Evening star., 1926-04-04
IDA GILBERT MYERS.

10y :" OCllcISOIl CSbN A5s
colonel, Officers Reserve Corps,
formerly legal adviser and spe-
cial assistant to the military at
tache, American embassy, Berlin;
aviation committee, American Bar
Association.
T T has taken all the past centuries
of which there is record to con-
vert the first hesitant paths laid
a down on land and sea by early
man into the present world system
of communication. And in this slow
progression the last 100-year period
has surpassed the sum OF preceding
centuries in achievement. Science IS
so speeding up events that today n
few months or weeks even outStrip
past ages in the march of progress.
AS these events swarm in fncreas-
ing volume and diversity so do oppor-
tunities and obligations increase. To
meet the ripe moment In prompt
efficiency and provision Is, nowadays,
the ruling factor in the progress and
we'll being of both individuals and
peoples.
Just now a new world has opened,
opened In a very literal sense right
out Of the blue. Here spreads the
new realm of the air, as wide, as
both land and sea are wide. An' uTl :
explored world of infinite promise TO
the crowded areas beneath IT, offer-
ing open and unobstructed passage
to both traveller and trade. Oner1nS
also new modes of warfare and new
dangers to besieged peoples. OF
truth here is opportunity of vast i'm
port. And as certainly here, too. is
obligation whose speedy recognition
and acceptance are as imperative as
they are unescaDable.
The average man knows little of
the import of this new domain OF
the air. He hears the Gathering
cleavage of the sky. He sees the
monstrous birds in their daring
flight. He reads now and then of
disaster and misadventure. or IN
happier vein of altitude triumphs or
cross continent victories. AS to
what is being done by this country,
however, # anything Is being done,
he knows nothing. Have laws been
made to safeguard this great do
main? Is the air fully organized for
flight? Are there authorized plans
for speedy and stable development
Have routes been laid out ana pro-
tective measures devised for these
Is the business of aviation ALREADY
organized as any other business is
OrR6nIZG0 ana IlrAS " w O'
Army. for instance, is organized, or
the Navy? And how does this coun-
try stand in aviation development
with the countries of Europe? OF all
this the average man knows almost
nothing. The one thing that he
does know Is that here is a great
and important area of future occu
nation which under the general high
pressure of the day must telescope
the regulation periods Of history
exploration, discovery, pioneering
settlement and subsequent slow
growth-into a single few months oil
time.
In a country like this each i'm
portant general matter Is everybody S
business. even the business Of the
multitudinous common man. gathering
information from the daily newspaper.
Even the average man likes the feel OF
helping along as he clearly should
be doing in a fully enfranchised com
nlonweath like ours. And here is a
chance for him TO gather up some
important points on the new and vital
theme of aviation.
Putting Laws Over Wings is a
little book, a fortnight, condensed
statement of fact calculated to
economic the time of even the
busiest man, as it pumps into him
the outstanding needs of aviation
with a directness that makes the
matter the immediate concern OF
every reader. Certainly the reader
is a voter, and is 1t not the business
of the voter to tell the lawmaker OF
certain clear needs of the country?
It certainly ought to be. And. ac
cording to this author, the immediate
crying need of aviation is Fedora
laws to protect it and to encourage
its rapid and competent development
In proof of his contention Mr.. Davis
with monitory intent cites the lack
of uniform regulations applied to COM
merce by way of the air; he points
to the lack of Federal licensing, in
spection and supervision over com
mercial aviation. He regrets the
provincial reluctance of the Fedora
lawmakers to profit by the achieve
ments and status of aviation In
Europe. He urges the need of an
immediate careful study by legis
lators of the conflicting recommen
dations already in their hands, and
exhorts to an intelligent and pa
triotic sitting of these recommenda
tions concerning the subject OF
aviation for a near and timely exer
else Of their authorized function ir
this case, Of putting laws ovel
wings"
The book, logical, concise and
deeply interesting discussion, while OF
moment to readers everywhere in thi:
country, is intended specifically tC
sound a general note Of warning
against the slow-moving ways Of
legislators in this matter Of pressing
need.
\ X *
ONE INCREASING PURPOSE. B,
A. S. M. Hutchinson, author O.
IF Winter Comes" etc. Boston
Little, Brown & Co.
THE Hutchinson novelists, brothel
and sister, stand at opposite pole:
of literary purpose. We're Hutchin
son is absorbed in things as they are
A. S. NJ. in things as they ought t.
be. The former is a stark realist o.
insight and power. engrossed as q
rule with the grimmer aspects o
life and destiny. The latter is al
idealist adventuring in the Utopia O
brotherly love. A. S. NJ. Hutchinson
Is, in essence, a reformer making us,
of the novelist's art to project The
basic simplicities of life, to define tn,
true purpose Of existence. In II
Winter Comes" Mark Sabre is the
Don Quixote in a society that is per
verted by selfishness, frivolity and {
host of artificial preoccupations. 'Thi:
Freedom" is, in substance, a protes
against woman's invasion of public
affairs at the expense of family ant
home. Zone Increasing Purpose pre-
sents the drama of a man seriously
probing the import OF his own exist
ence. A pursuit, this, that shapes hi!
outlook and gives consistent purpos,
to his activities and behaviors.
In the war Sim Paris met deatl
face to face many times and as many
times was passed over for thos,
| whom he called better men than he
Out of this fact there rose in him thu
conviction that something more thar
he was giving to the war would b.
| oP I,t Tha -