Evening star., 1919-06-22
BY EDWARD MARSHALL,
Special Correspondence Of The Star.
AIR PORT, ATLANTIC CITY,

AWcEiCd anu DTltdlu must
combine commercially in certain de-
tails: about sailing high above the
clouds. not as Lieut.. Commander Read
and Alcock marvelously did in their
flying planes. but in comfortable cab
ins electrically heated and berthed
and chaired for drowsy nights and
days OF comfortable voyaging: about
sailing high above the clouds in
de luxe salons with windows in
their sides and floors through which
to view the sea and sky-scrapes and
in soaring ships to carry tons of
freight: about international COM
merce and it's relationships; about
high steel towers with great revolv-
ing tops to which dirigibles' noses
will be fastened with bar-iron hal
ters.
Does this read like the promise
Of q fantastic mess? In fact. it is.
I think, the nrst announcement Of
an amazing probability, even of
certainty, put forward by the one
man in America best qualified to
speak of it: it is hint Of vast
business venture already undertaken
by one of the worlds greatest
business organizations; it is the first
detailed reference to the way in
which the actual conquest of the air
probably will come. And it suggests
a way Of beating Germany in future
far better than the one in which she
tried to beat the world; of prevent
ing her from desperately snatching
trade from underneath our noses
with commercial unprincipledness
unweakened by the peace conference
and building up a new and vast pros
perity likely to supply the funds for
a new viciousness Of some sort.
zone Of the greatest problems OF
the future lies in the query. How
can the nations Of the allies control
in days to come that South American
trade on which Germany had made
such inroads before the war, and
which she undoubtedly will endeavor
to control in the new days to come?
"Rapid and unprecedentedly great
work Is necessary II this trade Is not
to slip into German hands. The al
lies must not be silly in estimating
the effect Of the peace conference.
Germany will fight, commercially. In
future. harder than she ever did be-
fore. Indeed. the necessary work will
be too rapid and too great for present
methods. believe 1t can be done
grandly and quickly enough only
through concerted action Of. among
the allies, at least Britain and Amer
lea (linked up to France IL she so
willis. which. II they accomplish It,
must resort to revolutionary enter
prise"
Alan r. Hawley, president OF the
Aero Club Of America, was talking.
We were at the worlds first air port.
Atlantic City.
Mote the curious fact that at the
peace conference" he continued. mo
word was said about Germany's
dirigibles: note that. while the allies
hope to beat her in world trade by
suppression of her merchant marine,
they have not even thought about her
great airships; note that today she
hoo udu u STcatcI e>"N'
ably has developed greater science IN
that branch Of effort than any other
nation upon earth.
'If she commercially attacks by air,
as experts believe that she will do.
her first attack will be on South
America. Her influence Is still strong
there, and also there Is that grim
chance, of which the statesmen are
afraid to whisper, of trade alliance
to definitely make drive for the
development OF pan-America.
1T would be absurd for England
and America to underestimate this
matter. South Americas 100000
square miles (about four times that
Of India) is immensely rich with al
most everything desirable: Its popu-
lation has vast purchasing power.
Only air communication quickly can
secure this market.
THAT the interior Of the great
continent not only Is undeveloped,
but practically unexp,ored. we all
know. That enterprising Anglo-Saxons
should have been content to let this
remain fact. that they should have
been satisfied with share or the
great trade which has been done by
the developed sections (the neglect or
the United States having been Tar