New-York tribune., 1918-11-01

little to sustain the sensational and scan
dal-mongering REPORT Of the Senate
subcommittee issued last July. 1t ap-
pears that up to July |, out of total ap
preparations of s69l 100000. the actual
disbursements had been we'll under $780,
100000, and the total outlay for air
planes, engines and the whole expenses
of planning and production was only
S1O6,000,000 Out of this sum the cost
of all the planes and parts scrapped
reached nominal total of around $24,-
100000, of which a considerable part
may yet be salvaged. For a very large
part it was simply case Of too heavy an
engine for an especial type Of plane. In
other words, one may deduce from Mr..
Hughes's findings that the total of all
that was squandered and wasted in every
way, including all that was due simply
to changes of plans and changes Of judg-
ment, would not at the utmost reach
more than ten or fifteen millions.
All this was just as open to the Senate
committee as to Mr.. Hughes. 1t reveal;
how much ground that committee had
fer infaming the public mind with the
statement that Of what then seemed the
monster appropriation of nearly $700.
100000 ga substantial part had beer
wasted" Mr.. Hughess report justi6es
what we said at the time, that the docu-
ate was scandalous.
Mr.. Hughes goes at length into all the
vague flood Of wild Charges that came
last spring of the "wrcckage" Of the air
craft programme BY Teutonic infu-
ences. Save in few sporadic cases at
the Curtiss plant at Buffalo, and espe-
cially in Mr.. Ford's plant at Detroit
support Of these dark insipuations seems
totally lacking. Many of Colonel Decds's
acts In his dealings with his own compa
nies and his own business associates were
not those of a man of Il tine sense in
business dealings as a government Off
cial. But these we're not sufficient to JUS
tify a recommendation of any criminal
proceedings. Nor was there present evi-
dcnce to support other wild charges that
the inspection service had been inefficient
or negligent and that many accidents
and deaths could be attributed thereto
In the creation out Of blue sky of
gigantic airplane production it would
have been miracle if no defective
planes could have been found.
That there was a woful lack Of CO.
ordination between departments, and
especially between Washington and the
American aircraft officials in France un-
til the reorganization last spring, with
Mr.. Ryan as head, is painfully clear.
Yet it is not to our minds clear that all
this was greater than the general chaos
that reigned in Washington during this
same period. The facts are that Amer-
can engineers designed the most power
full and lightest large-size aero-ergine
that has yet been produced; that this has
stood every test and is now being made
in great quantities for all of the Allied
governments as we'll as our own. We
achieved the miracle of machine produc-
ton Of aero-engines and planes There
is no evidence that the Rolls Royce or any
other could have been r'', into production
more quickly or that anything Ike so
good a motor could have resulted.
1t does seem clear that large number
of smaller planes could have been built
and shipped, with no interference with the
main programme. This was an error of
judgment, not of confusion or "conspr-
acy." Taken as whole, the aircraft pro-
granme has gone forward just as
planned, and not much more than ninety
days behind what may have been fool.
ishly ambitious schedule.
In the same way, III all the immense
work Of laying ous the flying fields, or
ganizing the aviation schools and equip
ping these with thousands of training
planes there is much to critcise of lesser
details. AS a whole, II was splenddlv
conceived and carried out with true
American vim.
he country is indebted to Mr.. Hughes
for this searching investigation and his
transparently fair summing up of an
arduous five months work 1t will for
ever set at rest the shameless accusations
Of conspiracy" and Of can aircraft
scandal" 1t is deeply regrettable that a
programme so momentous and so vast (i.
was the first that adequately visaged tn ,
full needs of our share in the war;
should have been marred by malorgani-
zatlon and some unfortunate selections
and tarnlshed by some unworthy acts. It
still remains a splendid realization of a
project then without parallel or guiding
lines.