Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-13

Continued from First Page)
inspection trip, Col. Mitchell based
his charge of mo defense plans in
existence"
Under cross examination by Mr.
Reid. The witness said that he. as 9
member of the staff of the command
ing general of the Hawaiian depart
ment and concerned with war plans
lid not discuss the application of avi
alton in the defense of the island
With the accused nor was Col Mitch
ell furnished with any set of defense
plans. either verbally or in writing
In his direct examination Maj. Nc
Eair said that shortly after the close OF
ne World War the then commanding
general of the Hawaiian Department,
ZEN. Morton, directed that war plans
r. initiated. The original war
plans explained the witness, were
prepared in the form of field orders.
1t that time the project was revised
rom time to time as conditions
hanged and as our knowledge be
came more complete. The whole
recess of arriving at such plans is
ne of gradual development and prob
bly, always will be. When certain
p!ans We're superseded they We're de-
stroyed."
Tests of Orders Made.
Were there any tests of the field
orders?" asked Maj. Wildly.
There were. Gen. Summerall
wanted to see what the troops them
elves would do in an emergency.
nd they were familiarized with the
plans. Fearing they would become
matter of common knowledge, he is
.ued an order safeguarding them, the
idea being that the actual details
would be known by relatively few
persons"
Did the accused see the then eX-
iSting defense plans when he visited
the islands,
Not to my knowledge. / feel quite
certain l would have known 1t If he
had"
Were you aware of the purpose of
his visit?''
Not In detail There was some
speculation as to just what he was
seeking He was very active and
always moving about, but we were at
a loss to find out what details he was
after. I found out more about this
the day before he left. | was called
into the office of the chief of staff and
the accused was there presenting the
chief of staff with a copy of his re
port. He discussed it while I was II
the office and went over it rapidly. ]
in particular his going over
plans for reconnaissance. His plan
was opposed to duplicating activities
Of the Navy. I cited q pamphlet o.
the joint Army and Navy action ir
coast defense and pointed out this was
the Navy's duty. He replied to the
effect the Navy was no good and II
wouldn't do in time Of need. and we
would have to do it anyway"
Referred to Base Need.
Did he make reference to the ne
cessity for air bases on the other
islands,"
Yes; but it was not an original idea
at that time. We fully recognized the
possibility of hostile aircraft base:
being established on the other islands.
There was no essential point brought
up in the report which could be &C.
cepted and which we had not alread,
contemplated or fully recognized In
our plans"
Did his plans differ materially from
the plans in the field orders?"
Yes. they did differ. The plan of
the accused was an outline to be de-
veloped locally. These two plans may
differ widely and still be effective
Both might well insure proper en-
ployment of troops in emergency.
Our plans for the Air Service were
quite brief. Its actions were put down
as problematic in what would follow
in an emergency. Our plans didn't
attempt to go into detail. The &C
cused went quite fully into what part
the Air Service would play after ac-
ton began. However, since he didn't
know where the action would begin
he confined himself to air tactics. For
that reason the accused's plans were
much more elaborate and extensive
than ours.
Plan May Have Been Good.
II wouldn't say his plan was not a
good one. If it had been presented
to me by the air officer out there !
would have questioned certain parts,
but would have left them in if salts
factorily explained. There were three
points in the plan we couldn't &C
cept-air reconnaissance, communica-
ton and control of anti-aircraft de-
fenses. The total scope really COW
cred only Of five we had in con.
WAS there a system Of airways in
December, 1922" Col. Mitchell
none was In eXistence)
mere was d system III pIOCeSS VI
and it was well covered
in the report Of the accused. In this
he said flights could be made every
day in the year If he had seen some
Of the storms we have he would have
qualified 1t. While he was there elab-
crate arrangements were made for
him TO fly to the Island Of Hawaii.
When the time came to leave he
didn't go, for some reason or other,
and the plane was taken over by boat.
1t was used by him on Hawaii and
then returned by boat"
Mai. McNair also testified that dur
ing Col. MItchell'S visit the defense
plans were being revised and rewrit-
ten in accordance with instructions
from the War Department. AS a re-
suit, a project was perfected and ex-
banded. 1t was decided 20 rewrite 1t
entirely and place it in definite form
because so many details were involved.
He said this project was approved by
the War Department in August, 1924.
and the prosecution sought to intro
duce it in evidence.
Mr. Reid objected, declaring the
project was formed after Col. Mitch
els 1923 visit, but when Maj. Wildly