Evening Star Newspaper, July 28, 1929, Page 31

EDITORIAL SECTION he Swunday Star. Panr é—B Pages WASHINGTON, ¥ 9 D. FOUR COUNTRIES PREPARE TO LOWER BREMEN’S MARK:‘ Germany’s Superiority on North Atlantic Challenged by United States, Italy, building race in on. Four powerful nations—the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy—are in hot pursuit of Germany. whose recovery as a major maritime power was heralded last week with the arrival of the Bremen at these shores on an epoch-making maiden voyage of 4 days 17 hours 42 minutes - the fastest transatiantic crossing ever made by liner. Not only did the Bremen lower the ear-old record of the Cunarder Mauretania, but the ease in which she accomplished the feat left the shipping world gasping. As wireless reported her record-breaking run day after day the world thrilled to this magnificent iner which closed her maiden voyage in A burst of speed—713 miles for an average of 29.6 knots on the last 24 hours at sea 60.000 Inspect Liner. No vessel in recent years has aroused as much interest. Her owners, the North German Lloyd, were forced to quit issuing passes to the public, who clamored all last weck for permission to inspect the vessel. The tremendous enthusiasm which the ship aroused found the management unprepared, for by late Tuesday they had exhausted | pDly of 42.000 passes. It is es timated that 60,000 persons passed over her gangplank during the five days was tied up at Bay Ridge, Brookiyn. That Germany will not be permitted to retain h possession of the mythical Atlantic blue ribbon, without a struggle goes without saying, for now that the Bremen has exceeded all re- ports that preceded her maiden voyage, the other great maritime nations, the medium of their respective shipping companies, will endeavor to build even faster, jarger and more luxu- T vessels. Al of these proposed ling programs are expected to be completed between 1932 and 1933. Pace Grows Faster. Seven companies, the United States Tines, representing the United States the Cunard and White Star Lines, rep- rosenting Great Britain: the French Line, representirg France, and _the Cosulich, Naviga-ione Generale Italiana and the Ilovd Sabaudo. representing Ttaly, are the contestants in the race tn overtake Germany, which got to a fiving start with the Bremen last week has still another entry in the opa, sister ship of the Bremes ich ‘will make her maiden voyage next March, All of the above-named companies plan new ge. which, it is reported, will be faster. larger and more luxuri- ous than anything now afloat. Officials of two of these companies, the United States and French Lines, have declared that this is their program, and they are perfectly confident that their re- spective countries have resources and brains with which to carry out their Four Days' Crossing Near. This race for seapower and horse- power means that these two lines must build ships capable of a speed of at least 32 knots in order to defeat the Bremen. for several marine experts who inspected the latter are convinced that she can attain this astonishing figure any time she is called upon to do so. They point to her last day’s run, in which she averaged 20.6 knots, as proof that she still had several more knots in reserve. No vessel is pushed to the maximum on a maiden voyage, hence the belief that when she is “broken in” she will ba able to do 32 knots. Such speed is an earnest of the crossing between New York and the English Channel ports of Cherbourg and Southampton in four days Cunard Plans Super-Mauretania. Great Britain is not expected to per- ! mit, the Atlantic blue ribbon to remain long in the hands of the Germans, as she was more than proud of the dis- tinction of the Cunarder Mauretania, Tepresenting, as it did, for 22 years the fastest liner afloat. The Cunard has plans on paper to build a super-Maure- tania, in which speed and luxury will be the keynote. Great Britain's other entry in the race for supremacy is the White Star Line, which recently laid down the keel of the 60.000-ton lincr Oceanic in the Belfast yards of Harland & Wolff. Con- | struction on this vessel has been halted temporarily for the reported purpose of making some slight alterations in her design. so that she can make a bid for the Atlantic blue ribbon. While the sphere of operations of the above companies is confined to the North Atlantic trades exclusively. Pre- mier Mussolini, who has done much to lift Italy from comparative obscurity to a position of importance among the | maritime powers, is expected to discuss | soon with the heads of the three great Ttalian lines. the Cosulich, Lloyd Sa- | baudo and Navigazione Generale Ital-! fana, plans to match the ambitions of | the other nations. Ttalian Lines Project New Ships. In fact. both the Lloyd Sabaudo and N. G. 1. have tentative plans to begin early construction on one big liner with a tonnage of 50.000 gross and a speed of 28 knots. In view of the Bremen's advent and the plans of other nations, this speed may be increased to 30 knots. The other big Italian company, the Cosulich Line, also is said to have plans| for the construction of one or two fast Tiners. A building program of this magni- tude means a fleet the like of which the world has never seen, and it follows that passengers must be found to fill these ships. Hence reports in shipping circles that 1933 will witness one of the most_bitterly_contested shipping fights in history. Governments must neces- sarily stand behind their companies in the pending struggle, for it is doubt- ful whether the various lines would be able in the face of such fierce com- petition to operate profitably without some form of direct or indirect govern- ment aid. Powers Look to Second Line. This aid may take the form of mail subvention, or big ship building loans bearing a low rate of interest over a Jong period of years, or both; for as a result of increasing agitation for naval limitation the big maritime nations will be protected by their second line of defense, the merchant liners, in the event of emergency. Thus the tendency for great and greater speed and in- creased tonnage on the western ocean. Tn addition to providing big liners, which could easily be converted intoj fast auxiliary cruisers, the nations have another interest in building these blg; liners—that is, to provide shipyard | workers with employment, in addition to keeping their b'g shipbuilding or- ganizations intact, as these great plants Play an important part in any calcula- ytions of naval powers. Still another moving spirit behind | the race of the nations for these pro- | | | Chicago_and New York banker, | France and Great Britain ‘ been regarded as the premier trade lane of the world. Because of the handicaps which will face the United States Lines in their program to give this Nation repre-| sentation in the great fleet of proposed | liners on the North Atlantic it is ex- pected that the Jones-White act, en- acted a little more than a year ago.| will enable the company to carry out| its program. | In answer to the demands for a def- inite Government policy in aid of American shipping, Congress passed | the measure by an overwhelming vote, both parties uniting in enacting this leg slation. The Jonés-White act has resulted in a number of Government services being sold to private American shipping in- terests, who were attracted by the aids contained in the measure, such as long- term contracts at increased compensa- tion and a_liberal construction loan fund, whereby a shipowner could bor- | row up to 75 per cent of the cost of | building a vessel in the United States | at a low rate of interest, the principal | to be retired at the end of 20 years. ‘ U. S. Lines to Lay Two Keels. Foremost Among the sales which re- | sulted from the enactment of this| measure and the promised alds it con- | tained was that of the United States and American Merchant Lines, which| were acquired by Paul W. Chapman, and Joseph E. Sheedy. well known Ameri- can shipping man. Thelr idea was to use this tonnage as the nucleus on which to build up a powerful American steamship line on the North Atlantic that would be commensurate with the size and dignity of the United States. Acquisition of this tonnage was fol- lowed by the announcement that the United States Lines, as part of its sales contract with the Government. would build two great liners to run with the Leviathan. Their keels will be laid down early next year. Both will be completed in the Spring of 1932. Mr. Sheedy, who is president of the operating company, fully realizes the magnitude of the task which he has set | out to accomplish, but he is rnnl\denl‘ that with the aids provided by law in | the Jones-White act he will be able to | accomplish his ambitious program. pping Board Expected to Help. The United States Shipping Board. of which T. V. O'Connor is chairman. is expected to assist the United States Lines in carrying out their undertaking. Chairman O'Connor declared only last week that Americans, in the excitement attending the record-breaking perform- ances of the Bremen, should not lose sight of the fact that the United States Lines has plans under way to build two big liners to run with the Leviathan. These liners, he said, will be a credit to the United States and would surpass anything now operating or con- templated. May Approve Design in 2 Weeks. The design for the United States liners is in the hands of a committee, headed by Theodore E. Ferris, one of the foremost naval architects in the United States, and W. L. Bunker, vice president of the United States Lines, an expert in ship construction. This com- mittee has associated with it a staff of the best brains drawn from the great shipbuilding and enginebuilding com- | panies in the United States. i The designs have now reached the | state where the committee is expected | to decide within the next week or two | every detail that will go into the con- | struction of the proposed liners. Models | of nine different hulls have been under- | going tests in the Washington Model | the exact | to Navy Basin to determine amount of horsepower necessary drive the hull at given speeds. Faster Than Leviathan. These models vary slightly, but it can | be safely said that when the final de- cision is made the specifications will call for vessels larger and faster than the Leviathan. This means that they will be able to attain a maximum speed | of 32 knots, will be about 1,000 feet long and will gross between 55,000 and | 60,000 tons. Modern ship construction | makes possible big savings in weight, as compared with many of the present day big liners which were built some years ago, without sacrificing the liner’s strength. g | Under its contract with the Shipping Board, the United States Lines guaran- | tees to lay down the keels by next Feb- ruary and to have the ships ready for | operation in the Spring of 1932. It is estimated that each vessel will cost be- tween $25,000,000 and $30,000,000. Only three yards in the United States can build vessels of the type proposed by the United States Lines. These are the New York Shipbuilding Co. of Cam- den, N. J.; the Newport News Ship- building Co. of Newport News, and the | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co. of Quincy, Mass. The biggest commercial ship ever built in the United States was the 23,- | 000-ton_Pennsylvania of the Panama- | Pacific Line, recently launched at New- | port News. 1 Bulbous Type Bows Specified. In outward appearance the two pro- posed United States liners will resemble the Leviathan, except that they will have finer lines in order to develop the tremendous speeds demanded by the company. The graceful lines of the hull will suggest speed, safety and com- fort. Three big funnels, one of which ! will be used as a ventilator, will be set | at a rakish angle, Because of the great ! amount of propuision machinery which | will be required, the funnels will be ! spaced unusually far apart. The bow of the new United States liners will be of the bulbous type, some- what narrow above the waterline in the : manner of a dolphin's head. The dol- | phin, incidentally, has played a promi- | nent part in ship design, as it has been | shown that a broad head with a body | tapering at the tail gives the best speed, ' in additlon to making vessels exception- | ally sturdy and seaworthy. To Accommodate 2,200 Passengers. Towering 14 decks in height, United States liners will present a mag- | nificent marine spectacle. Luxurious | passenger accommodations are planned for about 2,200 passengers, who will be divided into first, tourist and third class. It is the company's intention to do away with second class quarters, a distinction which is being found more and more unpopular with Americans. Many of the best interior architects in the country will be called upon to con-I tribute their ideas and to match their art with the best brains of Europe. ‘The vessel will be built to meet and | even exceed the most stringent regula- : tions for the safety of life at sea, with particular attention to the rules adopted a few weeks ago in the meeting in Lon- | don of the International Convention for : the Safety of Life at Sea. They will be | four-compartment ships, which means | that any four holds in the vessels can be fiboded without affecting their sta- bility. One of the important problems facing posed monster liners is the prestige they give to the countries, especially on «¢he North Atlantic, which has long the designing committee is the question of pmpumlsmn best suited for the vessels. "7 (Continued on Sixth Page} | “That kid really the | W SUNDAY MORNING,; JULY 28, 1929. Pact Proclamation Epochal ent’s Declaration Kellogg Treaty Is Now in Force Significant in Civilization’s Changes O] THE WHITE HOUSE, FROM WHICH PRESIDENT HOO VER ISSUED HIS HISTORY-MAKING PROCLAMATION. Drawn for the Sunday Star by E. H. Suydam. BY JAMES T. SHOTWELL, 1 Authority on International Policy. | AST Wednesday—July 24, 1920— was the final date in an act un- paralleled in the history of poli- tics. It was the high privilege | of the President of the United States to proclaim that by a voluntary act upon the part of 40 of the civilized nations of the world they had revolu- tionized the basis of international law by renouncing the use of the most ancient and the most potent instru- ment of politics. The treaty for “the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy” had finally become international law through the ratifica tion by the signatory nations whose | plenipotentiaries affixed their signa- tures in the solemn act that took place on August 27 last, in the Salle de I'Horloge of the French Foreign Office. Not only have the original signatories now ratified their adherence to the treaty, but more than a score of other nations have accepted the invitation which the treaty contained “for ad. herence by all the other nations of the world.” The act of Mr. Hoover, therefore, in claiming that the pact of Paris has come into force is the most far- reaching single act in the history of the foreign policy of the United Stales, and however transient may be the notice given it now, this act belongs with those great permanent changes in human relationship which mark the epochs of civilization. Expected to Run Forever. The treaty which now becomes law has no provision for denunciation by any of the natfons signing it. It is, as Mr. Miller has so foreibly pointed out in his book on “The Pact of Paris,”" a treaty which is to run “forever and ever,” unlike other treaties which pro- vide' the conditions on which nations may refuse to continue them. This treaty, on the contrary, is as per- manent in its commitments as it is universal in application. A new pub- | lic law of the world has thercfore been promulgated. I am well aware that this may seem an overstatement to those who are con- scious of the distance that is still to be traversed before the actual fact of international war shall cease to men- ace even the most civilized nations. It is true that the promulgation of a law is & very different thing from se- curing obedience to it, and the ratifi- cation of the peoples themselves must be added to the acts of governments to make such far-reaching measures | as this really effective—a ratification | not merely expressed in terms of pass- ' ing sentiment, but in deliberate acts of policy by which the principles for which the treaty stands may be enacted in actual practice. Movement for Disarmament. The outstanding symbol of this further ratification is the movement for disarmament. and disarmament waits upon the acceptance of alterna- tives for war in the settlement of inter- national disputes, such alternatives as are already envisaged in a world court | for matters of law. in arbitration for questions of definable rights that can be submitted to international tribunals and the procedure of conciliation and conference for the adjustment of con- flicting policies. Without action along these lines the promulgated law remains incomplete. But that does not in any degree lessen its importance as the (Continued on Sixth Page.) Saving America’s Fledglings Department of Commerce Is BY DONALD E. KEYHOE. | ITH a roar of wide-opened engine, an airplane swooped down ' at Airport, straight at the crowd ot Sunday visitors lining the field. Leveling off at the last moment. the pilot sent his ship zooming upward at a dizzy angle. while his two passen- | gers waved from the front cockpit. | The crowd gasped. A few velled and ! cheered. One man. an airport official, growled an aside to his companion. “Blamed idiot,” he said. “I'm going | to tell him he can't fly off this field | any more. He's one of those ten-hour | wonders from T—— Flying School. Too bad there isn't a law keeping him from taking people up.” 3 “What can you expect from a ‘gvD’ schoo!?” inquired the other man. thinks he's a_pilot. | The school gave him an engraved | diploma, and ——" ol “Look!” cried the official. seizing his arm excitedly. “He's stalled it!” A hush fell as the crowd stared up- ward. The plane faltered in its steep climb, its engine laboring noisily. Then the left wing wabbled loosely, the nose fell off to one side. and the whole ship began to gyrate., Faster and faster it spun eartnward, while those beneath ran panic-stricken for safety. Then—crash!—the unearihly. dread- ful impact of a doomed plane that once heard can never be forgotten. Result of Accident. The dust cloud still hovered over the wreckage when the hysterical mob reached the scene. The two passengers, jammed into the narrow front cockpit by the engine, were dragged out un- conscious. The pilot, injured but con- scious, was lifted out, groaning. As some one called for a doctor the airport official knelt beside the pilot. “What happened?” he asked in a low voice, “You had over 500 feet. Why didn't you try to pull out?” The pilot looked at him uncompre- hendingly. “I don't know what happened,” he whispered painfully. “It fell off and when I pulled the stick back the nose went around faster. Then we hit.” The official stared, open-mouthed. “Man—don't tell me you didn't know you were in a spin?” The pilot shook his head in a dazed Vay. ‘N'd never been in a spin. They didn’t teach us any spins at the school.” Then he collapsed. As he was bein; carried away the airport official turne grimly to his companion. “That ought to be a criminal offense —to send up .a student alone without telling him how to get out of a spin, and showing him, too. And yet there | are dozens of crooked schools doing that snd worse every day.” “Gyp” Schools the Cause. Unfortunately, the official was right. There have been and still are shyster or “gyp” schools which trade on the popu- larity of aviation to reap a.rich harvest, giving little or nothing in return. These schools are responsible for the majority of accidents in flying, through poor equipment used, incompetent instruct- ors, bad methods, and, further, through incorrect ideas of flying learned by their students and taken on into their chosen vocation. There are more than 400 schools listed —not_recommended, however—by the Department of Commerce. Of these it is safe to say that not over 50 per cent ¢ ) THE WHOLE SHIP BEGAN TO GYRATE. FASTER AND FASTER IT SPUN EARTHWARD. Drawn for the Sunday Star by Clayton Knight. lhl& not been obtained, so the ‘shyster at the most are qualified to give first- class .courses in Arst-c planes piloted by expert instructors, with cor- respondingly good ground-school work. But the day of the “gyp” school is nearing its end. Through the new school rating regulations of the De- rtment of Commerce, just being put to effect, the public will at last be able to distinguish between the good and bad training schools. The regula- tions, author by Congress in pass- ing the Bingham bill, are aimed di- rectly at the unserupulous operators and inexperienced instructors. To combat the “gyp” school further, as well as to furnish good pilots urgent- ly needed by the industry, some of the big interests in aviation have started schools in of the X A description of ;l will show the working of the “gyp” system. This particular school put out alluring adver- tising during the Winter of 1927-8, so that it was ready for the Spring boom. It pointed to Lindbergh and other fa- mous pllots, stressing high wages of mail pilots and others, almost guaran- teeing that a student would obtain a fine position after completing the course. No mention was made of hun- dreds of “10-hour wonders” who by that time found that transport com- panies are not hiring “graduate stu- dents” until they have acquired several hundred hours in the air. A lawyer would have found the “guar- " & little ambiguous, but the school had no difficulty in signing up 150 stu- dents, on the pay-in-advance plan. The students arrived. They found that the “school” consisted of one rickety war- time plane and one small under- ered two-seater of doubtful value for training. Two instructors were available, one for the ground school. one for fight training. The “ground Sounding Death Knell of “Gyp™ Aviation Schools school” consisted of a “lean-to.” with a /shop in which was an obsolete engine. Work on this and on the worn-out war- time plane was the ground course. The flying instructor never averaged | more than four hours a day at best. | With 30 minutes to reach man. it took | him three weeks to complete the first lesson for the 150 students, as there was no flying on Saturday or Sunday. | Delays and bad weather ran this up |to more than a month. The 10-hour ! course could be completed, then. with good luck, in 20 months! During this vear and eight months the students had to pay their own board and lodging expenses in a small town where side jobs were not plentiful. ‘The result was inevitable. went “broke” and gave up. to borrow money to get Students Some had home. And had had such long intervals between ! lessons that they were invariably very | poor “pilots.” They had little chance of getting commercial licenses and earning a living in aviation. Drawing to Close. But now the heyday of the “gyp schools is drawing to a close. Take the | word of Maj. Clarence M. Young for | that. Maj. Young is director of the | arronautics branch of the Department (& Commerce which is rating the schools. “Until now & school could advertise a ‘complete course’” he said, “which sounded well but didn't mean anything. Our ratings will be as flying schools, ground schools and ground and flving schools. The approved flying schools will be rated as private pilots’ schools. limited commercial pilots’ schools and transport pilots’ schools. The same for the ground schools. So a man wishing classes can tell at once whether a c tain school is qualified to teach him. At present many of the schools give what will not fall under the classifica- tion of a private pilots’ course. Yet many unsuspecting students have gone to these schools expecting to graduate and go into transport work. Of course, there are good schools, too, but they! have suffered because of the ‘shysters.’ I believe the rating system will soon expose -the unscrupulous operators. We don't force them to get ratings, but the good schools are asking for them. And it will be hard to explain to prospec- tive students why an approved rating will soon be an unimportant hanger-o: Number of Schools. 1t is impossible to state accurately how many of the 400 listed schools in the United States are good schools and how many are “gyps.” But it is signifi- cant that out of the 400 only about 75 have applied for rating under the new rating ‘regulations. Probably by the end of the year 150 or 200 will have lpflled‘ but this is by no means certain. ‘Whether the others apply or not, the result will be the same. The * A will be di )proved—and this will be published for the benefit of the prospec- tive student flyers. Every one of the rating regulations | covers some point that is vital in flying . instruction — points that have been ! brought out accidents in the last few years, for the majority of accidents have occurred to pilots with less than 50 houri:“ flg{,,‘" fi{::-thft is, students. rule requiring & fe fleld without obstruc- It of trouble of cer- those who did finish their instruction ' to get a license in any of the three: MISTAKE OF POLITICIANS BACK OF DEBT ORATORY French Leaders Forced to Acknowledge U. S. Means Business After Years of BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. 1 | IEWED _dispassionately, all the | recent hurly-burly in the French | Parliament over the Mellon- | Berenger debt settlement falls little short of sheer comedy. All the appeals to patriotic_emotions, mo- bilizing of veterans, inundations of | eloquence amount to nothing more than | a frantic effort on the part of French politicians to escape from the conse- | quences of their own performances Ever since Secretary Mellon and Sen- | ator Farenger, then also French Am- | bassador in Washtogton, set their hands to the debt treaty, nothing in this | world has been more certain than that no further modification, no new revi- sion downward had the smallest pros- pect of receiving the assent of the American Congress. The bargain, which to American eyes scemed gener- ous—since almost half the total of the obligation was forgiven—represented | our last word. | Moreover, it was perfectly clear that ' while the French might resort to the ! ! rather thin device of paying without signing, in the end, before August 1, 1929, they would have to face the issue | squarely, since then they woiild have to ratify or pay $400,000,000 in cold cash | And if there were a certain number of | Americans who continued to_denounce the arrangement as inequitable, or at | least ungenerous, no man in his senses could mistake the immutable will of the vast majority of the American elec- torate. But the Frenchman has never beei able to bring himself to believe that ths American attitude was real and that payment or default, honoring or repudi- ating his signature, was the only alter- native for him. And the French poli- tician has just as frankly exploited popular emoiion against paying as the American has against revision. He has built up a vast and seducing legend of ultimate cancellation, somehow pro- cured by himself. And in dealing with his own electors he has now blustered and now calculated on American gen- erosity. He has told the French tax- payer that he could not be made to pay. which is true, since we are not going to war to collect: he has stuffed him to the ears with nonsense of the patirotic-cum-bunkum sort. He has dwelt upon French dead and French devastations, imminent justice and ab- solute right Poincare About Faces. And while M. Poincare now appears in the light of common sense, urging the ratification of a debt duly contract- ed and legally established, his. after all, is the major fault. For when he took office jusi three vears ago, at the moment when the fall of the franc had precipitated a panic, it was wholly within his power to force the French Chamber to ratify the debt settlements He had for'the moment the authority. if not the form. of a dictator. In ths presence of national ruin the politicians had stampeded and the publc was quiescent. But Poincare procrastinated. He could not quite make up his mind that Washington meant business. He siil resented the notion of France pay’ war debts to either an American or British ally. He believed, correctly as the event proved, that he could save the franc without recourse to American or British_loans. And so he missed tie tide. Stabilization came without ratifi- cation. But henceforth his very succ in restoring French credit was destruc- tive of the last basis of argument for debt cancellation or revision, since al- tain_schools operating from extremely small ajrports. At one such field the left border was a river bank: the right one was a highway with 25.000-volt transmission lines running along the full length. One end was closed off by high trees and the other by buildings. In case of engine failure when taking off a pilot simply had to pick the best | spot to “crack up.” In one vear of operation seven students crashed in at- tempting to clear the hazards either in landing or taking off. Hangar Regulation. The regulation requiring hangars for all planes used in instruction may seem a minor detail. but it is quite impor- tant At one school, tvpical of a dozen, the planes were left out in storm. rain. | sun and snow until the fabric was so Totten that a man could drive his fist through it. The wood rotted and the metal fittings were badly rusted. Yet the reckless pilots of this organization continued to take up these ships with | “green” students until one day the wings collapsed on a ship in a mod- | erate turn. The fuselage roared into the ground. killing a student. Of course, these planes were not licensed: they | were operated in a State where such | licensing was not needed for intrastate | flying. Now, under the new rating reg- | ulations, ali approved schools must | have licensed planes. And the regular | Department of Commerce inspectors | will ground such rotten equipment in a | flash. | | Insuring that instructors are compe- | tent is as important as requiring good planes, and this is one of the most in- | teresting phases of the new rating work. | Army. Navy and commercial fiyers have | found that good pilots do not always | { make good teachers. Some of the mos { expert simply cannot pass their knowl- {edge on to a student and a few even | become nervous with any one else at | the controls. i Determine Ability. | Inspector J. S. Merriot is in charge | ,of the school experts of the Department. | {of Commerce Aeronautics Branch. And | | they have developed a thorough and in- teresting system for determining the | i teaching ability of the instructors. | “Ordinary flying with an instructor will not tell us about his teaching ability,” Merriott explained. “Of course. he has to be a good transport pilot, but we have had to work out a special sys- tem to cover this group. It sounds rather simple. The department inspec- tor ‘assumes the role of a student for the moment—not secretly, but with the knowledge of the instructor. For in- stance, I go to Pilot Jones at A— Flying School, and say: “ ‘Jones, I'm here to rate your school. Consider me a student for the next few hours. Assume I've never been in the air. Tell me what I should know before going up—exclusive of ground school material—and then take me up and give me a first lesson.’ “Jones may think this is a big joke at first, but probably in & few minutes he'll | change his mind. for few pilots are ac- | customed to telling about the job: thev're used to practical demonstrations. Pirst he has to explain the controls, showing me how the stick sends the ship up or down, and also banks for a turn; then the rudder, showing how it co-ordinates with the stick. “After a while we go up and then the real work begins. I wait until I get the controls and then do just what most students do at first. I skid or I slip off on a turn. Hardly has Jones corrected this when I get the nose up and almost go off into & spin. T keep this u (Continued on Fifth Page.) 1 { 1 most_overnight France passed from financial crisis to economic prosperity. The notion that Britain, staggering un- der her war burdens, would consent to further concessions to a Prance visibly prosperous was absurd. Thus, in the end. as he had been forced to see that the franc could not be restored to its old valué and has had to stand sponsor for the stabilization program, which amounted to the re- pudiation of four-fifths of the French domestic debt, Poincare has now to as- sume the only less unatractive role of spokesman for the ratificatiop of the treaty compelling France to My rather more than half of what sne owes abroad. ' The dream of the noliticians—and of Poincare, for that matter—has been to get a hard and fast settlement with Germany before the settlement with America and Britain, for this would al least save their faces. n more ig- noble has been the maneuver to ruin Poincare by making him the protagonist of the debt settlements and so stirring public prejudice as to insure that. once he had forced the ratification of the treaties as a necessary step in nattonal and infernational rehabilitation. he would fall. The radicals. who have | never forgiven Poincare for saving the franc when the government of the Car- tel had brought France to the edge of the abyss, saw in this operation a chance for revenge. Blow to French Prestige, The idea of making Poincare go hat n hand to Washingion to ask for a new postponement. despite the fact that he and every sensible Frenchman knew only a refusal was conceivable in the Dpremises, was worthy of the Chamber in its present mood. It put France in the position of seeking to evade a just ob= ligation and invited the rebufi which, however softened by Mr. Stimson’ lomatic phrases, could not f; blow to French prestige not merely in America but all over the world. Once more, in the name of patriotism, injury was done to national reputation for the lowest of all conceivable reasons. name- ly, to satisfy the requirements of a mean domestic political trick. Out of all the tangle of the debt ques- tions France does not. under the Dawes plan as amended by the new Young plan. fare so badly. Of the sum of ap- proximately $500.000,000. wr many is now to pay annually 7 vears, she will get. in round fgures, 70,000,000 and she will pay under he: debt settlements with America and Britain rather more than $100.000.000 Jess annually. And this sum vill go to cover the costs of her reconstruction. Obviously it will be nowhere nearly enough. but it be something sub- stantial. Great Britain, by contrast. since un- der the Balfour note policy she collects only enough to pay the United States, will get nothing to meet the incalcula= ble costs of economic devastation dis- closed in her appalling totais of unem= ployment. Italy, on her side, will get no more than the bare requirements to meet her foreign debt pavments, and must herself face her burden for re- construction in Venetia and Trent Senator Borah wes hardly well ad- vised when he used as an illustration of cotemporary French prosperity the fact that Prance was importing labor from neighboring countries. for this process was rendered inevitable by the enor- mous human losses of battle. Since disproportionately this casualty account was borne by the rural districts, Prench farmers were obliged to have recourse to Italian and Spanish workmen. even to Algerians and Moroccans. Even to- day the population of France falls nearly a million short of the numbers withjn the same area at the outbreak of the war. And the presence of these foreign laborers constitutes a drain upon French income. since large remit- tances are sent home by the alien laborers. France in Good Shape. Nevertheless, all things considered, France has emerged from the war in the best shape of any European coun- try. Industrially she is producing more than in 1914. Fiscally. by reagon of her | drastic repudiation of national debt, <he has reduced her domestic debt to a figure hardly more than twice as much as in the pre-war period. which. allow- ing for the diminution in the real value of money. represents someth'ng like parity. Set this beside the British expansion by 35. as contrasted wiin 1914. As for Germany. war and infia- tion wiped out her capital and will condemn her to borrow abroad. to mort- gage her domestic property for a gen- eration at the least. while she muist undertake to pay the French, British, Italian and Belgian debts to America for two generations. But the Prenchman. being logical and the victim of this logic. has been un- able to reconcile victory with the pay: ment of debt abroad representing the costs of the war. He has found it im- possible to discover justice in the neces- sity for France. with a casualty total of 1.400,000. to make financial transfers to the United States. which lost less than 100,000 on the field of honor. Thus he has cried out to the heavens against in- justice and sat still until the situation forced upon him an action which at once did violence to his convictions and came too late to preserve his dignity. Since from the moment the Mellon- Berenger accord was made it was clear that we had spoken our last word, the obvious course of wisdom for France was to accept the inevitable gracefully. If. moreover, French capacity for pav- ment was momentarily doubtful in 1926, in 1920 no_doubt remains. But the politicians chose the other course. and now they find themselves exposed. not only as mistaken but as impotent. They must present their constituents with this bitter dose. having for years pledged themselves to keep the cup away. That explains all their wrigsling, orating. which unhavpily has done their country no good in foreign eyes. (Copyright, 1929.) Weak Flyers Seen As Menacing Insects ‘The race is not always to the strong, at least not in the case of insects. This has been determined by the use of an insect trap carried on an airplane operated by the Department of Agricul- ture. “So far. it seems that the stronger fiyers, although influenceé cy tne ars current to a certain extent in the's directions of travel, are able to confine themselves to comparatively low alti- tudes and have rather definite control over their directions of travei,~ says the report. “The weaker flyers, however, are not so successful in offsetting air currents, and apparently many of them are carried absolutely as the wind takes them. Species which never before have been suspected of being wind-borns have been caught at great elevations.’ As uncomfortable as this may be to the insect, it gives him, as a race, a con- siderable advantage over his stronger cousins in his fight against the - sistent efforts of the Government - tists and vl:vlh farmers to exterminsie