The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-12-05
Frederick Haskin's Letter
The Disarmament Illusion.

! man town blew up. Some evn
stVe so powerful that INT is MI
by comparison not only wract.
the plant completely, but destrcvsS
practically the whole town and ~
population. 1t is not u~nreasonsbis
to suppose that the other natiore
Of the world are at least trviDs
keep pace in the developmaD5
destructive chemicals, SO that ill.,.
will not be caught mapping If va,
should come again,
Aircraft forms another 6gb,;.
arm which can be d~eveloped l.
peace times in apparently upv,.r
like ways. In this, though. AM.
lea is tagging behind European ne
tons, notably France and German
Not long ago, a food of advertise.
came out of Germany, SHOWING
pretentious plan for air rOutas
travel from Germany to points al
over the continent of Europs 49,
even acros the Mediterranean -
Africa. The French quickly saw
in this a threat to their own safetv
and a race for supremacy OF tba
air was begun.
Today in Europe travelling by Air
is a common thing. American raj.
road men who have looked into +,
find the United States tagging far
behind in this development Of
transportation. For transportation
is the aspect this aerial devotion.
ment wears in peace times.
Aircraft Hard TO Limit.
France saw in the German plans
for extensively developed aerial
routes OF transportation the means
of economically preparing for an.
other war, and Immediately set out
to pass its ancient enemy in this
respect. Aviators by the hundreds
could be trained and ready for DOS
sible war use through peace time
flying. 1t has the particular an
peal to the French nation that this
sort of war preparation would cost
little or nothing, as the commercial
flying experiment-and it is abou,
past the experimental stage now
could be made almost, if not en-
tirely, to pay for itself.
To make certain that this de-
Velopment would not lag. the gov.
ernments of Germany and France
are literally substituting the com
panies formed for aerial transpor-
tation. The flyers employed could
be- quickly made into military fly
ers if war should come. Many Of
the planes in use for commercial
purposes might prove useless, but
planes can be turned out at a ire
mendously greater rate than can
trained men to operate them.
England is tagging behind France
and Germany in this development
The threat of future trouble with
Germany is not as acute with Eng
land as with France. The British
honestly hope to be able to keep
out of any future fight. However,
flying in England is not being for
gotten completely, and though be-
hind its late ally and its late enemy
in this respect, is far ahead OF the
United States.
The American air service, in both
its military and naval branches, has
uOd USGh uO46 away WILL LuL III
comparison with its n time
strength, is hardly more than a
skeleton. True, there T hundreds
of former flyers now returned to
civil life who could be called into
if necessary. But when this
generation of experienced flyers is
gone, or too old to measure up to
the strict physical requirements OF
the air service, America would have
pray for delays while trying to
train a new set of flyers.
The nucleus of the army and
navy flying attack remains. or
course. These men are continually
and seeking to develop aero
nautics of a military character.
However. the services T not large
in their personnel. The only other
governmental move toward train
ing flyers is in the maintenance Of
the aerial mail service of the post
Office departmet. And of these fly
ers, the only governmental service
outside of the army and navy, there
are today but IS actual flyers