeping
Fir Transit Free for
the People.

w route '' mat 'E is natural highway
between two cities, the govern
ment gives to the builders Of railroad or
canal the right TO take and use the land
they need in the face of all opposition. pro-
vided only they pay fair price. Whether
the barrier he factory. home or school.
church or burial ground. it's owners claims
must give way before the larger rights Of
public necessity.
Suppose the air itself had become a great
natural highway for the trade and travel OF
the whole natiCn. Suppose passage i'm the
air were barred. not over a few acres be-
tween town and town, but over every foot
Of the four and a quarter millions of square
miles Of United States territory. Suppose
the barrier were not land or houses. but an
inventors patents. which had been made so
strong that it was an offence 10 fly in the
air except with the permission of tine men
who owned the patents. and under regula-
tons Of their making. In that case. too.
might not the government intervene, take
the patents by a condemnation proceeding
in the name Of all its citizens. pay the in
ventOr with a sum vast enough to suit the
vastness of the problem. and throw open
the highways OF the air to all who wished
To use them?
That. in brief. is the question that the
men interested in aerouautics have been
talking and thinking about since Il was
asked at dinner of the Aero Club OF
America a few days ago. Many OF them
expect just such a problem to arise in good
earnest William II. Page. the lawyer and
club member, who asked the question,
made it plain when he drew his picture Of
moropolized atmosphere that he thought IL
likely To he no picture at all. but a state
ment Of hard facts in every day American
life not many years from now.
The aviators and their friends take Mr.
Pages suggestion with considerable seri-
BUSINESS. The CourtSseem TO have confirmed
Crville and Wilbur Wright I'm their claim
TO basic patent covering all gliding air
craft. The company which was recently
formed. with a capital Of millions. 20 ox-
plot their invention. was Incorporated Jy
men who are famous as the shrewdest and
richest hnanciers in the country and the
adroitest masters Of monopoly power. Mr.
Page did NOT use names freely when he
explained his idea i'm an interview for The
Tribune. hat he was frank i'm saying what
he thought about the seriousness Of the
problem.
has never been anything like 1t i'm history
II the Wright brothers can make sood their
legal claims they Will hold "A monopoly Of
the sale of all aeroplancs-a monopoly OF
the use Of them. also. IL they choose No
body knows to-day what that may mean
Certainly II is something tremen dous IL
NJ more ii will mean the monopoly of the
sw'ftest means Cf travel that cen be de-
vised. Beyond that the possibilities cf
what aeroplancs may do for the comfort
the convenience or even the safety OF the
people are simply endless II Is TO the
ueroplane. rather than To- She unwieldv
dirigihlc. that we look for the real CON
quest or the air.
Men have settled the uses 81 tine IanJ
ana the rights OF travel on II pretty much
To the public satisfaction. They have mas
tered the sea and made IL a general hirh
way ANA they have driven their roads sue.
cessfully under the surface Of the ground
Now men have conquered the air. too and
made the third of the elements "A means AZ
travel Surely IL Is worth considering
whether that entire element should he given
1" Uu-i Geo any sin-lc group OF men u
st5-H.rs us to imaglu" the power such an
ul =a.t.-a.lud would have