The Air Age _ Fri attention of the public has been
particularly focussed on aerial problems this week, for on the same day that Sir Samuel Hoare presented his Estimates to the House of Commons we learned of the tragic deaths of Flight-Lieutenant Kinkead in the waters of the Solent and of Lady Carbery in Kenya, and of the beginning of • the flights of Captain Hinchliffe and Lady Bailey to the United States and Africa respectively._ Of the loss of the gallant officer who was to have established a speed record for Great Britain, we can only say here that his death in the service of his country was worthy of his distinguished career. In an age less accustomed to heroisms, the manner of his passing, that plunge to destruction at 350 miles an hour into the still waters, leaving nothing behind him but the terrible voice of his engines, would be a tale told from father to son. Let us hope that it will not soon be forgotten and that this splendid young man, cut off in the prime of life, will be remembered among our national heroes.
Of Captain Hinchliffe, who left for America on Tuesday morning, there is no news as we write on Wednesday night. Before these lines are in print the best or the worst will be known. With the passing of each hour, hope grows dimmer. If he and his companion have paid , the penalty, let us at least give them the homage which is their due. The enterprise was rash and it is sad that fine young lives should be sacrificed in such an attempt. But would we for that reason recommend young England to the counsels of "Safety First " ? A thousand times, " No ! ".- It is to the pioneers who have dared the impossible that we owe what glory we have as a race. The spirit of the Elizabethans was never more alive than in England to-day : we must direct it aright and give scope to its splendid courage.
it is time, indeed, that we should realize our heritage in the new element, for in the world of invention that is unfolding with such rapidity before our startled eyes there is no conquest with such a direct significance to the . inhabitants of these islands as that of the air. Sir Samuel Hoare has long been a prophet in these matters, not without honour in his own country, but not heeded as he should be_ or would be if the public were more fully informed as to the situation. For the first time, the Air Estimates have received this week a publicity and aroused an interest throughout the country in some degree commensurate with their importance on our safety and well-being. The Minister for Air controls a two-edged weapon of the most amazing and divergent potentialities. The aeroplane may, on the one hand, become the most ghastly weapon of destruction yet con- ceived by man ; on the other, it may be turned to the beautiful purposes of friendship and serve to promote quick communications, thus cementing the- comity of nations. Is it to be Peace or war.? Are we to consider the means whereby we may drop flame and poison-gas on the cities of Europe, or carry travellers and mail to them ? Fortunately the question can be solved by time. We need make no altruistic decision to disarm before the other nations are ready to follow our example. The Air Force is singular in this respect, that money spent on it is by no means all unproductive money, as it is in the Army and Navy. Not only in the ,Air Force Reserve and in Civil Aviation (although of Course chiefly in these departments) is every penny.spent likely, to be of service to the community in the event of disarmament ; not a single pilot of the fighting branch, not a mechanic or other groundsman of the Service but could quickly and efficiently take his place in a civil organization, were it possible, on some happy day, to dispense with our war, squadrons in security. Peace lovers, therefore, as distinguished from pacifists (whose ears refuse to hear the voice of reason), may well encourage the Air Force. Not only is it pre-eminently the arm that will convince the world of the need—nay, the necessity— for peace, but it is also the only arm that can beat its sword into a ploughshare, and convert its bomb-carriers into accommodation for passengers and freight.
More, the Air Minister was able to show a satisfactory reduction in the total cost of his Service, which demands a paltry £15,000,000 from the tax-payer, compared to £58,000,000 for the Navy and 141,500,000 for the Army. But are we satisfied with these figures ? Is not the Navy, in particular, an excessive and disproportionate charge on our finances when we remember that our twenty battleships cost 17,000,000 a year to maintain ?
A good case, in our opinion, has been made out for a full discussion by the House of Commons of the total Defence Estimates, so that the problem of a single Ministry charged with the co-ordination of the various arms may be again discussed in the light of the present situation. As the Air League is constantly pointing out, we are woefully behind America, Germany, and France both in the mileage covered by our civil air routes and in passengers carried.
Air power, like sea power, must be based on a sound economic development for peace purposes. Until we bring an enlightened public opinion to bear on these matters, we shall not have either the men or the machines to hold our own in the air as we did, and still do, on .the sea.
We may congratulate the Air Ministry on work well done, but there is no reason for complacency in view of what still remains to do. We have only twenty com- mercial machines to show for an expenditure of £260,000 as subsidy to civil aviation, for half that sum is being expended (rightly enough) on the Basra route. Are we satisfied with having flown only 18,000 passengers last year against 100,000 in Germany ? True, our Imperial Airways is the safest flying service in the world and probably the best administered, but cannot we look ahead and make plans to become the carriers of the world by air, as we are by sea ? There is no reason why we should not extend our flying services to the Continent : other nations have plans for world-wide aerial routes, and we should not lag behind. Again, are we satisfied _with our thirty private owners of aeroplanes in Great Britain, against 3,000 private owners in the United States ?
Considering the military situation, it comes as some- thing of a shock to realize that we have only 480 war aeroplanes available in these islands, whereas France has 1,800 in -full commission. Not for a moment do we subscribe to the theory that we must build squadron for squadron and wing for wing with any other Power, thereby indulging in a new and idiotic competition in armaments. But in view of the fact that we are spending 1115,000,000 a year as insurance against possible war, and only so little of that vast sum on what is ad- mittedly our first line of security, we should reconsider the whole problem of defence. Is £15,000,000 enough for civil and military aviation ? Could we not save a con- siderable sum each year on the other Services and yet strengthen our Air Force, so that on the glad day when disarmament comes we shall be ready to devote these machines to the productive purposes of peace ?
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