Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-01
THE ACE OF THE PACIFIC
BY COL. ". JEFFERSON DAVIS.
Part Three.

:, Aviation schools are springing III
throughout Japan; Japanese uni
, versities provide for special aeronauti
J cal courses, and have special research
! work; Japanese children are taken t.
aviation centers for instruction ant
are given lectures in schools by arm,
and navy officials, or sent later to the
United States and foreign countrie:
to scientific schools to study aero
nautical engineering, and the hum OF
the airplane motor in the air is az
familiar as the jinrikisha on the
street.
Mail Route in Operation.
There is a mail route 450 miles in
length in successful operation between
Toxic and Osaka. The Army dis.
tributes planes, free of charge, tC
civilian aviators for civilian purposes
upon request What an opportunity
our own Nation had at the close OF
the World War to distribute planes
among the 10000 or Is 900 aviators
trained at such an enormous cost! In
stead of selling these planes at public
auction for 500 each, how much bet
ter it would hove been to have seen to
| it that every man, trained as q pilot
was furnished his own machine, SO
that these planes could be called into
use at various times and our war
pilots kept in training.
| Among the large ship building in
| tereSts which are manufacturing air.
planes, the Mitsubishi Co., at Nagoya,
| stands out most conspicuously.
The children in the public schools
are taught primarily aviation: prizes
are offered for civilian flights; bonuses
are given to civilian mercantile COM
panies using airplanes, and mail
routes are extending from wider and
wider circles. On the long, narrow
Saglain Islands, spoilS of the Japa-
neSe-Russian War, aviation bases are
established, and under the excuse of
Subduing the head hunters of Formosa
Japan is making that island-which
significantly is in very close range of
the Phlippines-one of her strongest
air bases. Today Japan has a regular
mail service between Toxic and
Fukoka, which route is later to be
extended to Shanghai and Korea They
have planes flying from Toxic to
Picking and have two planes to Paris
and London preparing the way for
mail route across Siberia.
America Goes in for Stunts.
In America we are very much in.
clined to break a record, and then
break up the thing that wrote the
record. We like to perform spectacu-
lar stunts. We hop out and win the
altitude record of the world, or try to
beat the speed record: or organize
some long distance spectacular flight
to show what we can do when we are
doing our best. But our Sreat fault
is, from a defensive standpoint, that
when we are not doing our best we
aren't doing anything. We let our
planes rust, we let our trained flyers
go back to civilian occupation, without
any effort to encourage them to retain
their skill as flyers. And, worst of all,
after spending hundreds of millions IN
futile spruce contracts, we turn out
the most miserable result in actual
flying planes. In fact, we have few
factories under Government super
vision turning out military planes, for
while the f1ve-year appropriations have
been authorized, there are no adequate
funds yet available. In our military
service we have most excellent me-
chanics and skilled flyers. but as to an
organization for building and equip
ping effective fighting planes for the
use of the Government, we have none.
On the other hand, Japan has Is.
Make Good Flyers.
The strength Of an opponent is
measured by his ability, his ambition
and his courage. That the Japanese
make good flyers has been thoroughly
attested by British, German and
American instructors, that they have
the bravery no one has ever ques-
toned. The Japanese are taught from
Z 60 rrIn I'D
reward if they die for their Emperor
an his country. The Japanese has
marvellous power of endurance. A
British instructor says that he has had
f1ye'r in the air seven or eight hours
that showed no WEAKNESS. They have
Unlimited patience. While the Japa
nese mechanically is in hurry to do
what the rest of the world is doing he
has that fundamental Oriental ability
to wait and endure from generation
to generation to accomplish his ends.
The japanese lack money, and yet
they are sacrificing now in time Of
peace as we sacrificed in time of war.
Many Of the national officials and Of
ficers of the army are taking from
their salary to add to the aeronautical
Guiding even school children, are con.
tributing to the equipment of for
fighting air defense.
Thousands of Fighters.
Not only that, but, unlike our own
country, they are saving and stinting
on every other department that they
may pile up large appropriation for
aircraft. Japan at the present time
has several thousand fighting aircraft
of the latest types in the army and
navy, not taking in consideration the
5000 new motors purchased from
France and to be used in army and
navy pursuit, observation, bombing
and training planes OF all types.
And this is only the beginning Of
feverish activity in the development
of military aircraft! The program laid
down, not to mention innumerable Sc
cret preparations that are not publicly
announced, indicates that within five
years. or less, Japan will be the equal
of France, if mot the first nation in
the world in the air.
Meaning to America.
What does this mean to America?
1t means that the Yellow Ace of the
Imperial Islands will dominate the
Pacific; that her bombing planes will
make our battleship a thing obsolete;
that she can at will take the Philip
pines and Hawaii, and, assisted by her
fast cruisers, that she could within a
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