New-York tribune., 1921-02-25
To the Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Now is the time above all others
when our country must make true esti-
mate of what it should put into national
defense. This should not be obhterated
by any feeling between the services any
mere theories, or any suppression Of the
real facts and their proper presentation
to Congress.
We are always confronted by the fact
that we may have trouble with other
nations. We have no particular "bone
to pick with any one'on this continent,
so that our trouble will come from
across the seas.
The only way that we can be attacked
is through the air or over The water.
To-day feet of battleships, in order
to operate 5000 or 1000 miles away
from home, needs a base in order to
maintain itself. However, aircraft have
been constructed, and have been oper-
ated, which are able to go more than
four times this distance, so that they
could come to America and return to
Europe, or even Asia, without landing
and without replenishing their fuel
Ihus we have new element in warfare
to consider. 1t is not service, it is
not an instrument, but it is real arm
that IS, it has people operating it in the
air, and different kinds of offensive and
defensive equipment in the way of guns,
| "a
Battleships, due to their great cost,
the number of men needed to man them,
the dockyards and supply basesp and
the supply ships necessary to accompany
them in order to provide them with am
munition, fuel and food, are a terrible
burden on the taxpayers
On the other hand, the airplane costs
comparatively little. One thousand air
planes can be built for the cost Of one
battleship. AS things stand to-day, a
cannon, even after having been devel-
oped for five hundred years, cannot
make as great a percentage of hits on
target at a distance of 10000 yards
from where the gun is firing as an air
plane, with its unlimited range of flight,
can make at one hundred miles. That
alrplane projectiles are effective, and
tremendously so, as compared TO cannon
projectiles is a we'll known fact That
they have little fear of any fire from
the ground was proved conclusively in
the World War.
1t is very evident that, in order to
develop proper weapons to be used from
airplanes against ships, targets should
| be furnished so that the effect could be
carefully studied. A battleship is help
less without its cessories-torpedo
boat destroyers, cruisers and supply
! ships. The method Of attacking and
sinking these vessels by airplsne should
certainly be gone into, as is also the case
with heavily armored vessels.
The Air Service of our army is
charged by law with the defense of the
coast, not only against hostile aircraft,
but against hostile shipping. 1t has
made a modest request that obsolete
ships, naval vessels-of which there are
plenty on hand doing nothing-be turned
over to it tor target practice. 1t has
asked for two destroyers, two supply
vessels and an obsolete bsttleship. The
Coast Artillery has recently finished
firing guns at an obsolete battleship at
Pensacola. The navy exploded some
bombs on an obsolete battleship-and
incidentally attempted to conceal thei,
result from Congress at this time.
The Army Air Service has organiza-
tions, ana methods of attack learned on
the field of battle in Europe, which il
desires to try on these targets, and nc