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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0492.PDF
discussed by the sub-committee, and a certain minimum international standard will be insisted upon, but the details of this do not appear to have been worked out, nor are any suggestions made as to the proper authority to make the necessary tests and grant certificates. The idea of our own Govern ment is to have a series of classes of pilots, and it is hoped to make the " British Pilots' Certificate A " the leading diploma of the world. It will involve severe trials in night flying, aerial navigation, and every branch of flying accomplishment, and those who achieve the honour of its possession will be able to claim that they are the world's crack aviators. We shall await with more than ordinary interest the issue of the complete text of this part of the Convention when it has been finally agreed by the International Commission. • • • Our readers will doubtless recollect The Scandal that at the time when the Government Adasftral re*used to pay rent for De Keyser's House Hotel, which was first commandeered for the accommodation of the R.F.C., and renamed Adastral House, we wrote in un measured terms of the iniquity of pleading privilege of the Crown and refusing all recompense to its owners. The case was taken to the Courts, and in the King's Bench it was held by Mr. Justice Peterson that the Crown was not legally liable to pay compensa tion, and that any payment made in a case of the kind need only be ex gratia. The Company appealed, and, we are glad to say, obtained a reversal of the decision of the lower court by a majority of the sitting judges. The Master of the Rolls, in the course of his judg ment, said that the case raised a question of great public importance, viz., whether the Crown was entitled as of right to use and occupy any lands, buildings and premises for administrative purposes in connection with the defence of the realm for an indefinite period without any obligation to make compensation for such occupation. For the hotel company it had been argued that although it might have been necessary for the administration of affairs for the safety and security of the realm that the Government should occupy the premises, there was not and never was any necessity for the safety of the realm to refuse to pay for occupation. The hotel company further insisted that the Government were bound by statute to pay. Continuing his judgment, • 4> Civilian Flying at Easter THE Air Ministry makes the following announcement :— " It is intended that civil aviation shall commence, under regulations shortly to be issued, on May i. Applications have been received from various companies for permission to carry civilian passengers for short flights during the Easter holidays in anticipation of the issue of the regulations. It has been decided to give permission for this between the dates of April 17 and 22 inclusive. The flights must be made from an approved aerodrome, subject to an under taking being given that the rules of the aerodrome will be strictly observed, and will be limited to a radius of three miles from the aerodrome. Service-type machines, which have been built under the supervision of the Aircraft Inspec- , tion Department, will alone be used." 'Applications for permission to carry out such flights should be submitted, addressed to the Secretary, Air Ministry, marked Controller-General of Civil Aviation, and should •contain the following particulars :— APRIL 17, 1919 the Master of the Rolls said that these premises were used throughout the whole period for administrative purposes, for which they were considered suitable, having regard to the large number of rooms, lighting and so on. For the Government, the Attorney- General had argued that no compensation was payable by law to the company. His Lordship then referred to searches which had been made at the Record Office, and said that the result of them was that it did not appear that the Crown had ever taken the subjects' lands for the purposes of the defence of the realm without paying compensation. He could not accede the right of the Crown to any such prerogative. Having referred to the emergency legislation passed in August, 1914, and the regulations and Orders in Council made thereunder, the Master of the Rolls said no power thereby was conferred on the Crown to take the land of the subject without payment. He was of opinion that the judgment appealed from was erroneous, and that judgment should be entered for the company for a declaration that they were entitled to a fair rent for the use and occupation by way of compensation under the Defence Act, 1842. One judge only, Lord Justice Duke, dissented, and, as we have already recorded, judgment was given for the company with costs. Whether the Government will take the case to the House of Lords remains to be seen, but, what ever action is taken and whatever the result in the end, it cannot be argued that the decision of the Court of Appeal is otherwise than in accordance with true justice and equity. It may not agree with the most pedantic interpretation of statute law, but that is another matter altogether. The way the case appeals to us is that it is one in which it was attempted by the Crown to make the individual shoulder a burden which by rights belonged to the whole community. Why there was ever any dispute about the liability to pay an equitable rent for the premises passes comprehension, unless it was an attempt by the Crown to establish its right to take over any buildings and land whatsoever, without payment, and then to refuse compensation to all whose buildings and lands have been commandeered for the purposes of the war. To our way of thinking, the whole case was a particularly bad example of sharp practice on the part of the advisers of the Crown, and it must be a matter of sincere satisfaction to the individual citizen to have it established that his rights are inviolable. <$> $> (a) Type of machine, with sufficient particulars to iden tify it. (b) Full name and surname of the pilot. (c) Location of the aerodrome and of the aircraft proposed to be used. (d) Name of the company or firm making the application. Flying to the House ON April 9 General Seely gave another practical de monstration of the utility of aircraft by flying to the House of Commons from Rochester where he had been visiting Messrs. Short Brothers' works. Leaving Rochester at4p;rn- General Seely, accompanied by Major Sippe, flew up the river on a Sunbeam-engined Short seaplane- piloted by Mr. J Lankester Parker, and alighted on the Thames off the Houses of Parliament at 4.23 p.m. General Seely was taken off by a motor launch, landed at Westminster Pier and immediately went to the Commons. 492
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