The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16. MASTERY OF THE AIR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 117, 16 June 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16. MASTERY OF THE AIR.

While; Britain .has Uolmi concerning ]n;rsi It' iii tile matter of deloiiee. with |n''j\iding shi>pn of war to meet any jTasunably combination »f powers her, .-die has not shown t]i;i 1 interest in the question of aerial defend | 11 mt has been iminifosti.il „„ the fontiii ent. While tier,many, with the fill I concurrence ami enthusiastic encourage meat of liter people, litis ibeen spendiiij tens of thousands of pounds in ex])cii mealing in aerial ships, Britain has .'kt content to allow a few military enthiis! asts to grope along with the assistance of some hundreds 0 f pounds also. The comparative success of the Zeppelin airship, however, is to Imve awakened the British authorities to a realisation , that the world is 011 t'lre threshold of a new era in war, in which they cannot afford to lag behind. If the ground al leady lost is to be recovered, Britain I must he up and doing. The Home (iovernmeut has now, however, instituted ti now scientific department to study tile innuaieraiblc aibstruse problems of aeronautics, with the object of affording the Army and Xavy and private Wvehtors Uie guidance wliio! they im--lucratively require. The latest English files to hand show that the new department will be a branch of the X.itional Physical Laboratory, and will be supervised by a strong committee upon which are several distinguished mimes, anil the organisation of the department should eventually place Britain's 'scientific equipment ahead of every foreign country ami prepare tile way for great achievement-. The siaews of war that hitherto have been denied to aero-

nan tic experiments are now to he forthcoming. The Army Aernautical Department is being re organised, ami will henceforth construct aeroplanes and dirigibles and experiment as to the best means of meeting their attack Hie Navy will construct dirigibles alone. The efforts of the two services will be co-ordinated and s'ystematised with, it is believed, the happiest results. "As yet," says the London Daily Mail, "British inventors have worked much ai haphazard, lhey have had no machinery at their disposal for the investigation ot doubtful points. The naval constructor would be almost helpless .without the experimental tank, in which the best shape of hull can Jje practically ascertained with models. The scientific department will provide the exact analogue of the experimental tank in aerial war. Its effect will be felt in every direction, and the ground lost in the past should slowly -he regained. Bui .et no one suppose that the task before the nation is a simple one. We have to recognise the fact that our rivals diave obtained a long start towards securing the command of the air. We have lir.-;t to overtake them, and then to win a decided advantage, if we are to (possess our own in peace. The day has passed when the 'blue streak' gave protection. Our insularity vanished with tiie nineteenth century. We have before us nothing less than to gain in the air the same great .position we have held heretofore at sea."

The times in which we live are times' of bewildering change. A decade ago men would have scoffed at the idea of the command of the air. The airship was then a mere dream. Tile heavier-blian-air Hying machine was a scionlilic curiosity anil no more. But the progress of foreign airships and aeroplanes ill the last three years has been such that it were criminal to delay longer. We may, indeed, already have waited too long. The Herman airships' of today are at least as manageable as the sailing ship when the wind is against them, and with the wind they can run at high speed. In s on ]y a]v |-j )(lv , caponed to danger. Their capacity for lifting weight, their radius of action, and their manoeuvring qualities make of them formidable engines of war. A hostile airship, hovering over London, would be unas'sailablo, and could inflict enormous damage, had we no British Dreadnought in the air to send against it. It is then a real mark of progress that the (.'overnment is "thinking aerially.' and that the nation lias awakened from its slumber to a realisation of the new perils and requirements of twentieth century war.

TIIJC NAVY' fIBNT. Not Hie least anions tile benefits tli«t 1 l»I r \ may lie assumed to folhv.v tile discussions and addresses at the Imperial Press Conference is that both the leaders of thought and 'polities in the Motherland and' in tile Overseas Dominions will arrive at a common understanding. In the past (here lias been 110 unanimity of opinion on so grave ? and all-important a (|uestion as that of ■| X1,1iu,, «l Xew Zealand, natiirj all), lia.-, always insisted on trusting I hrst anil foremost to the Imperial | N'avy; Australia lias ,bcon somewhat I neglectful of her duty, and has devoted | her energies ehiell.v for of |, u . ; ,| I defence, which must for many years to come lie wholly inadequate to her needs': Cape Colony ha« contributed an annual subsidy; while Canada has neither built her ow* ships nor helped towards the i <ost of those, of the Motherland. Ivvcr>''lung has been at "sixes and sevens'," and for this state of ail'airs the colonies, as' -Mr. Cunningham, of (lie Melbourne ArgtK frankly admitted, are mainly to blame. As a SouMieni contemporary points out, we have all, more or less, assumed that no foreign I'owcr would dure interfere with us; we have left the question of our national safely i„ U,o hands of (he Home (loveniment; we have never troubled very much about it; and for many years we paid next Jour to nothing in the way of insurance premium against ]„ s s. To-day .much, if not all, o! this has .been eha-.igetl. The Empire finds itself confronted witih new, great. and antagonistic forces that have been slowly coming into being, but for which the majority of lintons were unprepared. We accepted, as Lord Huberts said, our salcly as a li\,d condition when the plain truth for each and all of us is that we have 110 foundation for our belie!. The Umpire, saiil Lord lioberts, may have to justify its existence. and it cannot do this unless' its citizens prepare themselves to defend it. Meanwhile, it is satisfactory to note that, pending adequate provisions fur local defence, all p . . agreed Unit , the linaintruance .•opicmacy of the , British A'avy are the vital and 'indispensable conditions precedent to everything ;clse. This is the dominant note i-a recent messages, ami that it is so is a matter for congratulation. We at least are beginning to understand where we are. ON THE FOURTH PAGE. Commercial. Amusements. District, News. Correspondence. Taranaki Land Board. Breaking and Entering. Borough Foreman's Dismissal. Covernuicul's Railway Policy.