Evening star., 1920-02-01

amount of money will buy time. Even the
most generous appropriations will not open up
the years that have passed and enable us to
carefully lay the founda tion OF u great in
dustry and Il great aerial army through the ed
mcatiou of engineers. manufacturers. teachers
and all the wide variety Of personnel required
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This was the crux of the situation
unpreparedness. which in aviation is
fatal because Of the length of time it
takes to develop a successful type of
airplane and train pilots to fly.
Meanwhile after the declaration OF
hostilties, the United States govern
ment has been frantically preparing for
war, spending millions on aviation where
thousands would have been sufficient
had proper foundations been laid
in the past. 1t might be said at this
point that it is fortunate for US that
the war was elsewhere and not in this
country On May %. 1917. the United
States government received from
Premier Ribot Of France the following
cablegram. which well establishes the
vital Importance of aviation in modern
warfare:
1t 10 desired that In order to cooperate with
/, the French aerOnauties che American gov
ernment should adopt the following program
The formation Of flying corps Of T. 500 air
planes-persOnnel and material inciutied-to
be sent to the French front during the cam
paign Of 1913. The total number Of pilots
including reserve. should he Of 5000 and 80 00O
n.echanicians.
Two Thousand planes SHOULD I've coBstrte ted
each month, as we'll as 1000 engines. by the
American factories. That Is to say. .that dur
ing the six frat months Of 1913 i8.s0O planes
(of the last typeJ aud 30.O0O engines will
have to be built.
The French government is anxious to
know II the American government accepts this
proposition, which would allow the allies 10
win the supremacy Of the air.
Now. the question is. why wasn't
aviation in the United States given more
support and who was responsible for
the condition at the time of our entrance
into the war in Europe" ...-
1t was not the fault of Congress-. be-
cause their appropriations were based
on the information furnished them.
Secretary Garrison cut the appropria
tions because his advisers recommend
cd 1t, SO now we come to the responsible
party or parties-the officers controIl-
ing the policies and appropriations for
the Army.
The claim is made that never in
the history of aviation have the
proper men prepared and presented
direct to Congress the requirements
Of aviation. Always these reports
are curtailed to suit certain Army
officers-men who know nothing
about aviation. but wish to keep 1t
as an obscure branch in order to re-
tain it as a part Of the Army. The
proper men to make these estimates
and to present them to Congress are
the men most familiar with the sub
ject-the f1yers-men who make avia-
tion their life's business
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The United States during the war
spent millions of dollars on aviation
where thousands should have suf-
feed. because Of our past short
sighted policy. There were no foun-
dations laid. 1t takes nearly a year
to develop a good airplane for war
purposes. This makes it necessary
to develop and keep abreast Of the
times during peace. but this does
not mean that 1t is necessary to keep
huge aerial heets and pilots In readi-
ness and awaiting the possibility Of
war. as Is the case with the Navy.
The plan for a department of air
IL, briefly, as follows:
I. 70 co ordinate all branches Of aviation ,~ b.
?. To stimulate and encourage commercial
aviation.
g. 10 see that oil si planes used commercially
or otherwise are constructed with q view
to military needs in ease Of emergency.
4 To traiR all commercial pilots In military
tactics In this manner forming the nucleus
OF IN aviation reserve corps
3. 10 put to practical use the airplanes owned
by the government for the training Of
pilots, forest patrol. fisheries patrol, Dor.
der patrol. geological and geodetic map.
ping from the air coastal patrol, etc.
a. To control the licensing Of pilots, selection
and care Of municipal and private landing