In the House of Lords on Tuesday Lord Montagu of
Beaulieu asked for a return of our dirigibles, aeroplanes, and waterplanes. He pointed out that we were far behind our chief competitors in the bid for what he called " sky power." Apart from our deficiency in aircraft, we had no adequate system for training pilots. He suggested that we should adopt the French plan of giving to airmen specially high pay, partly determined by the actual number of hours spent in the air. Lord Montagu's figures as to the strength of the various nations were particularly interesting :-
" His information was that Germany, apart from her dirigibles, had about 420 aeroplanes and 25 waterplanes. France bad now 20 dirigibles and 535 aeroplanes ; Russia was known to have 12
airships and about 230 aeroplanes ; Austria four publicly and two privately owned dirigibles and 135 aeroplanes. As to the financial estimates for aviation, Germany was proposing £7,000,000 for this year ; France, £1,500,000; Russia, £1,000,000; Great Britain, £501,000; Italy, £450,000; and Japan, £250,000."
Surely these figures, even if they are only approximately correct, speak for themselves. It is not enough for us to be relatively stronger than others. We must be absolutely able to meet and repel attacks in the air by opposing like with like. There is no other way. This simple fact cannot be gainsaid.
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