Evening star., 1934-02-16
SUBSIDY
TO SAVE AIRLINES
NOW UNDER STUDY
Administration Considers
Plan to Modify Losses of
AirmaiI Contracts.
BROWN DENIES CHARGES:
DEFENDS LINDBERGH
Railroad, Reported Ready to Buy
Plane Line, Would Be Per-
mitted to Rebid.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
A direct Federal bounty" for avia-
tion. replacing scrapped sirmsil con-
tracts, received careful administra-
ton consideration today.
An idea behind such an undisguised
bounty would be to build up stronger
aerial defenses in case Of war.
Another disclosure today was that
Controller General McCarl, watchdog
Of Federal expenditures. is shaping a
stop-gap against excessive profits on
Army Navy airplane contracts. This
move is at congressional request.
Whatever the new Federal plans.
it appeared that the airmal scrap is
far from over.
Walter F. Brown, Hoover Postmas-
ter General, said charges Of con-
spiracy and illegal" acts by his ad-
ministration. as put forward by his
successor. James A. Farley, were
completely lacking in justification"
Will Testify on Monday.
Waving immunity. Brown arranged
to tell the Senate Airmail Investi-
eating Committee on Monday his
version of the tangle.
Airmail contract-holder protests
continued to arrive One company
official asserted Postmaster General
Farley himself had been misled in
this airmail matter"
The Justice and Post ONCE De
partments prepared to fight in q New
York Federal court today a restrain
ing order against the contract can
collation. and Army mail flying
The bounty" plan. under cons -
Grafton by presidential aides. was {
scribed authoritatively as similar
a way to the European system.
carries some resemblance also
President RooSevelt's plan for air
ocean carriers.
Mr.. Roosevelt's steamship sys
In short. would call a subsidy a
shy and not an ocean mail conf
Two main alternatives are b
considered for carrying the airr
1T has been stated officially thai
Army would not fy it for L
These are:
l. The Government could d
OlA4Cl P-GsAl AOA Il EOEt dl bDEA O
a system considered highly imp.
able.
?. The mail could be carried
direct hire, on something close u
a poundaga basis.
Reports here that the Great Nor.
ern and Northern Pacific Railwa
were negotiating for the purchase {,
Northwest Airways caused officials O.
recall that under such a purchase tn
ban could be lifted to permit that
outfit to bid for mail flying.
The name of Col. Charles A Lind
bergh continued to enter into the row
over airmail. Brown, in a statement
in New York, said in connection with
Lindbergh's White House-c criticized
message to the President:
Col Lindbergh knows more than
any other person outside Of the Post
Office personnel about details of air
mail operation and the efforts of the
Post Office Department during the
period of my service to promote an
economically independent aviation
industry"
Appearance in Question.
Wnetner LlndDergh would De asked
to appear before some congressional
committee has not been determined.
!. Meanwhile. as a direct outgroVth
Of the Senate committees investigs-
tiOnS and the Senate trial, Col. L. H.
Brittin, vice president Of Northwest
Airways, now has behind him one day
of his To-day sentence in the District
Jail.
William P. MacCracken. IT,, airmail
attorney, also under a To-day SEN
tence, was free on $1,000 bail while
his attorney pushed an appeal.
Representative Fish, Republican, of
New York. meantime asSailed the
wholesale contract cancellation, as
serting that Pan-American Airways
had received a S6,0O0,000 subsidy
without competitive bidding Fish
sought to link the fact that its con-
tract was not revoked and that dis
tinguished Democrats" served as its
officials.
Fish listed Cornelius Vanderbilt
Whitney. chairman of the board Of
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