The Washington times., 1926-03-22

select and adapt any good polI
England has an air force under
ministry, entirely separate from
the army and navy. There is also
minister for the army and a
minister for the navy, these three
being under the prime minister.
They have q war. council which
is composed of the prime minister,
the chancellor of the exchequer, or
secretary OF the treasury, and the
ministers for the air force, the army
rotary of state These sit with the
ministers for hte air force. the army
and navy, whenever matters of ma
tional policy affecting the defense
of the whole British empire arise.
They act somewhat as follows:
The prime minister asks the for
eign minister as to what trouble
may be expected in the future. If
any. He may reply that CONNER
ciaI competition is becoming so keen
with another state that serious diff
ferences Of opinion are apt to result
which cannot be settled by diplo-
matte means and that war may take
place within about three or four
years.
Budget System Employed
The prime minister then asks the
ministers of the air force. the army
and navy what condition their re-
spective departments are in and
how much money and time they
need to prepare. Each one states
what his estimate is, and then the
prime minister asks the chancellor
of the exchequer how much money
he has to meet these conditions. a
budget is then made up and the
money distributed In accordance
with the needs Of the air force,
army and navy. and work proceeds.
Maybe the Army will not be used
at all and the Air Force do all the
offensive fighting. Maybe the Navy
will not be used at all, or maybe
the Army and the Air Force will be
used together, or the Navy and the
Air Force The British organiza.
tfon meets any Of these require.
ments.
Duplication Of Effort
Now what happens in the United
States? The President is supposed
TO act as Commander Chief Of the.
military forces, but he Is so busily
employed with the political part Of
his office and the eight members
OF his Cabinet, all Of whom nave
some opinion TO give on how the
war should be run, that II is q very
complicated matter. The only
members Of his official family hav-
ing to do with active war elements
are the Army and Navy.
Each one thinks that II must be
employed and each asks for money
Tor its air forces. A great duplica-
ton Of effort ensues. There is no
separate work or duty given to the
Afr Force and in both cases it II
subordinafed to some other service.
The Army wants to consider the
air force after the infantry has
been provided for. and the Navy
after the battlesIip has been pro-
vided for. Under any circuTn-
stance. the Air Force viii be die
tated to BY Notifying officers who
know practically nothing about Il.
France Has Greatest Air Force
If the defense of our coast is
necessary both the Army and Navy
air services begin flying up and
down with no plan or system as
things stand at present. If they
act together and some vessels APP
pear off the coast the Army air.
service may want to attack them
and the Navy refuse to do It, be-
cause they have been assigned some
other work by an admiral of ths
fleet. Neither has had any training
together and the result is that the
enemy would just come in and clean
them up. It is an Impossible situa-
ton to contemplate and no sensible
nation would stand for 1t.
France has a department OF avid-
ton, separate from the Army AMI
Navy, that handles all phases Of
aeronautics, including the weather
service, except the force actually
going against the enemy. This is
organized in an independent branch
of the service which acts under
general command of the Army. 1t
lis virtually independent from IT.,
however. as far as its work is con-
.cerned. 1t is not as good an organ
ization as the British. but far SUI
perior to anything we have. France
actually has the greatest air force
in the world.
Italy undermining Her Forces
Italy has a department of ma
tional defense under Mussolini, and
under this department is secre-
fary for the army, a secretary for.
the navy and a secretary for the
air. Each is a separate and dis.
tinct branch. 1t is fact THAI
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