Scathing Criticism Of Byrd Expedition

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 278, 24 November 1939, Page 9

Scathing Criticism Of Byrd Expedition

WASTE OF PUBLIC MONEY Major A 1 Williams, himself a flyer of some prominence, is unpleasantly critical of Admiral Byrd and his further Antarctic expedition, the first ship of which has already sailed from the United States. As an indication that the project does not meet with anything liko universal approval, the writer's contribution, as the Scripps Howard aviation expert, is worth reproducing. Here it is:— “This must be written or aviation's pennant hauled down. “I didn't think any group—not even politicians —would ai>propriate 340,000 dollars of the taxpayers' money to finance that silly Byrd expedition to the Antarctic. But Congress has done it Admiral Byrd's aerial circuses, when carried on as private profit-making ventures, were Byrd’s personal But having apparently exhausted the advertising sponsorships of every conceivable commercial article from mattresses to candies, and navliig turned to the Federal Government zor nnanci&i sponsorship, the Admiral's business occonies public business. “I have had little to say about Richard Evelyn Byrd and his aerial performances. Among other junior officers in tne Navy, 1 flew him and others in the back cockpits of iny ships in orde. to qualify them for Navy light pay. Along with others, I resented it bitterly because Byrd and other ranking officers were as physically able for flight duty and its hazards as were we. Likewise, they wore Navy wings and commandeu Navy pilots. “ Aumirai Byrd has proven his ability to organise, and promote aerial enterprises* According to my sober judgment, Byrd—a nice follow personally — is. the greatest American snowman, up to and including Barnum. And apparently we will always have with us those who will use aviation as a stopping atpno:to wealth and popular acclaim. “ why he couldn't let well enough alone -is inoro than I can guess. His expeditions so far have, according to fairly’accurate estimates, netted him a ndat fortune, and no one begrudges him that fortune. :“Bu|t to sthink that any one woulddaro tj> -toss 340,000 dollars of public money I into such an asinine venture as pushind; our tattered Monroe Doctrine into the icy, inaccessible Antarctic when unemployment, misery and mounting pub-lie debt stalk the land is just too muqh for continued silence. “And! to think that aviation should

bo abused as a smoke screen to further this dopey project whelps a rasping and bitter protest.

“It's a sad coincidence that Admiral Byrd should have launched this scheme in the face of his Senatorial brother’s

stand against wild spending. Senator Byrd demands an end to spending more than we take. And now THIS!

“My old mechanic, tho gallant Floyd Bennett, whom I recommended for flight training at Pensacola, flew Admiral Byrd over the North Pole. Bert Acosta and Bernt Balchen flew Byrd across the Atlantic to the crack-up

on the French coast. Harold June, exNavy pilot, flew Byrd over tne South Pole.

* 1 Richard Evelyn Byrd —retired from the Nkvy, with a pension, and leading exploratory expeditions ever since, on active duty for years in Washington at |£uU base ami flight pay—is tbe only naval officer who has ever been promoted from commander to admiral while on the retired list.

“If the new Byrd expedition had been aimed at grabbing ofl; air bases in the Arctic we might nave held silence in tho hope of some day flying an air route via the North Polo to Europe, even though the Russians exploded that racket. And racket it is, because ice, snow and Arctic weather do bear u relationship to safe air transportation. “Some time ago I jokingly pkophesied that, in our search for new crises, we might have to defend ourselves against an Eskimo invasion. But this Byrd expedition, exposing our poor Monroe Doctrine to pneumonia in the Antarctic, is a crisis in asininity beyond the wildest winged imagination.”