The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times SATURDAY, AUGUST 1st., 1925. CIVIL AVIATION.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 August 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times SATURDAY, AUGUST Ist., 1925. CIVIL AVIATION.

Civil, aviation as it expands, promises to lie a great factor in Empire development. Sir W. Helton Brancker, who is director of civil aviation in the Air Ministry, lately flew from England to Rangoon and back, to try out flying routes, and learn for himself something of the immediate possibilities of opening Empire aerial routes for distant. transport purposes, He earn, through his air venture with marked success and learned a great deal from his mission. On his return to England. he was entertained, and in the course of a public address remarked: “1 think that we are rather inclined to measure things by wrong standards; by distance, by pounds, shillings and lenco; by weight, and so on. What is our most valued possession to-day? It is really life itself. Life you can only judge, in my opinion, in measures of time. It i.s measured by time absolutely. And if you will think of the "'arid or the Brtisli Empire in measures of time instead of distance you will get quite a new outlook on things. An airship service averaging sixty miles an hour, which we hope to accomplish in the next three or four years, would bring New Zealand justeast of Somaliland. It would bring Australia about to South East Arabia. India to Egypt, and South Africa as near as French Morocco. When we have our airships flying, those who love the Empire and really want to go about and see it will, to all intents and purposes, live, t" ice as long as they do no.i ! Many criticisms are put up against British civil aviation policy. There are constant criticisms in the Press. We must realise that simultaneously we are in a very difficult position to start things and in a very favourable position when we really get things going. England itself is a small country with a foul climate and good railways. No one wishes to cross Eng-

land except to get to Ireland, and I find very few people want to do that. (Laughter.) In America there are wonderful opportunities of services: such as that from New York to Florida, about which Lord Thomson has just been telling me. In America opportunities are there for the asking. In Europe. Germany is geographically favoured ; she has longer distances, a better climate, and large numbers of people are continually wanting to cross

her territory; thus tliere is a great incentive to establish air transport in. Germany which does not exist, in this country. But when we look up and down the British Kmpire we hud marvellous opportunities for establishing quicker communication. What are we going to do in order to improve matters? Well, we are now evolving a policy. Things are letter than ever before from tin' air transport point of view, but it- will need money t< develop our Imperial air communications to a proper standard. Their importance justifies expenditure. Thus one of the most important things that we have to do is to educate the public as to the value of this new form of Imperial communication and to persuade them to use it alien it is offered to them. Naturally ito eolnirnercial success must, depend upon how far the public will patronise it when it is set going. Air transport might he described as a war baby. It was horn at the end of the war. It has lieeii squalling loudly. It hits been badly brought up and is badly behaved. From the war we got a heritage of waste and danger in aviation. Money was no object, and we spent money like water. AYc wanted to beat the enemy and thought of nothing else, in all operations of war there is danger; aviation particularly so; thus danger was foremost in the public mind when they thought of aviation. They have ear-marked it with the word “danger.” fn the last live years we have Ircen striving to attain economy and safety in civil aviation. Immediately after the war it was difficult to switch over and adopt a new policy and so progress was slow and difficult. Air transport has nothing to tin with military aviation; but. like the mercantile marine, when it tines get going on a large scale it will create automatically a national reserve which will he of infinite value when another crisis arises. T like the air and everything in it. hut we must face the fact that the invention of aviation by mankind had great military disadvantages to us. It has eliminated the Channel and brought us on to terms of equality with the Continent of Europe, which change carries with it many difficulties and 'unpleasanjt and heavy military responsibilities, lint aviation can give us really good things as well, and I feel that we should grasp the good things which il can give us. It can give those good things more lavishly to the British Kmpire than to any other country in the world because of its world-wide extent. Therefore let us seize air transport and use il to consolidate our great commonwealth of nations more closely and (irmly than ever they have been before.''