Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-03-11
MAKING LAWS
FOR THE AIR
By Frederic J. Haskin.

| Aviation has ushered IN a new angie
| to an old science. In a word, laws for
the control of the air are in the max
| ing. Lawyers long ago enacted legis-
| lation to govern human locomotion on
| land and on water. and now they must
do the same with the air. Aviation
| has advanced from the field Of ex-
| Fermentation. through the realm OF
| science, and thence within the pale OF
commerce. Technically speaking. aerial
navigation still is matter Of expert
mentation. and will ever be science;
\ but in the legal sense its general
adoption by venturesome spirits of all
\ nationalities, who take no cognfzance
| of national Misunderstanding in one
country and alighting in another-has
brought it within the purview OF in
| ternational commercial and navigation
laws. Hence the gradual growth at
the present time of a new jurispru'
! dence.
II an Italian birdman should cross
| the Alps and come down on the roof OF
the capitol building in Berne the Swiss
authorities would not know what to
do with him. In fact. legally they
could do absolutely nothing. A GEL
man aeroplane flies over Calais, sweeps
| across the channel and novers above
Merrie England; but no matter how
| d
may seem to the French and British
governments. whatever concrete obJec-
| lions they may have, evaporate into
vain expostulations for lack of a rec
| ognized aerial code.
| ::
| If two aerial greyhounds collide in
| the world to
No Law for Guidance e m inc
in Case Of Collision. liari1fty.
There is not even tribune of practical
aviators empowered to hear such Il
case except, of course a special board
Of arbitration formed for the purpose
with the mutual consent of the con-
tending parties. Even then the de-
cision would not be binding if the one
who drew the short straw refused to
abide by its arbitrament. When there
is q catastrophe on land the machinery
| of the law may be set in motion within
half an hour The same is true Of
! subway traffic beneath the surface OF
| the earth. No dispute or problem that
| rises out of the high seas is inde-
pendent of the admiralty courts or tos
| complex to be decided by admiralty
| law.
The type of air vessel which also navi
gates on water. the hydro-aeroplane GER
tainly invades the field of commerce,
though it has no definite status in the
courts at present The hydro-aeroplane
owners themselves wish il were otherwise,
| in order that they may know just where
they stand. Nevertheless, the only stand
ard they have to go by is ruling made
| last month by A. L. Thurman. solicitor
| of the federal Department of Commerce.
| to the effect that for the purposes Of wa
| ter navigation the hydro-aeroplane is
motor boat. This case arose over the APP
,tOtN GvNN
operates the airboat line between Tampa
| and ST. Petersburg. Fla, to the steam
! boat authorities for license to operate.
! The application was passed from one
| puzzled official to another until it got up
to 'the proper
Rated as Motor Boat cabinet ofheer
by One Department. Of the nation,
| and the solicitor Of the Department of
| Commerce caught it on the rebound.
There it was classified as motor boat
| The opinion holds that as the hydro
| aeroplane is dependent to a certain ex-
| tent upon its cruise along the water in
order to attain speed with which to hoist
| itself into the air, and must aiight on the
! water, it is just as likely to collide with
| other craft as any vessel which travels
| wholly on the water. Also. as 1t is
equipped with an engine it is just Eek
| posed to a gasoline fire full-dedged
/ motor boat. and therefore it must be
\ equipped with regular motor boat fire
| eXtinguishing apparatus. Furthermore,
being rated as a motor boat, 1t must have
an officially licensed motor boat operator,
| notwithstanding the fact that out OF a
| thousand men who can skillfully operate
| a regular motor boat not more than one is
| trained to run a hydro-aeroplane.
| This ruling. which must have the eff
! feet of law until a special aerial code is
drawn is necessarily futile when followed
| to the last analysis, as offcialdom itself
! ruefully admits. II a hydro-aeroplsns
| must ever be held within the limits OF
motor boat regulations. then perforce It
| must also be equipped with a whistle,
I, green and red lights and life preservers.
| like any other motor boat. The ruling
| itself while demanding whistle. adj
mitted that the hydro's engine makes .
| noise that viii smother the shriil blasts
| OF the whistle. The life preservers arp
also demanded, notwithstanding the fact
| that they would be about as valuable IL,
| accident. the vessel being in the air nine
| tenths Of the time, as paper house in
| a cyclone Even in the opinion It is res
marked that it might be impossible for
| a hydro-aeroplane to conform to all ths
| provisions OF the law because OF ITS
| limited weight capacity. obviously. spe.
| cial hydro-aeroplane regulations are needs
| - SS-.t
| sidering the matter.
g. One cannot say as much for the control
of all other air craft not Of the hydra
variety, or even
M;1lions Invested for the air control
| OF these primarily
in the Airships. aerial as they are,
And yet aeronautics represent invest
ments OF millions Of dollars are interna-
tional in scope, as well as Of persona:
concern to every human being in po-
tential sense. and aviation corps are
found in every modern army and navy
In the world.
| Law scientists have been discussing le-
gal aeronautics since 1907. and the ins
| ternational committee of aviation 5uris-
prudence Is giving 1t thorough constderas
| ton For some time a controversy has
been raging over the question Of jurisdic-