Evening star., 1925-09-09
CENTRAL HE'D NATIONAL DEFENSE
Is NEEDED, MITCHELL DECLARES
War, Navy and Aviation Branches Would Be Created
Under One Directing Head, by Plan--Blames
Aeronautc Troubles on Existing System

and the Army and air force report to
it. II it is going to be n land cam
paign, the Army should have charge
of it and all of the elements of the
Navy and air forces report to it. If 1t
is TO be an air campaign, the air force
should have charge and the Army and
Navy report to 1t. The secretary of
national defense could determine this.
with an adequate air force It is
difficult to see how any hostile host
can touch our soil coming from Eu-
rope or from Asia.
Due to the increased understand
ing of modern implements of defense
it is probable that in the near future
civilized nations OF the world will
agree to eliminate from their national
defense ARRANGEMENTS all useless and
expensive elements that now enter
into it, and will confine themselves to
a defensive armament consisting of
aircraft, submarines and sufficient
land forces for their needs. This is
what the influence Of air power is
bringing about.
Calls for Change.
For many years we have had to
cater to the old Army and Navy sys-
tent now should be stopped and a
new one instituted. To sidestep this
change proposals certainly will be
made to create a special service of
aviation within the Army for work
over land, a special service of avia-
ton in the Navy for work over the
water and a special service of avia-
ton within the Department OF Com
merce to handle civil aeronautics. AL
though this sounds alluring, it will be
even a worse condition than obtains
at present, because the old system
Will still control the aviation in the
Army, Navy and the Department
OF Commerce and will even intrench
it more strongly. This has been tried
in other countries-in England, for in
stance, before a modern organization
was made. The Germans used to at
tack London-the army air force
would chase them as far as the coast,
there would then be no naval air
force because they We're fooling
around in flying boats somewhere and
under an entirely separate command.
The Germans, therefore, did very
much as they pleased.
Council to Advise President.
'In addition to the department OF
national defense, under one secretary,
there should be council of national
State, Secretary of the Treasury and
the Secretary of National Defense. In
case the President desired advice on
conditions relative to present or TO
prospective emergencies, he would
instruct the Secretary Of State to con-
vene this council and report to him
the result of their deliberations.
The Secretary of State, having
called together the secretary of ma
tienal defense and the Secretary OF
the Treasury, might say: Gentlemen,
it is probable that a certain country
combined with others, may force us to
defend ourselves within five years Mr.
Secretary Of National Defense, what
do you need in the armed forces of
this Nation to maintain our independ-
ence and institutions?' The secretary
of national defense might answer, L
need an air force of 2 900 airplanes,
naval force of 400 vessels and an
army of half a million men, the cost
OF which will amount to so much
money. with an amount of so much
cash Immediately available
Means Accurate Estimate.
THE Secretary of State would then
ask the Secretary of the Treasury.
How much money have you that can
be applied TO this proposition, and how
much need we raise by taxation at
once" After having received the
necessary data from the Secretary of
the Treasury, the whole report could
be quickly made up and given to the
President and an absolutely accurate
estimate of the whole situation made.
The terrible condition in our ma.
tional aeronautics today is not so
much the result of the absolute igno-
rance of individuals, because often
these are selected on the principle of
saying, Tag; you're it. Go, play with
aviation when they know nothing
about 1t and are really more to be
pitted than blamed. The trouble is
with the system, and we flying people
Insist that our views be known and
weighed by the American public"