The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-21

aggregate horsepower equal to ap- proximately one-eighth of the total horsepower of all the locomotives in the United States. She received and paid for 6,745 engines and 5,071 planes from the Allies, of which over 2,30O were service planes used by the American forces in Europe. On the day of the armistice America had 1,- 62O service planes available for use on the front lines. She furnished the materials and supplies that made possible the maintenance of the AL lied air forces and finally resulted in their predominance by nearly 100 per cent. on the Western front.
 "In machines that she owned Americas f1iers went to the front and
 established part of the most bril- liant record of the war. For each American in our forces who perished in combat an average of over two and one-half of the enemy fell Thousands of patriotic Americans faithfully, intelligently and self-sac- riflcingly contributed to this program
 of accomplishments. For it all the
 majority of this committee have neither recognition nor commenda-
 tion. They can only find faults. The
 reward they offer for this service to
 their country by their countrymen is
 snarling criticism, fault finding, com plaints and destructive vituperation."
 The minority report states what
 the majority report omits, the inter allied agreement of Dec. 4, 1917, that
 the European allies should manufac-
 ture the necessary pursuit planes, the
 increased production being made pos
 sible by materials furnished by
 America. In this way much time
 was saved, the latest approved fight
 ing models were obtained and the
 greatest efficiency made possible. , America received 1921 pursuit planes
 in this way.
 In the course of their junket to the
 spruce forests of the Northwest the
 Republican "smellers'' issued a
 vicious attack upon John D. Ryan of
 New York, who had been head of the
 aircraft production department when
 the armistice was signed, all of the charges admittedly hearsay-failing
 of substantiation. These charges 1n- cluded the assertion that MT. Ryan had used his aircraft position in such
 a way as to cause the construction of
 a spruce logging railroad so that it could be used later by the Chicago, l Milwaukee & St. Paul road, of which MT. Ryan was a director. Messrs l ing their report, and instead of di- rect charges indulged in innuendoes. The facts of the investigation had showed that the plan for the logging road was determined weeks before MT. Ryan was connected with the air craft production, that officers of the Milwaukee railway system opposed 1 the route selected and had a6vo- i cated the carrying out of it's own ex- i tension plans, though futilely.
 q am familiar, and so is the pub ! Iic with the character of the investi- 1 gation conducted,\ and the bias and l partfsanship that marked the en- 1 deavor of the two majority members 1 of the sub committee to capitalize for 1 petty political purposes the unwar- | ranted and unjustified attack upon | men who did their best to help wir | the war and to do whatever work i they were called upon to do,' com
 mented MT. Ryan on the Rrear report l t"The chairman of the subcommittee l having, as shown by his record in 1 Congress, assumed a position hostile 1 to the assertion of American rights l during the pre-war period, and hav- | ing voted against the declaration ot war with Germany, cannot now, ] i am sure, influence public opinion by
 submitting a report based upon an l Investigation so thoroughly dis l credited as the one which he con- l ducted.''