Evening star., 1920-02-01
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cut this to 100000 and S25, 600 bonus
to manufacturers who exceeded de-
grees of merit.
The House committee on military
affairs. on December 4. 1919, reduced
this to $250,0OO. This was. indeed, sur
prising. as the United States was
shown to stand fourteenth among the
nations in the total appropriations
made in the previous Eve years since
the first Wright flight, as follows:
Germany. $2S, 900. 900; France, s220a8.-
900; Russia, $12. 1000. 600; Italy, $s.00e.-
900; Austria. 81, 200, GOO: Great Britain.
$4,000. 900; Belgium, 100000; Japan,
$500. 900: China. 100000: Bulgaria.
$500, 600; Spain. $5o0.000: Brazil. 5000
600. and the I'm ed States. the IN
ventor of the al ane, last. with $780,
coo.
On July Is, 1914, Congress passed a
bill formally recognizing aviation oy
making the aviation section OF the
Signal Corps, with 50 officers and 2oo
men, also allowing the aviators IN
creased pay for the hazards OF nylhs'
On December 8, 1914. the attention OF
Congress was called to the important
part aviation was playing in the great
war and an estimate of $1,oo6.3oo was
asked for aviation. This was reduced 10
s400, ,Oo8 by Secretary of War Garrison
Col. Reber made the statement before
Congress that three airplane manuiac-
turers had done practically all the gov
ernment business and of these three one
had failed Attention was called to the
last budgets of European countries for
aviation before the war. as follows:
Germany $45, 600. 900; France. $l2.Soe'-
600; Russia. 2e.500. 600; Austria, $3.ooo'-
600; Great Britain. sl,os0,0Oo; Italy
$500, 900.
Accordingly, in 1914. Congress. after
much debate. finally authorized $3oOo oo0.
possibly OH the theory expressed by
Senator McKeller that airplanes nave
proved worthless TO very large extent
and we are the gamers by not having
spent SO much" f'
Our aviation force. taken from Gen.
Scrivens 1915 report. was ~ oHlcers.
including 20 Junior military aviators;
qualified students and III enlisted men.
The national defense act of June 3, 1916.
brought about by the alarming interna-
tional situation and passed less than
one year before the European war, AL
lowed the aviation only one major,
eleven captains and sixty five FIRST lieu
V,,r,, I'm this time
the aviation had been restricted to otii-
GERS of lower rank than major. Even
this increase would probably not have
been granted except for the fact that on
March 81 a special emergency appro-
priation of $500. 900 was granted by Con-
rress in order to purchase modern air
planes to do Mexican border patrol
duty. It Is significant that with the ar
rival of the new types Of planes the raids
were stopped.
The following statement by Secre-
tary Baker before the military affairs
committee April 6. 1916. expresses the
situation very clearly:
In all the six years since the Hrst Wright
plane had been purchased, only afty nine planes
had been bought by the government. or these,
twenty one have been condemned, eleven de-
stroyed In accir NJ and one preserved at the
Smithsonian Instint,c"
In May. 1918. Secretary Baker reor-
ganized the air service, placing Col
George O. Squier at the head. Col
squier made a statement in 1915 to
the effect that this country had prac-
tically no airpIane industry because
the manufacturers were not encour-
aged by the government. whereas
Europe under the spur of war was
making prodigious advancement.
The following is also a statement
by Secretary Baker before the mill
tary affairs committee:
It would surprise you to learn bow highly
organized and eomplicated the air service Is.
1t I. the acme Of professional and mechanical
skill.
On March %. 1917. DR.. Charles D.
Walcott, chairman OF the national ad-
visory committee for aerouautics
stated as follows:
Though millions may BE- avsilsbe for n
specific purpose in time Of great need, no