Evening star., 1922-01-08

ment Of air power. the immediate result
will be the retarded development Of
| means Of transportation and commune
cation, which will itself, II unrestrict-
ed, largely act to bring about the
same result-the removal Of some OF
the causes OF warfare.
"a. This committee is unanimously
| of the opinion that In the present
state Of development OF aeronautics
there is q technical possibility OF the
| limitation OF numbers, character and
use Of civil and commercial aircraft
| with regard to their utilization In
| war: they are. however, agreed that
such limitation Of numbers and es-
pecially of character is not practi-
| cable. except In the case Of lighter
| than-air craft Of above certain
displacement.
25. AS regards the desirability sof
| limitations the committee has touched
| on those factors which must be under
stood before arriving at q decision.
| 1t feels 1t to be a duty to lay great
stress upon the following fact which
will have q decided bearing upon any
| to be adopted: Any limitation as to
number and character Of civil and
commercial aircraft heavler-than- air
| or iighter-t -than-air, which is effica-
cious to hinder their utility for war
purposes, must interfere disastrously
aeronautics for legitimate civil and
commercial enterprises. To limit the
science of aeronautics in its present
| state Is to shut the door on progress.
It is for the conference to decide
whether the limitations which can
with difficulty be devised and i'm
posed are to be adopted at such a
cost.
Military Aircraft.
Note: In the part Of the report
| which follows. the word military"
is used in its widest sense to denote
pertaining to the fighting services
whether naval, military or air"
Preliminary Remarks.
rs. The committee agreed that be-
fore entering upon discussion of
possible Limitation Of the numbers
Of military aircraft it was desirable
that the present relative air strength
OF the nations represented should be
ascertained and tabulated in a simple
son between them. The results of this
! investigation are tabulated in ap-
pendices !, 2, 3, and attached to
this report. 1t is remarked that
! though these forms afford a guide
| to the relative military air strengths
| at the present day. it is impracticable
to present complete estimate of a
| nations air power. since air power is
(as has been already shown) intf-
| mately bound up in factors other than
the military establishment Differ
ences in organization and adminis-
| tration OF the various national aerial
! forces are further obstacle to di-
| rect comparison In detail: these fac
| tors must not be forgotten when
| studying the statement presented
and must be kept In the foreground
| Of all discussions as to the possibility
| of limitation.
| As to Number.
81. The Limitation Of number of
| military aircraft presents from one
f, point Of view less difficulty than the
| similar problem in the case of COM
| mercial aircraft. 1t is obvious that
| a Limitation on the number of
military aircraft is agreed upon be-
a state without that interference
with the liberty of citizens which
complicates the question of aircrat.
| devoted to commercial pursuits. But
| when the details OF such an agree
! ment are considered. 1t will be found
i reasonable basis on which the allot-
! ment of relative strengths can be
made. For example:
i O The status quo. cannot serve
as starting point. since the state
of development Of air services differs
| widely in the case of the various
powers (see appendices), and in no
case can these services be considered
| as complete.
GD The, size of nations navy
in SO far as aircraft are essential
| auxiliaries to those services.
] diD National policy will differ
as between nations; some nations. for
example. will wish, to have large air
forces for coast defense where others
| prefer to trust to older methods. De-
velopments on the lines of the SUBJ
| stitution of air forces for other
forms of force are likely to be con-
| siderable.
(iv) The potentialities of air forces
in policing and garrisoning semi
| civilized or uncivilized countries are
as yet only partially realized. The
| number of aircraft required for such
| duties will vary with the size and
nature Of the territories to be pa
| trolled and with the value placed on
their services by different nations.
| (vl The geographical position and
peculiarities of state, the situation
and strength of its possible enemies
must influence the number of air.
craft it will desire to maintain.
(vD Different terms of service for
personnel will influence the effec-
| tiveness Of air services and the size
| Of the reserve.
(viD The state Of development OF
possibilities for civil aeronautics will
have, as has been shown above, q
| direct bearing on the number of mill
! tary aircraft which 1t may be de-
| sirable for q state to maintain.
The problem Of finding a suitable
ratio between the air forces Of vari-
| GUS powers Is thus at the present
time almost insuperable.
Az to Character.
But even should 1t be possible to
fix the ratio. such q limitation would
be Of little value without some limit
as to the character Of the aircraft
When the question of Limitation OF
the conference it was found necessary
to limit the displacement of individual
ships as we'll as the total tonnage
In the absence Of similar provision
the Limitation Of numbers of aircraft
would only result in competitive
greater power and size. The methods
Of Limitation must therefore attempt
to legislate for both number and
character.
Methods Of Limitation.
20. The following methods may be
'iHs. FIRST. The limitation of the mum.
Der Of military aircraft.
/ Second. The Limitation of the
amount of horsepower for military
Third. The limitation of the lift
tonnage for military aircraft
Fourth. The Limitation of person
mel for military aircraft.
Fifth. The limitation Of military
aircraft budgets.
These five methods may be applied
in combination or singly and are con.
sidered In detail below:
\ Limitation Of the number Of air.
craft is the most obvious method OF