The Washington herald., 1918-03-23

What Is wrong with the airplane
program of your Uncle Samuel?
Folks the country over want to
know. And they will know before
long just what was the matter.
They were in a fair way to know
recently, when the Senate Military
Committee began inquiry along this
line. But the Illness of Senator Cham
berlain. and the absence of Senator
Hitchcock from the city. left the mat
ter in the hands of friends who took
it to the President and stopped the in
| vestigation.
The statement is made. however.
that the President Immediately began
little investigation of his own and
that at the present moment he is
quite exercised over it,
The first outstanding feature Is that
the country started on the wrong
basis. 1t was expected that aircraft
could be turned out by the hundred.
with the aid of machinery, and that
everything would be built 10 stand
| ard.
That is not at all the case. The ex-
perience of the first few months has
shown that each craft is an Individual
affair, and that its construction is not
at all unlike that of a ship. To a GER
tain extent the training machines on
this side of the water can be built in
this way but the more powerful fight
ing craft used abroad cannot.
The time consumed in finding this
out was very valuable. And then af-
ter the forces began work on the new
plan there were many exasperating
dnla
particularly disagreeable because of
the fact that the delay in the pro-
gram had brought them to the sur
face. whereas it is doubtful if they
would have crept out i'm the same
fashiop had the proper program been
installed at the outset.
Little effort is being lost now
Every energy is being bent to getting
the craft into shape for the big work
abroad. And it is expected that when
/ Secretary Baker returns to this coun-
try the work will go on at a still
greater rate for, from the reports from
the Secretary's trip over France, he
has been duly impressed with the i'm
portance of whipping the Huns in the
| air.
| O"N VI NhV ihttACsttlS hSuFcS u bt
before the Senate committe shortly
will be Gen. Leonard Wood, well
known 10 this city He has just been
through some of the trials abroad.
He is to be questioned by the COM
mittee before he returns to his di-
vision at Camp Funston. Kansas The
| general Is one of the all-around mill
tary men whose thoughts have been
on this line when others of us were
woolgathering along paciistic lines,
The general is not essentially a mill
| tarist, but he is man who has un-
| derstood the larger human nature
from the first. In that respect he has
exhibited much superior brand of
craftsmanship to that exhibited by
some men who have even mounted so
high as the head of the Presidents s
! Cabinet in our nation.
Congress is duly exercised over
the Wisconsin situation.
There are Republicans who feel
that the chances are all in favor
| of Joe Davies e1ection-and strange
IL there are Democrats who feel
that the President has opened the
| way for the Thompson voters to
| support Lenroot
The outcome, however, appears to
| rest on two things-the vote which
| did not participate at all in the
primaries. and the Thompson men
IL the latter group is so far alien
ated from the Lenroot group that nc
reconciliation can, be effected in the
short time given for the campaign
then the Lenroot campaign is hope.
| less.
But if the Presidential letter to
| Davies opens the way for the La
Toilette crowd to go to Lenroot-
which is not possible, some say
and IL the, voters who were not
enough interested to get to the
primary polls, follow their owr
party inclinations and nothing else
then the chances favor Lenroot's
| election.
In either event the Socialist vote
| will not count, though il may tbt
| extraordinarily heavy.
But II the Thompson men go q