Evening star., 1924-12-11

ready brought New York and San
| Francisco within about 80 hours of
each other, lessening by at least two
whole days the time otherwise re-
| quired for the delivery of mail from
| one terminus to the other, and very
soon it will be possible to mail let
| ter after the close of the business day
| in New York with the assurance that
| it will be delivered in Chicago by the
| time the next business day there be-
gins.
Briefly, then, we have concluded
| that aircraft, under suitable condi-
| tions and with proper management,
may be operated in regular trans
| portation service for the carriage of
passengers, mail and goods with equal
or greater safety and reliability than
existing standards for train service
and with a great saving in time.
Time-Saving Examples.
Further to illustrate this time
saving, only a few weeks ago II was
in Boston and wanted to send pack
| age and message to New York. These
were given to an airplane pilot, who
flew from the Boston Airdrome to the
landing field at Mineola on Long
Island. delivered them, received an
| answer to the message and was back
in Boston just two hours and fifteen
minutes from the time he left there.
ON another occasion when in Wash
ington it was necessary for me to
consult with one of my men in De-
| troit. He was called over the long
distance telephone, told to come to
| Washington at once. He left the De-
| troit field and landed on the Wash
| ington field just three hours and two
! minutes later.
Most of you no doubt know of the
| development of air transportation in
/ Europe, and that it is simple mat
| ter TO travel by air between practi-
! cally all European capitals. These
| European air transportation com
| panies have regular schedules and
| tariffs just as do railroad and steam
| ship lines. The question is often ask
| ed why in this country, whose dis
| tanCes are SO much greater, air
| transportation has not before this
come into being. The answer is a
simple one. The European countries
have recognized more clearly than
| ourselves the military and the eco
nomic advantages of developing and
| promoting these air transportation
companies. They, therefore, subsidize
them or practically guarantee to the
operating agencies a profit on their
investment, and. in addition, there is
government supervision of all flying.
In this country we always balk at
the word subsidy, and yet there is no
method of transportation ever en-
ployed which has not been subsidized
indirectly by States or by the Federal
Government, or by both. Even in the
early days of animal-drawn vehicles
the roads were provided by country
or state governments. Many of our
railroad systems were given immense
! land tracts. The Federal Govern
ment today improves and lights wa
terways and harbors, while State and
Federal agencies are spending money
by the hundreds Of millions of dollars
in building roads for automobile traf-
fc. These are all indirect subsidies
to the different methods of transpor-
tation. So far nothing of this kind
has been done for air transportation.
Furthermore, the vehicles employ ed
on land and water are carefully in
spected and as a rule their operators
are licensed.
With similar governmental super
vision and aid there is no reason why
air transportation will not he f1nan-
clally successful.
In the years to come and possibly
not so far in the future, looking at
the air liners then in common use,
men will view in the National Mu-
scum the tiny planes that made the
first air journey around the world
and will marvel that any man was
bold enough to attempt in them such
an undertaking, just as today we
contrast the Leviathan with the
cockleshells in which Columbus ven
tured forth upon the trackless and
uncharted ocean,"