New Britain herald., 1930-01-15
BROWN PROPOSES
 AIR MAIL CHANCE
Different Method Ol Payment 10
 Operators Urged

Cleveland, Ohio, Jan. u tP-fllc entire rate scale and airmail system of the post otfiCc dcparJmCnt WoulG bo changed by recommendations outlined here yesterday by Postmas- tor General Brown,
 For the first time h. gave his "yardstick' of airnail compensation N hich would supplant a system in which one carrIer receives as low a., 5 cents. and another as high as =2 q pound.
 Numerous conferences between postal authorities and air mail con- tractors have been held during tEe past few months in Washington with a view to working out a rate "yardsliCl;."
 Would Aid Essential Lines Under the system suggested by Brown, the post office department would concentrate it's exceptional aid on essential routes, those that have been travelled by OK team. pony express, railroad, and auto,' and would Use planes as it now us $ trains, at fixed rates per mile for definite weight spaces"
 The postmaster general skctchcd the growth oI the air mail 10 |, present status as follows:
 TWO hundred planes and 250 ,N- pert pilots engaged; 25 contractors ONrr the regular routes aggrcGatjug 14.%6S miles, flying approximately 4o,500 miles each 4 hours, about GO per cent of which is flown at night
 He then told of the accompany inG accoloration in the commercial. flying business,
 All Have Deficits
 "Thc public poured it's hundreds of millions Of dollars into tho ayia- 1 ton industry" hc said. "Factorcs 1 sprang up and air lines were luaug- . uratcd, some in accord with th, 1 best practice, others less we'll con- sidcred. But the experience Of ail l in 1929 was substantially the sam" 1 With a paying load Of only 1G 10 A per cent of capacity, all closed th, year with operating deficits SO erea' the very life of the passenger trans port industry today is in the bal ] GnCe."
 He declared this was because tn,
 air enthusiasts forgot that chiilrer
 must creep before they walk, anC
 must toddIe from chair 10 chair be.
 fore they engage in marathons. I'll,
 American pubic, he said. was pro
 vlded with facilities for flying iron
 coast 10 coast before any consiI IT
 able number Of people had made
 sightseeing trips over their native
 towns.
 He added, however that the sit
 nation is one that properly caus"!
 the deepest public concern, and 70
 forth his opinion as to what tn
 post office department should dC
 toward a solution.
 Must Change Methods "In our judgment, the method O ) determining the compensation of ai
 mail contractors must be revolution izod," he said. "Tho system O pay | ing by the pound, regardless oi dis = tance travelled is manifcstly un S sound. Such system CompclS th l contractor 10 GitlIlhlr on m" NOIuIu ? of mail he will carry, and creates q . inducomcnt for him to swell his vol
 ume of unothical practices. He ] , obliged 10 make his flight Whethe , the post office department furnisno , him with one pound or a thousdn
 pounds oI mail. and he should there :, fore be paid just consideration to his readiness to sc1vc, as well as fo
 service performed"
 . He then set forth a dctrit : recommendation by the post offic department. amending the air m, act to authorize the postmaster gen "ral to contract for the transpOrta ton of mail at fixed rates per mii for definite weight spaces, the bas . rate not to exceed s per mile fC |, <1 BOO hounds Of mail Cap1rjtN