Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-30
Congress Must Decide
u. S. Aircraft Program
BY Frederic J. Haskin

and the Importance OF which seems
scarcely to be realized by the public
There are several angles To the pro-
bIem presented by the future Of flying
| One of them is the military angie. The
| freedom Of the seas and the ownership
Of the earth are up for discussion, but
| that freedom of the air is also an inn
!, portant factor in the future of the world
| does not seem so generally realized
Aircraft have been considered heretofore
! chiefly as accessories to armies and navles
| But ~. ait are no longer merely scouts
and ur rs; they are powerful agents OF
| deetrt IN. II seems certain that their
| use will be a matter for regulation hy the
| proposed League Of Nations, as we rs
the use of armies and navies.
rNDusTRIAL ANGLE IMPORTANT
The other angle is the industrial angle
There will undoubtedly be keen cop-
| petition between the nations In the de-
velopment Of airplanes for peace time
PURPOSES. How can this development
| best be stimulated and protected IN the
| United States?
Although these questions have not had
much publicity, it is known that they
| are being carefully considered by the
General Staff, by airplane authorities
of the Army Navy and Marine Corps,
/ and by some far-slghted congressman
and senators
All plans arc necessarily vague ~ yet
| At present the Army, thr Navy and the
| Marine Corps has each it's own arr service
| That these should be combined into one
| organization. possibly under the direction
| of a new portfolio in the cabinet, has
often been suggested, and the advantage
| of such an arrangement seem 10 be gen
| eralv agreed upon But how large this
| Air Service should be, and what the
| scope of it's activities and duties should
| be IN time Of peace, are matters upon
which a great variety Of opinion can be
| heard
Probably action taken at the peace
table with regard To the use of air forces
| will have a great influence. But regard
| less OF this there seem 10 be two distinct
! schools Of thought as 10 the part that
the government should play 10 the de-
velopment Of aeronautlcs The most
conservative Of these holds that the
government should exploit the aIrplane
| solely as an adjunct to whatever military
| and naval establishment i may mann
tain IN the future On the other hand the
| most radically constructive idea put for
| ward Is that the whole development Of
| fying should be under government con-
Of the air, the scientific study Of the At
mospheye, and the establishment ol
routes and landing fields.
UR6E SERVICE Of 5000
In point Of size, personnel for the
| Air Service Of only 1000 has been re-
commended by some high authorities,
while force of 5000 is about the largest
| that has been authprltatIVely suggested
/ In modern Air Service there are about
20 70 p men to each plane.
OF course, the moot and most delicate
| question Of government control or owner
| ship versus free private initiative which
| Is also involved in the problo,u ii the
, railroads and the telephone I'D tele-
| graph lines. enters also to some extent
| into TINS question OF the future Of the ar.
| For several reasons, however Il does not
| enter TO the same extent For military
reasons the government must necessarily
! have a considerable degree of control
over flying. and for 3 considerable period
| at least the practical uses OF airplanes
will be chiefly for this, ana for other
| PURPOSES which are recognized functions
| OF government.
Leaving out this question OF principle.
the advocates of extensive government
| control over flying bring forward = num-
| ber of practical reasons why such control
| Is desirable.
| For one thing, The government has at
| present control OF practically all patents
| used In the manufa ture OF planes. Il IS
| well known that before the war there
was some litigation over airplane patents
/ in this country, and that none OF the
manufacturers had the Use Of all Of them
| But when the war broke out the govern
ment readily obtained the use OF all
patents then existing and 1t has control
| of all improvements patented during the
| war Only airplsnes manufactured on
| government contract, therefore, may
| embody all the discoveries and improve
meuts. The advantages, from practical
and scientific viewpoint, OF having the
| government act as a clearing house for
discoveries and inventions, lStead Of
leaving private concerns to fight over
them, seem obvious.
L. ;. HAS HUGE PLANT.
Again, the government owns thousands
| of planes, has thousands of trained hiers
and mechanics now IN It's employ, and
owns millions of engines and parts To
let this great plant, equipment and per-
sonnel go TO pieces will be an immense
waste of the peoples money.
\ third reason advanced for govern
| ment control is that large industrial
/ development and practical use of the
airpane must he proceeded h~-a great
scientific developmeut-no so much in
| the airplane itself as in the knowledge Of
! the air Air currents must be studied
! and charted. 4 practical means must be
worked out Tor observing the wind NJ
all elevations When the Weather Bureau
is able 10 furnish daily reports on weather
conditions at the elevation OF 5000,
| 10000 and 10000 feet. just rs il now
sends out daily bulletins for the weather
ut the surface OF the earth, flying viii be,
| about as safe as automohiling possibly
more 50.
Such a system et high-altitude weather
reports Is perfectly feasible. according to
| the experts. but it would REQUIRE much
scientific research, conducted on a national
scale Such research would be essentially
n government task In the same way
the charting Of air routes and establish
ment OF landing fields must be carried
out IN accordance with national plan
to have much value
For the government t. carry on these
researches and pNperiment~ both ii the
| making ot air craft and in the study of
| the air would he Al lmmenee burden
upon tho taxpayer ii MAY be objected
for which he would receive no return
In refutation of this argument II IS stated
| that there are a nurnner 0f practical
money-saylng ways IN winch the govern
| ment could make Use of its asrplanes and
| its knowledge in peace times and these
1 he