New-York tribune., 1919-08-04
L. S.
Air Service
Left to Rust
Continued from page l

officer describes that industry as al
ready dead. On the day the armistice
was signed the Liberty motor factories
were turning out the big aviation en-
glnes at the rate of 4,50O a month. If
an order for Liberties were placed to-
morrow it would be about six months
before the first one could be delivered
From the standpoint of Immediate pro-
ductlon Of aircraft we are about back
to where we were in April, which
was nowhere. The aircraft plants have
been dismantled and the industries that
were converted TO aircraft production
during the war are all back at their old
jobs. We still have the advantage over
1917 of having thousands of skilled
workmen, many experienced engineers
and d large supply OF "know-how," but
even this advantage has been lost, tenn
porarily at least, by the breaking up of
organizations and the dispersion Of
their members.
Planned for $S3,0O0,O00
General Menoher, chief Of the air
service, complying with his cpigram
that "aeronautcs is ready for business,
but business is not ready for aeronau-
tics" believed that it was good ma
tional policy from a business as we'll
as military standpoint to maintain
substantial air force and purchase
annually for it's use about thousand
airplanes of various types. to say
nothing Of drigibles and other avia-
tion apparatus. He planned to spend
about S60,000,00o year on purchases
and engineering development in the
governments own plants. At that time
he was asking for $50 100000. Congress
cut this figure to $25,000, 900, and the
House wanted to make it only $l5 ,00O,-
600. Congress also specifically refused
authority for the acquisition of the
Dayton Wright plant at Dayton as an
engineering and experimentation lab
ratory.
Now General Menoher tifindfifs that
about all he can do with his limited
funds to keep abreast of the times is
to maintain some sort of engineer
ing staff and keep it busy on the tech
nique of aircraft production. But he
can do absolutely nothing in the way
OF patronage for manufacturers, who
cannot retain any appreciate degree
OF their war time capacity on CONNER
cial patronage. 1t was considered good
national industrial policy to keep some
OF the plants alive with government
business while the commercial demand
Tor alrships was developing. When the
plants are supported commercially they
always will be ready for a war emer-
gency. In the mean time it was con-
sidered sound military policy to keep
them ready for an emergency through
liberal amount of government patron.
age.
Other Nations Go Ahead
With the failure of Congress to re-
spond to General Monoher's views.
there results neither commercial nor
military airplane production. Other
nations are developing military and
commercial aviation hand in hand, and
are holding large part of the prog
ress IN aeronautics that was made dur
ing the war-an advance estimated to
be equal to that of 25 years of ordi-
nary progress.
Great Britain has sought not only to
MAINTAIN its production plants in
readiness for another emergency, but
mas deliberately set out through part
nershlp OF government and private in
dustry to become easily the first air.
snip nu,lding and operating nation in
the world The British appropriations
49, ~NtS " YoSoyOVV,UuU Il wear.
as against our army and navy total Of
S50O0O,000. AS much as $4,000, 900 is
being spent directly on commercial
aviation, partly in meeting the cost of
what amounts to a worldwide propa-
ganda for the British aeronautical in
dustries. Air terminals are being
established, air lines are being subsi.
dlzed. British officers are going all over
the world as aviation instructors and
as commercial travellers, and are assist
ing in the establishment of air lines in
regions. like South America, that are
particularly favorable to their intro
duction. "If the Air Ministry" saws
The London Times" shall continue
these propaganda demonstrations. car
rylng them out in all countries wher
ever practicable, there is no reason
why. we should not collect almost the
whole aircraft manufacturing industrv
OF the world, as in the days before the
war British shipyards silt warships
for the world
Falling Rapidly Behind
One Of General Menoher's plans was
she gained during the war and America
retrogressing very rapidly aviation au-
thorities in the army and navy saw
that we are now three years behind
England on buoyant aircraft and at