New-York tribune., 1919-07-03
Allowance of $5O,OOO,O00
for All Purposes Said to
Make Impossible Execu.
ton of Bureaus Plans
Fear Industry Will Fall
Action Is Declared to Put
Nation in Third Place,
Or Lower, in Aeronautics
Netc York; Tribune
Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON, July Pin the final
appropriation outcome the army and
navy were allowed $4,000 900 for
ooo 900 they asked for, the army being
cut from $83,000000 to. S25 600, 900 and
the navy being reduced to the same
sum from $46,000,000. Nothing but the
Senates insistence that it would be
grossly lneQuitable to give the army.
with its vastly larger establishment, a
smaller amount than the navy pre-.
vented the House from holding army
aviation down to $15,0O0,OO0.
High army officers agree the Nmita-
ton of army aviation to 25,O00,00O for
the next year definitely fixes the
United States as third or fourth rate
nation in aeronautics. The army's
$25,000,000 was put almost entirely in
1t will be possible to make it cover the
engineering and reserve manufacturing
plants that had been proposed. Thus,
experimentation and development on a
large scale go oyerboard, as do also the
prospects for such a degree of patron
age for private factories as would keep
up large capacity for airplane produc.
ton.
Buffalo Plant Sacrificed
Had Congress appropriated s96o,oOo
for that purpose the great Curtiss
Elmwood plant at Buffalo would have
passed to the possession of the air
service. The government already,
through war contracts, had about S5,-
100000 invested in this plant. Now it
loses everything. It. was intended to
use this plant for storage in time of
peace and for emergency airplane
manufacture in time Of war.
The Dayton Wright plant at Dayton
was to have been taken over and used
as the great aviation engineering
centre Of the army.
The entire army aviation personnel
will be only about 10000, or only
enough to man and support about twen-
ty-four air squadrons, which means
about 432 planes in active service.
There is now on hand vastly more
equipment in the way Of planes ana
accessories than such a force can use,
but it rapidly will become obsolete.
With only $50,0O0,000 for all avia-
ton purposes, the volume of purchases
of ajrplanes, balloons and dirigibles
will, it is stated, be much too small to
keep the American air industry vital
lied during the transition period. The
result is, officers assert, that the United
States, which was first in aviation en-
gine production when hostilites term
mated and soon to be first in plane
production. will be almost as impotent
as it was when the war began.
Production Capacity Shrinks
SO rapidly has airplane capacity de-
clined since last November that it is
estimated that if the government were
to place an order for 800 planes to-day
the last of them would not be delivered
inside of eighteen months. Single fac
tories had capacity Of 250 to 500 a
month in the last days of the war. An
aviation officer raid to-day the present
aircraft production capacity of the
United States is less than that of
Japan.
Great Britain is spending $3.50, ,ooo-
France about $200.0000O0. The former
is devoting $15,000000 to propaganda
aimed at encouragement of commercial
uses of the airplane and the dirigible,
and is to devote much larger sums to
encouraging development of interna-
tional aerial routes. British army Off
GERS are even now acting as sales
agents for British airplanes in South
America.
British Foresight Cited
The British idea was that the war
had develop ed aeronautics and aircraft
productisi about as much in four
years as peace would in twenty-five
years. Hence it seemed to be neces-
sary to take special steps to hold up
the industry while it was waiting for
the commercial demand to catch up
with it.
The customary excuse given at the
Capitol Ter neglect of aviation is that
the present is only a temporary meas
ure, and that in another year, when all
matters are Systematically re-
organized. aviation will come into its
own. Brs in another year, army Off