Evening star., 1933-07-16


of the Capitals position with res
Even should the airport be pu
of the property as an air termi
new owners will not be forced to
owners are being compelled to dc
is no real security in private ov
present state of development of t
Washington has been unusually for.
tunate in having an air terminal a:
close to the center of the city as Wash
ington Hoover Airport. No other large
city in the country can boast of an air
port SO ideally situated. Yet this yer.
proximity has been. in part, the air
ports undoing The property is more
than ordinarily valuable because of it
location, and consequently is heavily
taxed. Though the airport ranks a:
one of the busiest in the world, its in.
come has not been sufficient to kaeI
pace with taxes and other necessar;
expenses This situation is one of thc
greatest barriers to successful operation
! of private air terminal. To be of any
real value an air terminal must be close
| to the heart Of the city it serves. II
must comprise large landing area fol
the sake of safety, and thus is subject
to taxes which eat up the income from
normal operations.
officials of the airport, backed BY
representatives of one of the airline:
operating out of Washington. it i.
understood. have sought a reduction il
the tax rate applied to the property by
Arlington County. The property is sale
to have been assessed at approximately
$1,000 per acre, resulting in a tax which
the airport cannot meet out of its pres
ent income.
| It has been stated that one Of the
airlines using Washington-Hoover Air.
| port has acquired financial interest IL
the airport and will act to protect its
| interest, either alone or in combination
with other interested parties. when the
hammer falls tomorrow officials ot
the airline have declined to comment
On this report.
Government Cannot Intervene.
There is no possibility of the Fedora
Government intervening to protect tht
airport, although the Department o.
Commerce has installed an elaborate
remote control weather broadcastins
and radio range beacon station there
and the Weather Bureau operates {
weather observatory on the property.
The Government. it was indicated
will continue to operate its aids to al
navigation at the airport as long a
civil aviation activities continue there
a1suld the airport be closed. the Gov
ernment facilities will be moved to an
other locality or discontinued, it wa
indicated
The Department Of Commerce cal
do nothing to help the airport out o
its difficulties. however. Under the lay
the department is prohibited from op
Grating a!rportS. and could not tax
any action without specific authorize
ton from Congress. even though fund
should be available for the purpose
which is rot the case.
Under the existing circumstances
is too much to expect that private cap
ital should develop an elaborate al
terminal on the Washington-HOo
site. The title to the property is un
der a CLOUD because of the claim O
the Federal Government to part o
the area which was reclaimed by film
in the marShy portion of old Roach
Run, separating Alexander's Islam,
from the Virginia mainland. So lon
as this cloud remains. no private oWne
is justified in making a large eXpendi
ture to develop the property. The eX
istence of Military road which divide
the Washington and the Hoover sec
tions of the airport and prevents thei
being thrown together into a singh
landing field. also is a serious handi
cap to private development.
The threatened development by tn
Federal Government of the Gravell
Point airport area. adjacent to Wash
ington- Hoover Airport, also is a threa
to private enterprise which cannot b
ignored. The Gravelly Point area nov
is being filled by The Government. an,
it is inevitable that more and NOR
pressure will be brought to bear t,
have it converted into an airport. Thi
would jeopardize any private airpor
activity in the Capital area.
In view of all the foregoing circum
stances it would appear that the statu
of Washington-Hoov Airport is pre-
carious and that tomorroW's sale i
fraught with serious consequences t
the Capital and to aviation.
Air Services Seek Aid.
Prospects for the granting Of rea
assistance from the public works funt
to the ecCnCmy-ridden Army and Nav,
air services are Frightening. The Nav,
has been promised funds for seVera
hundred new airplaneS. chiefly to sup
ply the needs of new carriers an.
cruisers to be constructed under th
32-ship program or nearing completion
under the existing 1T-Ship program.
In addition. a day or two ago Rea
Admiral Ernest J. King chief of th'
| Navy Bureau Of Aeronautics, in lin
with the recommendations Of the join
congressional committee which wa
| created to study the future alrsh.
policy of the Government. requested tn,
provision of S4000,000 from the publ
works fund for the construction Of tW,
naval airships.
One OF the new airships would BE- {
giant fleet dirigible, probably large
than the U. S. S. Macon. now tn:
worlds largest airship. The other
about one-third the size of the Macon
would serve as training ship. Th'
congressional committee also has rec
| Cmmended the immediate rccommiS
sioning of the Los Angeles, laid up a
Iakehurst, N. j.. as an economy meas
ure.
The new fleet airship probably vii
cost about s3.00O,000 and the smaller
craft about a third Of this amount. Tht
u. S. S. Akron was built at a cost O
S5.375.0O0. but this cost included con
struction of the great airship dock art
other construction equipment and TIT
| vast amount of design and test wori
necessary to new project. The U. S. S
! Macon, though of the same size and O
improved construction. ccst but 81,
45O .OOO and subsequent airships OF TIT
same type would cost even less.
| Army Program Urged.
Recommendation that the Army All
Corps also be given assistance through
the public works program were mad'
to the President during the week bl
Chairman McSwain of the House Mil
tary Affairs Committee. and Repre-
sentative Hill Of Alabama, ranking
Democratic member of the committee.
McSwain and Hill asked that Sl2o,
600 600 be set aside for the construc
tinn of 600 airplanes of various types