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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0852.PDF
DECEMBER 29, 1921 we think, be studied with advantage by our own equal weight and voice in settling the problems of postal authorities, who seem dubious as to the advan- ' ' '" "' v J1 ^ ' v "' n "' tage or otherwise of using aerial communications to the more distant parts of the Empire. The way they appeal to us is that they prove that the longer the distance over which aerial conveyance is used the more rapid the growth of the traffic and the more successful the enterprise must be. Minist vof Defence It is stated on apparently good authority that the Geddes Committee will recom- mend, on the score of economy, the creation of a Ministry of Defence to control the three fighting services, virtually wiping out the present system of separate administration of the three Departments. Under such a scheme presumably the posts of First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for War and for Air would disappear and the whole of their functions be vested in the new Minister of Defence. We see a number of advantages in the proposal, but on the other side there are such grave disadvan- tages that we cannot regard it with anything but misgiving. There are considerations which are fully as vital to the nation and the Empire as economy, great though the need for this may be. The safety of the commonwealth of the Empire is involved, and the present system, which has served us so well in the past, cannot be lightly interfered with. .It is a matter which requires the most serious examination and the gravest consideration before being either adopted or rejected. The first question that must be answered is whether or not the grouping of the three Services under a single Minister would make for increased efficiency of either or all ? The answer seems to be that it might, if the right Minister could be found to fill the post. But the man who could hold the balance evenly, swaying neither to one side nor the other, and who could avoid being biassed towards one service or another by his advisers of one or the other would be a super-man indeed. It may be agreed that if such a man could be found and his successors after him—for we must not lose sight of the fact that men are mortal, and that though one generation might produce the right man it does not follow that another could be found to follow him-—the co- ordination of all the fighting Forces of the Crown under one head would be a good thing. That being so, it seems to be strange that no Great Power has ever tried the experiment, nor, to our recollection, has the suggestion ever been received with favour by a great military or naval Power. The Dominions and certain of the smaller Powers have adopted the system of the single Ministry with success, but in their case they are dealing onfy with small forces and with problems of defence alone. They are not in the position in which they may one day be called to embark upon expensive operations at a long distance from home. In their case the single Ministry means complete co-ordination, while in that of a Great Power it might well mean chaos, owing to confusion of thought and the conflicting ideals of each department of a central Ministry. It would seem to us, purely as a lay spectator as it strategy with which the Empire may have to deal, and to plan for war as a single operation rather than as a series of watertight operations, so to say. We advance this view with a full sense that it is a matter for the decision of those who have made war their study and upon which the layman can only express opinions with diffidence. • • • In a recent issue of the Observer Admiral Admiral Mark Kerr gives some exceed-Mark c??f r *nSty interesting details of a scheme Aviation which he assisted to formulate for the institution of an air service between New York and Chicago. The point he seeks to make—and we think he succeeds admirably—is that the address given by Sir Hugh Trenchard before the Scottish Branch of the R. Ae. Society was regrettable and demonstrated an unduly pessi- mistic view of the future of commercial aviation. We need not follow the gallant Admiral through the whole of the details of the scheme, interesting though they are. What we are principally interested in is the light his letter sheds on the attitude of the American business community towards the new transport. The scheme was prepared at the request of a group of American financial men, the actual work being done by Admiral Kerr, Col. Stedman, late of the R.A.F., and two extremely capable New York business men. They had the further assistance of Mr. Robert M. Cowie, president of the American Express Co., who appears to have given most valuable advice. After providing for every possible contingency, it was decided that the charge for conveying freight over the distance of about goo miles should be 30 cents, equivalent to is. 3^. per pound weight. This compares quite favourably with the parcel mail charges on our own cross-Channel services. Admiral Kerr says he does not think he is at liberty to quote the exact percentage of profit this rate would show, but he does say that it was a great deal higher figure than is shown by any other mode of transport in the world, arfd when it is considered that the dividend which was put down for entry into the schedule was one quarter of the profit that would have been made if a single journey each way was carried out with a fully loaded machine, every day in the year, this seems to be a very favourable showing, since it leaves a fair margin for such con- tingencies as days on which no flying is possible. As Admiral Kerr remarks, American business men are pretty careful to look all round a scheme before putting their money into it, especially such a new thing as the air, but when they had had the scheme explained to them and had the. figures, five times the amount required was to be had. He concludes with the remark that there is no doubt air transport can be made to pay if it is properly organised. We agree. There is not the smallest doubt in the world that it can be made to pay, given organisation and machines properly designed for the work they have to do. The commercial side of aviation has un- doubtedly been severely handicapped by having to be carried on with converted war machines. Even were, that a better plan would be—assuming that then, properly organised services have been able we require the maximum efficiency and the best to make their expenses, and now that we are getting possible co-ordination of the Services—to leave to know more about the best methods of running things as they are, but to create a real Imperial them they are able to make a little profit on the General Staff in which all three Services shall have enterprise. 852
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