Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-09-16

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social significance of aviation, then, and only
then, In . democracy, will aviation be con-
trolled and exploited as 1t should be.
We who are grown, now, must take this task
of specific education upon ourselves, and We
who are past school age must also take upon
ourselves the responsibility Of educating the
millions Of pupils in elementary and high
schools and in the colleges and the universities.
We must make certain their curricula include
the social meaning Of aviation.
Water transportation and land transporta-
ton must be understood to be sure, but these
two forms Of transportation already have regis
tered their impact upon society.
Never again, for example will there be
formed any new and important railroads or
waterheads. New airheads will mushroom, yes,
but even these will not attract settlements as
did the others at st. Louis, New York, or
Buenos Aires. Airheads will not become
populated areas for the same reason our metro
politan areas, excluding war, will eventually
break up. For aviation, ecologically, is a de-
centralizng force.
Air transportation is only now beginning to
affect the basic social structure of this civiiza-
ton. And at our present chronological pace,
this effect will soon become marked. Only our
education can prevent aviation's social effects
from becoming cancerous as well as simply
marked.
But, one may ask, how can . high school
pupil study aviation's effect on law when he
doesn't understand law itself? He can't actu-
ally. On the other hand, simple examples may
be discussed. For instance, a pupil may be
told that Admiralty Law concerns ships at sea
and that aircraft flying over water or moving
on the water concern such law, but that the
same aircraft minutes later may fly over land
or move on land. What. then Is admiralty
law?
The pupil may be told that flying rules and
regulations of California may not be the same
as those in another State but that the same
aircraft may in q few minutes or hours go
from one set of State laws to another. Ee may
thus be introduced to phases Of public admins
tration, States rights, etc.
Or that the laws of flying in the United
States may not be the same as those in Mexico
or Canada. How do the laws of one country
differ from those Of another? What Is inter-
national law?
pupil may be shown that while his father
must work in the center Of . city, he and his
family may still live IS miles away in the
suburbs because swift automobile and train
transportation are available Show him how
this has expanded the metropolitan area. Then
ask him where his family could live If his
father owned an airplane and could park it
near his place Of work. What would this even
greater expansion do to the city? Is there such
a concept as the metropolitan region?
And 10 on through all the social institutions
by which We live. When the pupil enters
college he will not only possess an excellent
starting point 70. advanced study Of the social
effects Of aviation, but he also will have .
knowledge o. the io;ial existence Of cities,
transportation sysje'ns, government, law, war.
etc. here do No. mean that our high school
pupils today do not know Of government, for
they do, but they do not know Of 1t n social
phenomenon affected by all technology.
When the pupil student, citizen takes his
place in the world he will understand the
social meaning Of aviation.
As consequence, = nations laws, public
administration, foreign policy, transportation
systems, military establishment, and In general
all the components Of national or international
health and existence, Will be far more attuped
to reality than presently ID the case.
No free nation can have q mature and
effective air power or, If I may include It, air
policy, without the basic education Of It's
people in the social meaning and effects Of
aviation. This is irrefutable.
WILLIAM D. PARTRIDGE