The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-02-07

Os Ss 0vA0UAO41 < CIk4 x1A14G ference with government o1 settlement.
 The fight involves the use of German airplane pilots in Colom- bia, not far from the Panama Canal, on a Pan American sub- sidiary airline called SCADTA.
 The fight also involves the al- legation by War Department pilots an opportunity to become familiar with the topography adjacent to Panama. These officials assert that some of the pilots, after be- ing kept in Colombia for a time, returned to Germany, letting new pilots take their places.
 Thus the air attache of the German Embassy in Washington, Peter Riedel, had experience in Colombian flying while working for this Pan American subsidiary. Thus also, the German flyers who made the nonstop flight across the Atlantic last summer had worked for the Colombian airline.
 Pilots of German extraction flew planes in Colombia during a period when the prime tent of U. s. foreign policy was to combat "Nazi- Fascist infiltration into La- tin America. That is why the American government interested itself in the situation.
 SCADTA BLOCKED
 EXPANSION
 To get the complete picture it is necessary to go back ten years to the time when Pan American Airways did an excellent job of blazing a new air trail through Latin America. At that time they found their path blocked by SCADTA, a line operated in Co., lombia by an Austrian named Pe- ter Won Bauer, now 8 Colom- bian citizen.
 In order to fly over Colombia to the west coast of South Amer ica, it was necessary finally for Pan Americans president, Juan Trippe, to buy out SCADTA at rather high price.
 This set-up continued from 1881 until October. 1888, when Cham berlain's surrender of Czechoslo- vakia at Munich and Hitler's in- creased belligerency brought on in- creased War Department worries regarding the proximity of Ger man pilots to the Panama Canal.
 U. s. Army strategists pointed
 out that one well-placed bomb
 could smash the locks and put
 the canal out of commission for
 months. President Roosevelt
 even went so far as to exam
 inc the possibility of taking over
 Swan Island from Costa Raca,
 and the Big Corn and Little
 Corn Islands from. Nicaragua,
 to serve as additional air out
 posts to guard Panama.
 CAA INVESTIGATES
 So at this point the State De- partment. through its ambassa- dor, Spruille Braden, began to do some Sleuthing about these German pilots in Colombia. Ann bassador Braden, however, had little success. It was difficult, at that time, to ascertain whether Pan American was responsible for the German pilots, or whether SCADTA was responsible.
 Meantime the Civil Aeronautics Authority began examining the financial setup of Pan Americans Colombian subsidiary. It was found that Juan Trippe, as Pan- American president, after buying 84 per cent of SCADTA's stock, had then turned around and hand- ed 51 per cent of the stock back to SCADTA owner Won Bauer. The stock was placed in escrow, so that while Pan American actually owned 1t, the German manager could vote 1t. GERMAN PILOTS CONTINUE
 Under that management ar- rangement, German pilots con- tinued to fly the subsidiary line in Colombia. Trippe maintained that they had become Colombian : citizens, many had married Co., lombian wives and were popular in Colombia, and were no danger to the Canal. He pointed out that the German pilots on their regular routes weer never closer than 250 miles from the Panama Canal.
 High Army officers pointed
 out, however, that . plane could
 get from Colombia to Panama
 in no time; also that the pilots were being trained over extreme