U.S.A. DEFENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 7 February 1925, Page 3

U.S.A. DEFENCE

lIEATKD DEIJAT 1C IX CONDI!MSS. AUSTRALIAN AND N. V, . CAIII.K ASSOCIATION WASH IXGTOX, feltruary 5. Roprosentnitivc Ak.Clintic made » charge in tlie House, to-day tliat a deliberate attempt to mislead tlie American people, respecting aircraft in warfare had been made Dy the Navy. The sinking of the battleship Washington, McClintie alleged, was the last word from the Nary Department. The battleship was bombed from the air with explosive bombs filled with sand, lietore the guns sank the vessel. Senator Wilbur denied the charge, also that an attempt was made to gag naval oflicer.s testifying before Congressional Committees.

Tlicca arc the latest developments in a lively controversy, involving the whole policy of national defence in Congress. The Army and Navy has been drawn into a. heated discussion over the importance of aviation in warfare, and lroin numerous indications, President Coolidge will have to become the final arbiter in tho adjustment of personal official feuds within military ami naval establishments, and point the way to Congress for appropriations. General .Mitchell, Assistant Chief of the Army Air force, was undismayed at the attacks on the Genera! Navy Board, and General Army Staff, because the testimony given to Congressional CommiLtco. announced that, if required, the Colonel might resign from the Army, run for Congress, and continue the battle with the bureaucracy. Representative Perkins, Chairman of the House Aircraft Investigation Committee, made a sensational charge against at least three officers of the Navy. He asked to be excused from giving tsetimony in Congress for fear of vengeance when promotions were in. pr!osj‘ecfc. Representative il’erkm asserted that the careers of General Mitchell and Admiral Moffett, Chief of Naval Aeronautics, were endangered owing to their assertion of superiority in air lighting for national defence. Senator Wilbur replied by letter, stating that naval ofliicrs were free to express personal opinions on national defence, but not to reveal confidential information. In the meantime, the Naval Board, which reported to the President that the airplane was increasingly useful as an auxiliary surface licet, but was not comparable with the battleship in the first lino ol delence, faces a hard fight to maintain its position, since representative Curry, author of the Bill to establish a separate Air Department has issued a direct challenge to the Board, and the Army and General Staff, to meet the Ai> Service in tests, under conditions of actual warfare, for substantiation or refutation. General Mitchell's contentions are that Representative Curry said tlie seadogs of the Navy were attempting to subject General Mitchell to humiliation and discipline, hut were iinnhie to refute a single fact brought out by the air service officers.