Show hectic days for the air minded X 1 na W ww r lie ova L t 14 I 1 64 top federal aviation commission Comm center ill fated navy dirigible macon below commander wiley of the macon by WILLIAM C UTLEY ri HESE have been hectic beetle days for commendations the air minded reports re ree JL and suggestions for governmental policies toward aviation have poured into congress faster than proposals for new government bureaus A new plan calling tor for ordination coordination co of all forms of transportation under federal control has been suggested by joseph B eastman federal co ordina tor ot of transportation the federal aviation commission has suggested that a temporary air commerce commission to bear the same relation to air transport that the interstate commerce ca commission bears to the railroads be created president roosevelt in a messa message ge with which he presented the recommendations men lations ions of the federal aviation commission which was created ju june ne 12 of last year to make a study of aviation agreed with the premise th that at all forms of transportation must be coordinated under one regulatory control but disagreed directly with the plan of establishing a separate commerce commission tor for the air lines the aviation commission recommended that the interstate commerce commission be given immediate authority to regulate up or down the rates which the post office department p pays ays the air transport companies for carryl carrying dg the mall the rates which have come ever so near n ear to mining some of 0 the companies involved the same commission recommended aided that the government start work ap a soon as possible on a new dew dirigible airship as the forerunner of an american intercontinental air transport system either to asia or to europe perhaps patterned after the travel service of the grat graf zeppelin which makes scheduled trips between germany and rio de lantero Jan lero tero less than a week later the united states dirigible macon the most modern modem lighter than air craft existent and the pride of the navy foundered and disappeared into the calm pacific with two of its crew of 83 men submits three plans plan coordinator co eastman submitted three plans to congress for the unification of transport but only one of thern them had his approval the others being offered merely to show what the alternatives are all of them while affecting aviation were aimed principally at rescue of the railroads from their current financial plight the favored plan includes 1 extension of federal control under the to cover all forms of transportation 2 association of planning prevention and ordination coordination co wit with h the regulatory functions 3 a dismissal compensation system plus retirement pensions so go that the railroads without infringing upon labor rights can take advantage of mechanical improvements and labor laborsaving saving devices to reduce labor costs costa and 4 fin financial ancla I 1 reorganization the first alternative plan combined the eastman plan with the compulsory consolidation of american railroads into seven systems two in the east two in the south and three in the west the other advocated out and out government purchase and ownership of all railroads this in mr last east mans opinion held the greatest opportunity tor for good and the greatest chances for harm ile he did not think that the american people were mere ready to accept it now and did not favor the addition to the already gigantic list of government expenditures at the present time in approving the unification of 0 transportation por tation the president recalled that when the interstate commerce commission was created in 1887 the railroad was practically the principal method of rapid interstate transportation since that time this monopoly lyof of transportation enjoyed by the railroad to a very important degree has been limited by the development bt bf the automobile and good interstate roads recently water transportation by lake by river by canal and by ocean has largely through the construction of 0 the panama canal and our inland waterways definitely brought ships and shipping into the general interstate field more recently still air transportation has become an element dwelling more upon the aeronautical element of 0 the reports the president said there are detailed questions that require early action our extended mall contracts with airlines expire on or about march 1 and existing in legislation dealing with primary or secondary routes should be revised before that time the commission suggests that the interstate commerce commission be temporarily given the power to lower or increase airmail air mail mall rates as warranted in their judgment after full investigation the purpose of this Is to prevent the destruction of any efficiently operated part of the present system pending suitable consideration by the congress of what permanent measures should be taken and what amendment it if any the present general transportation por tation policy of the government should undergo on dergo 1 I concur in this recommendation of the federal aviation commission provided always that the grant of this duty to the interstate commerce commission be subject to provisions against unreasonable profit by any private carrier on account of the fact that an essential during this temporary period Is to provide for the continuation of efficiently operated companies and to guard against their destruction it Is only fair to suggest that during this period any profits at all by such companies should be a secondary consideration era tion government aid in this case Is legitimate in order to save companies from disastrous loss but not in order to provide profits report slaps slap parley farley the report of the commission was a direct slap at postmaster general james A Far parleys leys power proposing to strip him of every vestige of control over airways of the country it was found that several of the important companies were tottering very verr nearly upon the brink of bankruptcy because of the ridiculously low bids they were forced to make to secure air mall contracts the aviation commission proposes vesting the handling of air subsidies entirely in the proposed air commerce commission while the president favors simply turning them over to the already functioning whichever plan Is adopted the ruling commission would decide which of the airlines were in the public interest these it would license for service and would arrange the details in each case of whatever subsidy seined lemed to bo be necessary to so go cure these lines from loss the commission asks that provisions 0 as of the present airmail laws be extended by additional emergency legislation until january 1 expiring on march 1 3 somo some ot of these provisions it Is said bald would force the break breakup up ot of several existing lines ostensibly to prevent monopoly the present airmail air mail law stipulates that no company nay may hold more than three air mall mail contracts and no operator car can hold two primary route contracts after march 1 1035 transportation authorities whose notable spokesman of 0 recent days has been prot prof hampton ac X snell of the university ot of montana berleve believe that the field should be limited to a few strong air systems as funda mental tor for best development cheapest and most efficient service air transport service despite all the alleged handicaps to service there are today approximately miles of regularly operated air transport routes in the united states there Is an average of plane in miles I 1 les scheduled to be flown by all lines in the united states every day scheduled air lines serve directly 71 ot of the DC 06 metropolitan districts in the united states counting as a metropolitan district an area having an aggregate population of or more and containing one or more central cities of or more inhabitants air travel has hag grown in phenomenal leaps and bounds within the last eight years air lines in the united states carried approximately passengers in 1923 in 1934 this figure had multiplied times to approximately GW OW express and mall mail carriage have increased at a similar rate for example one of the largest of 0 the companies united air lines had an increase in express tonnage from tons in 1933 to tons in 1934 this line carried pounds of mall in the first nine months of 1934 as contrasted with pounds during the entire year 1933 perhaps the most spectacular of all the recommendations of the federal aviation commission was its vision of huge amerlean american built dirigible air liners plying in regular service across the seas it was a dream that had these giant air leviathans levi athans crul cruising sing the great racille pacific to many parts of asia funds like the funds for so many proposed new governmental adventures were to come out of the much discussed work fund which president roosevelt has asked con congress gress to appropriate tor for his direct personal administration the commission said in its report airship construction st should be started promptly in order to afford much needed employment this winter sink millions in dirigibles the de united states navy has bag already sunk millions upon millions of dollars la in the construction of dirigibles and the latest of these millions sank into the pacific with the macon or OD february 12 the shenandoah cost the 2 the akron this includes the cost of building the goodyear zeppelin hangar at akron ohio and the macon the los angeles cost the nation nothing being received from germany in the treaty of versailles oddly enough it 13 19 the only one we have left now the whole plan of airship construction st seeing likely to tw be shelved the macons crash while the alert acu action on of aleut corn com herbert V wiley with the operation cooperation co of ships in the united states battle fleet held the loss of we down to only two members of the crew has lust just about convinced a large thare share of officials that tho the united states simply cannot build and operate airships president roosevelt made the open statement that he would not ask congress tor for any money with which to build airships agreeing with him was admiral william V standley chief of naval operations who said that he had never approved the use of airships for other than commercial purposes and Is more than ever convinced of their unsuitability for military and naval purposes senator william D king of utah declared that he ha would propose an amendment to the presidents works bill that would forbid any of the being spent for dirigible airship construction while disapproving the immediate expenditure of 0 money for airships the president indicated his bis opinion that such craft were by no means finished in world history 0 western newspaper avaloa |