OCR Text |
Show Modern rr Aerfoi jw - Travel Causes JrrOblemSl Inquiry By MAJ. BADEN-POWELL " N four yearn' time wo may lu nblo to wry tlmt Hying is com-III com-III mon. It may, perhaps, still be looked upon as a venture-LJ venture-LJ sotiio practice, and among tlio general comniunity may not bo ' WmBI '"stly an every-day experience, but most well-to-do people ISaVGj "avu ,nU(' 11 'r'l' nnu" "mnv w'" 0WI1 machines and make Ijmffl almost daily runs. It is then that new lnwa and regulations will linve to be S gpl adopted. The "rule of the road" in the air must be settled, as ImmI also the question as to whether international frontiers are to bo respected, and if not whether universal free trade must result. Then comes the subject of the ownership of the air above private property. . Finally we must consider the means by which laws may be enforced and the registration and identification of aerial machines carried car-ried out. Hitherto international frontiers have been fixed by nintitrnl divisions of land nnd water, such as the sea coast or river bank, or clearly defined strips of ground Such lines of demarcation arc not easily crossed by. those who-wish to do so unseen and without interruption. But in the air it is different. Ilcrc no natural boundaries exist, nor can artificial obstructions ob-structions bo erected so as to bo insurmountable by airships. We nro then called upon to answer a most vital question. Arc acro-nnuts acro-nnuts to bo allowed to traverse these frontiers without hindrance, or must Mr they descend at frontier stations to report themselves? If the former, 9j many laws and regulations now in force would be allectcd. Those regard- ; Ifljj - ing passports, nlien immigration, and the like, would bo seriously upset. 1 faff Hut a far more serious matter ia the collection of customs. Even ' !MjL- ' supposing it were not possible to convey lurge cargoes of goods, and there i Jj is no good reason why this should not be done some day, still it would h undoubtedly bo possiblo to carry parcels of 100 pounds or so. If such an 1 R. amount can bo taken through the air free of duty it would manifestly have I to bo allowed equally to land travelers. Considering, too, the rapidity and ffl W case with which machines arc likely to travel, they could bo employed con- I ft. tinunlly going to and fro over the frontier, and so transporting large m quantities of dutiable goods. Either customs must be entirely done away with or wo aro faced with a Becond alternative, that all aerinl vessels must descend at the customs Wtt houses to declare their cargo. Though in the ordinary way it might be l possible to enforce this by the imposition of severe penalties on any one KM detected in evading it, yet so great would bo the opportunities for smug- & gling, especially in the dark or in misty weather, that it would without !fSt doubt bo easy to ply the nefarious trade. The air-going smuggler would iJJ not be bound;, as with his maritime prototype, to land at a favorable spot on the coast; ho could travel far inland before disembarking. It seems wffl impossible to enforce any law as to machines being compelled to descend Irl'- at n frontier, and this implies that customs in the main will have to be 1 - abolished. |