The Washington herald., 1918-05-11
The Aircraft Imbroglio.

Here we have quantity production IN the ABB
stract press agents innumerable, investigators and
investigators of investigators, stock promotion and
inHation Standardization OF motor which was
called with rather bald imagination the liberty
everything, in short, but aircraft
OF course, just at this present juncture there is
a touch OF opera bouffe about it all, although in
few months really hope and believe a radically
different story will be told, for the tales of air
craft program which is unreservedly failure and
"6zzle' are complete invention. But just now the
situation is black, and patheticaly comic, as
it could be.
The crownng touch is the disclosure that Gut
zon BorgIum, the original investigator with White
House credentials, is alleged to have used his
Friendship with the President" to aid in the pro-
motion of the stock OF a aircraft company.
The whole thing sounds like melodrama,
chrome tragedy. But here it is in black and white
to regalc the minds OF a public which is bending
itself to and greater sacrifices with every
passing week.
Where and what is the trouble? Is it because
the right people" the strong OF the country,
are still being held at arms length by those in
thority? Not exactly that; Stettinius and Schwab
are here, among many others, to show that at last
the is assuming its true proportions as
matter OF business Then what is it?
Perhaps part OF the answer is to be found in
the fact that Gutzon Borglum, a sculptor and also,
it is alleged, inventor given at least quasi
official status to investigate such a complex and
technical matter aircraft production. The report
that he brought in almost exactly true to
dope" it was iull OF charges OF conspiracy,
ruption, enemy machinaton, which absurd
Iy Horid and sr-ictched that they vtatcd whatever
OF value there was in his work OF inquiry. \ tenn
pcramental and artistic genius turned loose
among d lot OF facts and figures. He made regu-
lar shilling shockcr' out of them.
The same tcmpCramental genius, it is al
legged, was not so far removed from the world OF
practical affairs that he could the possibi-
ties OF turning profit the opportunities which his
investigating credentials gave him. Oh. you long
and august line OF special agents"-from William
Bayard Hale and Charles Ferguson down to Gut
son Borglum-whcn and where you going to
end,
However, here is a mess" which will point to
a situation which should be cleaned up at with
no gentle hand. There is group OF so-called
nautical interests in this country which doing
their best to embarrass the government in the pro-
duction OF airplanes, largely because their ideas
have not been adopted and because they not in
control They ought to be silenCed and their dan
gcrous activities stopped
Under John d. Ryan, the aircraft admins
traitor, in fair way to retrieve past errors
and to bring about that quantity production" OF all
types OF planes, which has been the American shibbo-
leth. There seems to be little doubt OF the sub
stantial success OF the Liberty motor. The CHIEF
trouble seems to be that the former aircraft admin
istration bent upon ovcrStandardizing it, and
realizing that, with important discoveries and
changes being made in aircraft motors almost every
day. complete Standardization impracticable
We've passed the turn in the road-now let's all
pull together and show the world what we really
can do.