20 OCTOBER 1917, Page 2

As regards the promised creation of an Air Ministry, we

have nothing to do at this stage but to express our satisfaction. We are quite sum that the affairs of the air. are much too important to be cabined within the walls of any other Department. The Air Services with their vast possibilities must not be made the Cinder- ellas of the older Services A Ministry with a prestige, dignity, and authority comparable with those of the Admiralty and the War Office is-what is required. It is seldom possible to lay down an absolute rule about any new form of administration, and it certainly is not possible in this case. Even while approving of a separate Ministry for the air, we have to admit that the Air Services are not so distinct a branch of fighting from either the Navy or the Army as the Navy is distinct from the Army. It is obvious that the Air Services have to work with both Army and Navy. All their operations overlap, and in some -degree are inseparable.