Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-06-19
GREAT u. S. AIR
FLEET TO BLAST
GERMAN ARMY
Administration Plans to De-
vote $600,000,000 to
Purpose

Washington. June 19.-President
Wilson is reported as favorable to an
appropriation of $500, 100000 to pro-
vide Immediately for the greatest
aerial army in the history of the
| world. Experts of this nation and
the British and French military men
here recently with the respective
missions have convinced the admin
! istration that the first and essential
thing for America to do is to furnish
air machines and aviatiors. A bill
carrying such an appropriation will
appear in Congress this week. Army
and navy officers are planning a
continuing program" that will build
up the aerial fleet just as the con
| tlnuing program" for the navy was
authorized by the last Congress-
The administration has been con-
vinced that aviation is to play lead
ing role in the war with Germany,
and 1t is proposed to send thousands
of flying machines over the trenches
of the eastern and western fronts.
Congress may gasp a bit at the cost
| of this service, but in the end it is
certain that millions will be provid-
ed.
The $500, 100000 aviation bill is
authoritatively reported to have been
worked out by officers of the War
College, the army, the navy and
Council of National Defense. GEN.
eral Goethals is reported as being in
favor of great aerial fleet, and is
expected to lend his influence toward
securing the desired legislation.
Finds Official Favor
"The War Department is behind
the aircraft plans with every ounce
of energy and enthusiasm at it's COM
mand," Secretary Baker said yester-
day. The aircraft program seems by
all means the most effective way in
which to exert Americas force at
once in telling fashion," he contin-
ued.
I'VE can train thousands of avia-
tors and build thousands of machines
without interfering in the slightest
with the plans for building up our
armies and for supplying the Allies
with food and munitions. To train
and equip our armies and send them
abroad will take time, however, and
in the meanwhile we can be devoting
to this important service vast guam
titles of productive machinery and
skilled labor.
Every consideration points to the
effectiveness of a highly developed
air service in it's relations to the part
which the United States can play in
putting an end to the war. 1t lives
up to all Americas traditions of do
ing things on a splendid scale, it will
put us on our mettle from the point
of view both of mechanical ingenuity
and of individual daring and initia-
tive. At the same time, compared
with the transportation of an eXpe-
dictionary force of infantry and artil-
lery large enough to be of decisive
value on the western front, it offers
little or no difficulty
The aircraft plan meets the de-
mands of the situation. Under eX-
listing conditions of fighting, where
the Allies and Germans are strug-
Cling on virtually even terms as re-
CARDS man-power and aircraft, the
addition which we can contribute to
the Allied air forces will be proper
tionately of far greater value than
the immediate aid which we can fur
nish on land.
According to the best obtainable
information there are about 7,000,-
600 men on the western front to-day.
The addition of few infantry units,
while of great moral value, will be of
little value in forcing a decision. A
few thousand trained aviators with
the machines for their use may spell
the whole difference between victory
and defeat.
The supremacy of the air in mod
ern warfare is essential to a success
full army.
America must make sure that the
Allies and not Germany secure per-
manent domination of the air, and
that within the year.
1T will take no more shipping
space to send a thousand air pilots
abroad than a thousand infantry
men. 1t will take no more space to
send aerODlaneS and motors than m
send artillery. 1t is now seen that
If we make the effort we can send
enough of both men and machines
within year to be of great value, J
perhaps to turn the scale all without |
handicapping our plans for the army |
which is to follow, nor hindering the |
vital flow of food and munitions.
American airmen and aeroplanes !
may turn the tide. They furnish our |
supreme opportunity for immediate |
service on the fighting line