Evening star., 1941-01-24
Colonel Lindberoh

Colonel LIndbergh
At the outset of his testimony
yesterday before the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, Colonel Charles
Lindbergh said: II understand that
have been asked to appear before
this committee to discuss the effect
of aviation upon Americas position
in the war" He then proceeded, in
a prepared statement, to give his
personal views on that technical sub
ject. AS famous pilot, albeit a less
active one today than he was ten
years ago, Colonel Lindbergh is we'll
qualified to discuss aviation. He was
entitled to receive, and he did receive,
a respectful hearing from the COM
mittee and a roomful of spectators.
Although some of his opinions as to
the defense needs of the United
States run counter to the consensus
OF veteran military and naval experts
who have made special studies of the
subject, Colonel Lindbergh's ideas
are nonetheleSs interesting. He
feels satisfied that 10000 planes
not $4,000 as contemplated under
our air expansion program-are
enough to protect the country from
invasion. The possibilities of sue
cessful invasion of the Western
Hemisphere are quite remote, any
way, he believes. He SCOTS at sug-
gestions of aerial attacks by way of
Greenland or Alaska. He favors
ring of air bases around the North
ern Hemisphere, as safety measure.
All of this testimony would have
been entirely relevant at a commit
tee hearing on air power. But Col
onel Lindbergh was not testifying
before the House Military or Naval
Affairs Committee. He was testify
ing before the House Committee on
Foreign Affairs, which presumably
was holding hearing on the admin
istration's lease-lend plan for aiding
our first line of defense, England.
Colonel Lindbergh was distinctly at
a disadvantage when committee
questions caused him to sideslip from
his favorite field of aviation-where
he is thoroughly at home-into fields
which he is fitted neither by training
nor experience to explore. The COM
mittee led him into realms of inter-
national power politics and of world
economics; and, although the wit
ness laid no claim to expertness in
such broad and complex spheres of
discussion, he evidenced typical Lind
bergh intrepidity in meeting the
challenge.
Thus, Colonel Lindbergh vouch-
safed an assertion that the present
war in Europe could have been
averted If the United States had
served notice beforehand on England
and France that we would not supply
them with armS-forgetting that we
had served such notice in the isola-
tionist-inspired embargo clause of
the Neutrality Act. He envisioned
negotiated peace based on realities"
failing to consider that the reali-
ties Of such a peace at this moment
include prospects of another Munich,
of more broken promises by conquest
mad dictators, of political, social and
economic domination of the world by
a totalitarian triumvirate inflamed
with militarism.
The Lone Eagle conceded that he
was dealing with questions on which
he was not an expert when asked
by committee members to steer his
course yesterday from aviation to
foreign affairs. Consequently, it
cannot be said that his latest VEN
ture has contributed substantially to
the fund of knowledge which the
committee must have to reach an
ultimate decision with respect to the
all-important lease-lend bill.