OCR Text |
Show i HJ - Li j i K- c ; i t7"- ,3 - ' !,W ; - rt3asas5i . ' t.;. 6- - ' Us, . .:)vv- , - . - j 1 Great Britain's newest aircraft craft Inquiry board In session q d tlle Furious, going to sea for trials. 2 President's special air- assembly. ' a!:enator Raoul Dandurand of Canada, new president of the League of Nations NEWS REM OF CUfiRENTEVENTS What the Aircraft Board Is Learning From Army and Navy Officers. By EDWARD W. PICKARD pOL. WILLIAM MITCHELL'S pet scheme, the creation of a separate department of aeronautics, received many sharp blows during the first week of the hearings held by the President's Pres-ident's special aircraft hoard. For the army, it was opposed by Acting Secretary Secre-tary of War Davis, MaJ. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, chief of the army air service; serv-ice; Major General Hines, chief of staff, and Brig. Gen. Hugh Drum, assistant as-sistant chief of staff. For the navy, vigorous objections were voiced by Secretary Wilbur, Admiral Eberle, chief of naval operations; Admiral Moffett, chief of the bureau of aeronautics, aero-nautics, and Admiral Strauss of the general board. Incidentally, Colonel Mitchell has been suspended from active ac-tive service. Mr. Davis told the board and the American people that there was "no need for fear about the condition of the nation's air forces," insisting that the service would be quickly put in excellent ex-cellent shape if congress would grant larger appropriations. General Patrick, though opposing a separate aeronautics aeronau-tics department in the cabinet, did favor fa-vor the consolidation of the War and Navy departments into a department of national defense; furthermore, he supported the charges made by Colonel Colo-nel Mitchell, that the development of an adequate air froce has been hampered by higher officials who do not comprehend its vast importance. He justified the policy of conservative building of planes until there Is more certainty as to the types wanted for quantity production. But In contrast with Mitchell's assertion that the army has but a handful of effective, up-to-date planes, General Patrick said he has 396 fit for use in an emergency. Of these, 90 are bombardment planes, 249 observation planes, 26 pursuit planes and 31 training planes. He stated he had no attack planes. In addition, he has 40 obsolete planes and 1,000 others that could not be used in war. Asked just what is the matter with the air service, General Patrick replied re-plied : "The air service Is not treated as a real member of the family. Our recommendations recom-mendations are frequently ignored and our motives questioned. The fact is that the development of the air arm has lessened the importance of every other arm of the national defense. "Aircraft reaching out over sea have minimized somewhat the need of coast defense. "Scouting far In advance, they have made cnvalry less necessary for reconnaissance. recon-naissance. "Conducting operations far beyond the range of land guns they have made artillery less important, and even the infantry, the backbone of the army. "So, coming into being as it has, the air arm has not been welcomed. The recommendations for its development must be passed on by officers belonging belong-ing to these various other arms whose importance Is being minimized by the new force and they-well, they don t realize the importance of the new weapon. It was a long time before I could get any recognition of the air force in the War department." Generals Hines and Drum disagreed with General Tatrick ns to the superior su-perior importance of the a.r force to Inf-rtrv cavalry and artillery. In the nv.; icr'of congressional appropriate. Rc r sentathe Vinson of Georgia, a mei.or of the hoard, asserted con-?rcss con-?rcss had voted all the air force fumls the War department had asked for. XT!-:T the navy came to hat, and N Secretary Wilbur led off with the declaration that to divorce the er,nnutics arm from the navy arm would be " well nigh irreparable Id' -Unto national fenae Interests" ; nnd Ad, argued that because of the connection between naval vessels and naval aircraft in the fighting of future fu-ture sea battles, it would be suicidal to take aviation away from the navy and put it In a separate department. "Such a change in organization would violate the fundamental requirement require-ment of national defense, which is unity," he explained. "The plan for a separate department Is unsound strategically, tactically and economically. economi-cally. The organization of a single air service would fatally complicate the national defense problem. This has been amply demonstrated abroad. Commander J. H. Towers, a naval aviator avi-ator of wide experience, who has lately late-ly returned from duty abroad, has stated, 'The more I see of the separate sepa-rate air force Idea the more opposed I am to it.' " Admiral Strauss said that the experiment ex-periment of England and Italy with a unified air service has been a failure and England Is reverting to the old system. Secretary of Commerce Hoover and Postmaster General New were called on to tell the board about commercial aviation prospects, and they agreed that America Is about to witness the development of the greatest commercial commer-cial air transport system In the world, if only the government does its part. Mr. Hoover told the board that commercial com-mercial aviation can be established on a vast scale In this country without the payment of the large government subsidies to private enterprise which have resulted In the development of the European aerial carriage systems and, he believes, without the payment of any direct subsidy at all. But it will be necessary for congress to enact en-act air transport legislation analogous to the merchant marine law, he said, and to provide for air navigation service serv-ice by the government such as is afforded af-forded water navigation. BESIDES starting its technical investigation in-vestigation of the causes of the Shenandoah disaster, the naval court of inquiry brought out a number of facts concerning the dirigible's fatal flight. It was learned that Lieutenant Commander Zachary Lansdowne had recommended that the flight be deferred de-ferred until the second week of September, Sep-tember, but this was not because of probable weather conditions, but solely sole-ly on the ground of the limited time for receiving, regassing and refueling the airship at Scott field, Illinois, and at Detroit. The Navy department already al-ready had deferred to the opinion of Lansdowne that the flight should be made in September instead of July because be-cause the earlier month was the season sea-son of violent storms in the Middle : West, but it disapproved of his suggestion sug-gestion to wait until the second week of September because It was desired that the dirigible should fly over a number of state fairs held during the first week. JOSErH CAILLAUX, French finance minister, together with his colleagues col-leagues of the debt-funding commission, commis-sion, arrived in Washington, prepared to settle the French debt terms quickly quick-ly and avowedly hopeful of that result. re-sult. On the way across the Atlantic M. Calllaux formulated the terms he intended to offer the United States, but he did not tell them to anyone, not even to the other members of the-commisslon. the-commisslon. Moreover, the American commission has agreed that the proceedings pro-ceedings shall be in secret, so probably prob-ably the public must await their conclusion con-clusion to learn authoritatively what is offered by the Frenchman. It was stated In Washington that if no agreement agree-ment has been reached before October Octo-ber 3, when Caillaux must leave for home' to prepare for the opening of the French parliament, he will offer annual payments, beginning In 1P2R. oC $40,000,000. to be Increased after lm If this is not accepted lie will ask the United States to send a mm-mission mm-mission across to study France's financial finan-cial situation and capacity to pay. He fr'inklv said he expected easier terms than those gran threat Britain. a S WAS expected, the League of Vx-Hiens found the Mosul question too hard for It to settle, nnd so referred re-ferred It to The IMp.e court. The British and French members o, the iliqMirv committee had nsreod that the should handle the problem, but ,'; Swedish delegate was obdurate, and ns the constitution demands unanimity of all committee reports, he 1 carried his point and had the matter referred. The British, both the delegates dele-gates In Geneva and the officials at home, are much disgruntled and now some of them begin to doubt the full efficacy of the league. As for Turkey, there Is no assurance that she will accept ac-cept the decision of the world court If it is adverse to her claims. ACCORDING to the London Daily Graphic, the British government has learned that since 1922 more than $3,000,000 of Moscow gold has been paid to Socialist members of parliament, parlia-ment, trade union officials and prominent promi-nent radical leaders. The home office has the details of the case and the paper says there would be a tremendous tremen-dous political sensation If the names of the recipients of the propaganda money were made public. The largest payment to an Individual Is said to have been $26,000. Another London paper says Georges Tchitcherin, soviet foreign minister. Is likely to be removed re-moved because he failed to prevent Germany's turning to England and France Instead of to Russia for a security se-curity pact. He may be succeeded by M. Karakhan, now ambassador to China. AMERICAN aviators who are in the service of the sultan of Morocco In the Riffian war have been warned by the State department that they arj violating the law and are liable to arrest ar-rest and punishment In the United States. But they assert they have taken no oath of allegiance, have signed no enlistment papers and feel quite justified in serving under the sultan. They declare they will remain there throughout the campaign. The French commander is making use of them continually and they have demonstrated dem-onstrated their efficiency in many bombing operations, these frequently being against undefended Riff villages. It is reported in Fez that Abd-el-Krlm has offered $5,000 for every member of the Sherlfian squadron brought to him dead or alive. The French and Spanish armies are still advancing Into Riff territory but will soon be compelled to dig In for the rainy season, sea-son, when the more mobile natives will have a chance for swift raiding. Their foes hope and expect that the winter season will bring famine that will compel the Rlffians to submit. TNSIDE facts of the futile campaign to secure for Gen. Leonard Wood the Republican presidential nomination nomina-tion In 1920 were brought out In Chicago Chi-cago in the suit of William Cooper Procter of Cincinnati to recover $50,-000 $50,-000 from Col. A. A. Sprague of Chicago. Chi-cago. During the campaign they jointly joint-ly signed a note for $100,000 to obtain ob-tain a loan from a bank. The defense alleged the campaign cost $1,750,000 and was conducted entirely by Procter who had sole control of the expenditure expendi-ture of the money, telling those who protested against extravagance that It was none of their business. PROMINENT men who died during the week Included .Tames Peering, Peer-ing, Chicago and Miami millionaire and former official of the Deering Harvester Har-vester company, who succumbed to a complication of diseases while at sea on his return from France; Sir Francis Fran-cis Darwin, son of Charles Darwin and himself an eminent scientist ; Paul Rartlett, American sculptor, at his home in Rome; A. C. Bedford, chairman chair-man of the board of the Standard Oil company of New Jersey; and Sir I'ra-tap I'ra-tap Singh, the maharajnh of Jainnm and Kashmir, whose nephew nnd heir was the "Mr. A." of the blackmail case which created such a sensation In London last winter. T F.SUMPTION of civil war In China -T- between the forces of General Feng and Marshal Chnng Tso-lin I expected "within a few dny." according accord-ing to dispatches from Tokyo. The first fighting will be for the control of Sliansl province, and Marshal Wu I'ei-I I'ei-I Fu Is likely to take an active part I there. The Japanese government hag 1 declared it will maintain neutrality. pRESIPENT COOI.IDGF. has icsuer) j A a proclamation recommending that the week of October 4 lie nierve, a J national fire prevention wj (fJ I peals for "earnest study of the prin ! clples of fire protection" fir.d nil state and municipal nnj ,., j 7-PDS generally for fulioit eo-orxrotloB, |