BASIS OF TRANSPORT

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12530, 16 April 1935, Page 3

BASIS OF TRANSPORT

PROGRESS IN THE AIR. ACTING-PREMIER’S COMMENT “The basis of transport is to. give man a greater control over nature by eliminating the disadvantage ot distance.” stated the Acting-Premier, the Hon. E. A. Ransom. in the course of his address at the official opening yesterday of East Coast Airways. “The whole progress of civilisation'.” lie continued, “is a story of the annihilation of space and the abbreviation of time. Transport has made the world a smaller place and its different. peoples hotter known to each other. “Air transport received a great fillip during the. Great 'War. Tho development has steadily proceeded, and there is every prospect that a new era in transport is about to begin. The following figures show: the growth 'ln aSr senvices operated, throughout the world I .—-1919, aeroplane miles, i 022,000; 1924 8.764,000; 1933 100.580.000. The following figures show’s the position of the various air services in all countries in 1933: United States of America 54,642;000 miles; Germany 6,580.000; France 5,986 000; Italy 2,960,000; United Kingdom 2,638,000; and Holland 2,071-; 000. “The above are the firist six countries in the world as far as regular air services are concerned. They demonstrate tho tremendous load the United States of America has in the field of air transport. “A study of economic history in the nineteenth century shows that the British Empire largely attained its world supremacy in trade and com morce that century as a result of her lead in raihvays and steamships There is reason to believe that the twentieth century will be dominated by air transport. Already the- race for commercial air transport supremacy lias started. The latent map of Europe and the world affords evidence of this, and it is inspiring to notice the rapid growth recently of the “thin rod line” [which demon strates a. British route.”