New-York tribune., 1918-11-22
Chief of Service Seeks to
Exonerate Men Censured
by Hughes
Says Department
Shouldn't Be Goat"
Calls Charges Technical
Piffle" and Cites Work
for Comparison
By Theodore Nj. Knappen

charge of the air service, is moving fol-
a complete exoneration of the -four
officers of the aircraft production ser.
v;ce who were found censurable b,
Charles E. Hughes and Attorney Gen
eral Gregory. 1t will be remembered
that Messrs, Hughes and Gregory, al
the termination of the Hughes investi.
cation, concurred in recommending
that the Secretary of War determine
whether or not Colonel E. A. Deeds
should be called before a court martial
and that Lieutenant Colonel j. G. Vim
cent, Lieutenant Colonel George w
Mixter and Second Lieutenant Samuel
B. vrooman, jr., had violated Section
Al of the criminal code.
Colonel Deeds was relieved from ac-
tive duty when the investigation began
but the degree Of significance Mr.. Ryan
attaches to the findings of Messrs
Hughes and Gregory can be inferred
from the fact that three other officers
have been retained at their posts with
out any Investment of authority since
the Hughes report was published.
Calls Evidence "Incomplete"
1t is known that Mr.. Ryan considers
, that Colonel Deeds's alleged offence
should not make him the subject of a
y y. court martial, and that he considers
!. that mountain has been made out of
,., molehill in the matter of the par
ticular item Of misleading publicity
that is debited to Colonel Deeds, in
view of the long line of superheated
o. publicity that issued from the War De-
partment in regard to aviation, and
that the case against the colonel in
other respects was based on imperfect
I evidence, the missing links in which
can be supplied, and will put quite a
different aspect on the matter
Mr. Ryan holds that on account of
mere technical piffle the four officers
who have been publicly indicted by
Nessrs. Hughes and Gregory are pill
lored in the public gaze, though not
q, even the Investigators charge them
With any serious moral wrongdoing,
and that thereby their contributions to
The success of the air service, as we'll
athe reputation of the service, are be-
Titled
Cites Aircraft Achievements
Absolutely contrary to the general
opinion, Mr.. Ryan takes the position
that whatever degree of success the
production end of the aircraft service
finally attained was entirely due to his
predecessors. Whatever their faults
OF the faults of the system under which
they worked, and however much he may
have remedied the one and corrected
the other, Mr.. Ryan has repeatedly
stated that they deserve credit for
the following achievements:
In the first twelve months after
motor production began there were
turned out III this country more air
plane motors than England manu-
iactured in the whole first three
years Of the war.
One year after the first Liberty
motor contracts were let they were
being manufactured at the rate of
ivO0 week, which is probably as
many air motors as England and
france combined were putting out,
exclusive of some Of the smaller
motors, after four years of effort.
w Three OF the Liberty motor plants
we're turning out approximately $50
aen week, as against maximum
goducticn OF ffty-three English
AoA-koyces in week.
10000 Planes Produced
When the armistice was signed,
spont eighteen months after America
y entered the war, an industry that
vas practically non-existent in this
country at the beginning of the war
nad produced about $1,000 motors
and about 10000 planes of all kinds,
: shd had so advanced motor produc-
uon beyond domestic plane capacity
~ ,aat motors were being supplied in
srse numbers to England and
3 France.
notwithstanding all the crltl-
s,sms. and fault finding of the De
navliands, hostilities came to an end
WIN something over 1000 Of them
10 France and giving such a good
Z sscount Of themselves that they were
lx ssiy the best two seaters on the
battlefront.
Many clear facts regarding produc-
moa are cited to show that notwith :
I sssnoing the blundcrs Of publicity, and
xs mistakes Of judgment and lack Of
s;.aUaiization that characterized the
bait 4. enterprise in its earlier days,
~ aenlevements have been in many
sss wonderful.
8s Comparisons Are Made
4 sisIae comparisons are made with
4 z H.. construction services to show
49, an aircraft was not the only lag
az compared with hopes and prom
as, for instance:
she shipping Board did not COM
iss own first ship on the At
= sa.e n.ie coast until September 6, some
ssh'een months after the war be-
49, ~, and in the first year of the war
snpieted only four ships altogether
u ls,1' ls' own contracting. In December,
Z e. Dir. Hurley announced that the
pping Board would certainly COM
i ms9s. $500 900 tons Of shipping dead
Isn. IN 1913 and was aiming at
H. fsssv9oo tons. 1t is now known that
81 n's.nai output will be about $780,
ND tons less.
t,ns,sr miser all the fuss about the Liberty
fsss' only handful had finally
Dsa france when hostilitjes came
IN. single complete tank was
< H. rom thig country TO France, and
tnsn shn of the war came without
Ing " '@D@s Tor preliminary tram
,ss general proposition, the end
mar ~ stated TO have found
xssinNIs production more highly or
H. and better administered than
stLssr rfanaace Bureau, which ia the
e W., great productive bureau Of the
1 ke