The Coolidge examiner., 1935-03-08

20 make TO secure air mal con
tracts.
The aviation commission proposes
vesilug the handling ~ air snhsi.
dies entirely in the proposed Air
Commerce commission. while the
Pres lent favors simply turning
them over 20 the already function
Ing iCC whichever plan j. adopt
ed. the ruling commission would de
eide which of the airllnrs were iu
the public interest these Il would
license FOR service and would ar
range the details In each case ~
whatever subsidy seemed 10 he nee
essary "a secure these lines from
loss. The commission asks that
provisions of the present airmalI
laws be extended by addltlonn
emergency legislation until January
!. 1900 Expiring on March !. some
~ these provisions. II Is said. would
force the break up of several exist
Ing lines.
os,ensibly to prevent monopoly
The present air mail law stlpulates
that no company may hold more
than three air mall contracts and
no operator can hold two primary
route contracts after March |. 1895
Transportation authorities. whose
notable Spokesman ~ recent DAYS.
has becn Prof Hampton *. Smell
~ the University ~ Montana. be-
llcycd tina, the field should b. limited
20 few strong air systems as funda.
mental Tor best Development. cheap.
est ard most efficient service.
Air Transport Service
Despite all the alleged handicaps
10 service there are today approx
mafely - 0Ss miles of regularly op-
Grated air transport routes In the
United states There IL an average
of l2SUoO plane miles scheduled
10 be flnwn hy all lines In the
United States every day SEIZED.
uied air lines serve directly n ~
the 81 metropolitan districts IN the
United STATES. counting as metro
pollian district on area having an
aggregate population ~ i00Gn or
more and containing one or more
central cities of 5000 or more
Inhabitants
Air travel has grown In phe
nomenal leaps and bounds within
the last eight years. Air lines In
the United States carried approxi
mately G.ol passengers In 1926 In
1884 this figure had multiplied 100
times 10 approximately 0oon
Express and mail carriage have
increased ai similar rate.
Perhaps the most spectacular ~
all the recommendation OF the Fed
eral Aviation commission was in
vision of hinge. American-bulli d.
rigible air liners plying In regular
service across the seas. II was n
dream that had these giant mir
levIathans cruising the great Pa
clhe 10 many parts OF Asia.
Funds. Ike the funds for 50 many
proposed new governmental adyen-
lures. were 10 come out OF the much
discussed s4.SSn.O00.OoO work fund
which President Roosevelt has
asked congress 10 appropriate for
his direct personal administration.
The commission said In It's report I:
"Alrship construction should be
started promptly In order To afford
mueh-needed employment this win
ter"
Sink Millions In DirisibIes.
The United States navy has al
ready sunk millions upon millions
OF dollars In the construction OF d.
rigibles. and the latest Of these
millions sank into the Pacific with
the Macon on February 10. The
Shenandoah cost 81 200O00: the
ZR-2. S2.OO0.OOO: the Akron. S5.35S,.
COO tthis includes the cost Of build
Ing the Goodyear-ZeppelIn hangar
at Akron. Ohlo). and the Macon.
s.. .6O0OO0. The Los Angeles cost
the nation nothing. being received
from Germany in the treaty Of Yer
sailles: oddly enough 1t is the only
one we have left.
Now the whole plan Of airshlp
construction seems likely to be
shelved. The Macon's crash. while
the alert action Of Lieut. Com. Her
bert V. Wiley with the cooperation
Of ships in the United States battle
feet held the loss Of life down to
only two members Of the crew. has
lust about convinced a large share
of officials that the United States
simply cannot build and operate air
ships.
G. Western SeETaper UnloA-