The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-07-26
Report by Senate Committee
Expected to Be Presented
in a Few Days
EXPERIMENTATION
CAUSED THE DELAYS

IullllouS VI DOlidTS WdSCeu Oh Oluclcue
Types of Machines without Contrib
uting Anything to Fighting Strength
Outlook Better.
WASHINGTON, July ga full re-
port of the conditions found to exist
in the aircraft factories throughout
the country will be submitted to con-
gress within the next few days by the
senate committee ON aircraft. This
subcommittee, which has conducted
its investigations under the authority
of senate resolution, visited and
held hearings at practically all the
important centers where aeroplanes are
being manufactured 1t will be re-
membered that the committee did not
undertake to examine into the phase
of the aircraft investigation which had
to do with alleged irregularities in
the expenditure of the huge sum of
money appropriated by congress for
aircraft production. The members of
the committee explained that they were
solely concerned with the industrial
conditions prevailing, and held their
hearings with a view to ascertaining
as far as possible what the prospects
are for aeroplane production.
As frequently pointed out the mem
bers of the committee are far from sat
isfied with the progress made up to
the present date, though all the mem
hers are of the opinion that things look
better and that more business like
methods are being pursued. In other
, words, while the report will fully vim
dieate the previous report of the SEN
, ate military committee, the fairness of
which was doubted in some quarters
the present report has a more optimis-
tic tone.
While it is true that the 90 days de-
lay, which was the estimate of Feb.
ruary, have expanded into nine months
or, perhaps, one year, il is also true
! that quantity production rhasot been
reached in many of the factories. The
committee expects that the program
laid down by General Pershing in July
1917, viii be in a fair way toward com
pletion, not in 1918, but some time in
1919.
The report will point out that mil
; lions of dollars have been wasted il
8 experimenting with different types Of
. planes without contributing anything
D to the fighting strength of the nation
This continual junking" process
which viii be fully covered in the re
q port of the committee, viii probabl,
3 explain to the American people wher
3 enormous sums of money went and wha
O became of the immense amount of mate
8 rails One item covered in the repor
illustrates what appears to have beer
a general practice. Members of tn
committee pointed out that 1,20
: training planes, costing the govern
a ment $6,000,000, were recently scrappe
and presumably burnt because the
were considered dangerous to wor
i with. 1t is known that many of tn
casualties at the training camps wer
i due to the use of planes of faulty cor
struction and dangerous types of train
II ing planes.
III Experimentation, as frequentl
l pointed out, appears to have been tn
l besetting sin of those in charge of thi
/ phase of American enterprise Tha
/ aircraft production was field with p,
l culiar attractions for the amateur COZ
l structor and administrator is now III
Equestioned. This is fully borne out j
Z the report about to be compiled an
: submitted to the people. That TIL
II should have been the case to so larg
an extent is the more surprising [
II members of the committee in view c
II the high technical knowledge require
II in this field.
II Attention viii be called to the mil
ii leading reparts issued from time t
II time, which, whether based on incui
II able optimism or ignorance, had n
| bearing whatever on actual results {
II actual achievements, and which, as or
II member of the committee expressed i
II served but ''to confuse things While
II were already sufficiently confused. >
Hi There is a disposition among men
bers of the committee to hold the fol
] mer aircraft production board respons
: bile for a great part of the delay. Whe
the whole truth is known, however,
is believed that the responsibility mu;
% be equally if not more shared by til
= war department and by the navy d.
r partment, both of which were slow
ID Submitting their programs and both {
m whose engineering organizations wei
Or extremely weak.
% There were only handful of graz