AIR-LINES AND TRADE
By VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH, M.P.
He speedily got to work and instituted conversations with Mr. Berle, the American representative. Much important ground was covered and agreement was reached on the following points:—
I. The elimination of uneconomic and unfair competition by the control of subsidies and rates of fare.
2. The assurance to each nation of its own fair share of inter- national air transport.
3. The matching of the capacity offered by the air-lines on any particular route to the amount of traffic on that route.
This is certainly an encouraging start and bodes well for the future, but in the debate in the House of Lords on May loth and nth Lord Beaverbrook did not indicate whether any decisions had been reached in regard to internal policy in the matter of British Air- lines ; further, though it is understood that Mr. Berle is at present holding conversations with the Russian representatives, he did not state whether His Majesty's Government was proposing to adopt a similar course in the near future.
The Government must naturally subordinate everything to the war effort. It is not suggested that men should be released to build purely civil machines, or lay out purely civil airports ; all that is required is a simple statement of policy, so that the railways, the shipping companies, and other interested bodies, may know where they stand and make their plans accordingly. Planning for post- war air-lines is not going to impair the nation's war effort ; it will, however, make a vast difference to our commercial future. The Government has already made far-reaching plans in other direc- tions. It is a long time now since it allotted to one super- planner the stupendous task of co-ordinating social services ; a more or less agreed measure of education has just reached the Statute Book, and other reforms are on the way. Why, then, this hold-up in the planning of our air lines?
Lord Rennell has pointed out that the goodwill of civil aviation is being built up now during the war years, and that it is being earned rightly and deservedly by the American organisation ; the testimony of a man who has flown 200,000 miles in the last three and a half years is not to be lightly ignored. It used to be said that "Trade follows the Flag." Today it is perfectly obvious that the country which operates efficient air-lines all over the world will have easier access to markets for its exports than a country which is backward in this respect. The whole future of Britain is bound up in the ]rebuilding of the export trade. It is freely admitted that in future we must export 5o per cent. in excess of the pre-war quantity in order to compensate for the loss of our over- seas investments. It is one thing to raise large sums of money for war purposes for a limited period ; it is a totally different thing to raise indefinite sums for post-war benefits until plans for the restoration of the export-market are begun. The first plank in this platform should be a clear-cut plan for civil aviation.
I have recently received a communication from an officer in the Middle East who was a well-known chartered accountant in peace- time. He has noted the efficiency with which the Americans arc operating their air services ; that they are not merely carrying out military policy, but are carefully preparing for the future. It is no mere coincidence that he used the same phrase as Lord Rennell—" The Americans are air-minded, and are trying to sell civil aviation." He continues: " Napoleon called us a nation of shopkeepers. Nobody can say that about us today ; we seem to be content to leave this aspect to the Americans. It used to be said that every soldier carried a baton in his knapsack ; today it is truer to say that every American carries a catalogue. The principal Lend-Lease representative for the Middle East is in normal times President of General Motors Finance Cor- poration, and in his spare time is probably making a survey for the future. The Americans are even forming a trade commission in Abyssinia."
In U.S.S.R. the U.S. representatives appear to have been extremely busy and to have succeeded in obtaining large orders. If the British Government has been making any enquiries in this direction it seems to have been very reticent. For many years Russia will be re- quiring a steady flow of goods to repair the damage caused by the policy of scorched earth and enemy destruction. No doubt we shall find it hard, not to obtain orders, but to fulfil them. But surely it is worth while finding out now what will be most urgently required and how or whether we can meet the demand. Private firms cannot do this in war-time ; furthermore, there must for many years be Government control of imports and exports. The Govern- ment must therefore send a trade delegation to Russia to report as soon as possible as to the immediate need and our ability to meet it.
Although conversations have been held with the U.S.A. on civil aviation, none appear to have been held with Russia. It is extremely unlikely that Russia will remain content with internal lines only ; it is more probable that she will operate or control to a large extent a comprehensive network in the Balkans. Negotiations may have taken place, but on the surface it appears that the Government has not tried to ascertain the views of this ally on civil aviation, nor has. it taken any steps to further our mutual trading interests. Is this to be regarded as a tentative return to the policy of "cold- shoulder Russia "? Pretty certainly not, but it is extremely desirable so to act as to make any such suspicion impossible.
The policy of the extreme Tories was governed by their dread of Communism. They shrank from adopting stern measures against the Duce because he was anti-Communist ; Franco to them was the great Christian Crusader against Communism, and though Hitler was daily becoming more menacing, Ribbentrop had told them that the Fairer was Europe's sole bulwark against Com- munism. However, the course of the war has shown that Bolshevism has been the bulwark against Fascism. Vital as the Anglo-Russian military alliance has proved in war, a close commercial friendship will be no less so in peace, and no political ideology can be permitted to bar the way.
The manner in which the Government is conducting the war is beyond praise. The end is now in sight, and some of us would like to see the plans for peace a little more cut-and-dried. We have seen one war won and the ensuing peace lost. The recovery of our export markets must be the keystone of British policy. The securing of markets and the development of civil aviation must inevitably proceed together. The U.S.A. are already setting an example which the British Government would be wise to follow.
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