Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 220, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 September 1919 — Single Air Control Is Necessary for Army, Navy and Postal Service [ARTICLE]

Single Air Control Is Necessary for Army, Navy and Postal Service

By HARRY S. NEW,

', U. S. Senator from Indiana

I believe that the,avvation question is of sufficient importance to the country to call for the creation of a single department of the government to look after it to the exclusion of everything else. Great Britain was forced to the adoption of this eighteen months or more ago, and so was France. The United States should do likewise, and sooner or later she must do it. It is merely a question of whether she will do it now and take ad\antage of the present opportunity to get ahead or whether she will wait until forced to do what other nations have done and then attempt to come from behind with the same old American disregard of expense and lack of appreciation of the wisdom of preparedness. I know that there is opposition to the separate department plan on the part of the navy. There is also opposition in certain army quarters, turt this is the result of selfishness and a disregard of the interests of aeronautics in its broad and general sense. The navy is concededly competent to look after its own aeronautical needs. So likewise is the army. But neither of them can go beyond their own service. The attempt to create such a department may be successfully resisted for a time —although I honestly believe that congress will he wise enough to discount bureau jealousies and do the obviously sensible thing at this gassion—but whether it does or not it cannot be long deferred. ' " No man knows what is to be the future of aeronautics.' The marvelous development of the'science can be best appreciated when we stop to think that the first man to fly, Orville Wright, is today but forty-eight * y—rs old, I , Shall America realize all this and shape her aims accordingly in time to keep abreast of other nations, or shall we be permitted to bring up the ■traggling rear of a rabidly moving procession? That is the question to-he imawered-by-ooßgress and the peepie.