"TURNING THE SCALE."

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14391, 1 September 1917, Page 6

"TURNING THE SCALE."

AMERICA'S WAR PLANS

GREAT NAVY OF THE AIR. SAN FRANCISCO, July 26. The American nat.oll is keyed to : l high pitch ,pf enthusiasm through theexpectation that the war will be decided by : America's participation m 41-eriitl warfare. 'Such confidence has been invest' ed m. the realm of the war thafc Con/ gress has just voted the enormous- sum of £12d,0tX),000 for her aeroplane pro gramme.

American, French, and British aviation experts agree that Germany must be beat-en \n the air before she is conquered on land or sea, and many oi them see- in .America the deciding fac tor m this aerial domination. Testifying before Congress m support oi the programme of the Council, of JSational Defence, Brigadier-General iSquior, who is the head of the American Arm y aviation service, declared that regiments and brigades of "winged cavalry" sweeping across the German lines and smothering the trenches with. a /storm of ltau would put the ".Yankee 'punch' 1 into the war. "The /aeroplane will prove the deciding factor m the war,' 1 affirmed RearAdmvral Peary, who sees m the sea plane "the quickest and cheapest antidote for the submarine menace." "In the comparatively near future," predicted this authority, "the air service will be more .impoi'tant than the army and navy combined." And he added that "If the country takes hold of air-pre-paredness, we shall through this not only beat the submai*hie, but bring about a decision iti the great war." Mr. Howard Coffin, chairman of the Aircraft Production Board of the Council of National Defence, v m the course of an interview, said: "We may as \ realise now that the domination of the air m all probability will prove the deeding factor m the struggle m the present war 'on sea, perhaps cs well as on land. Military authorities of "all the Allied nations are agreed that unless the Allies can secure a< preponderance of aircraft with which to overwhelm the ' German lines, the War may, aiid probabiy will, drag on for years with a constantly increasing toll of lives. We believe now that we liave worked out a programme which will make it possible for the United States to secure to the Allies next year the- permanent supremacy of the airland with that we" hope to become an immediate deciding factor m ending the war.

11l the present struggle between Germany and the Allies the. fight for supremacy m the air is practically even ; they are constantly struggling for the advantage. Each side is seeking to out. do the other m numbers, speed, and' fighting efficiency. There is every reason to believe that neither /alone can secure a definite and permanent' supremacy. This is America's one chance for turning the, scale next year. She cannot equip and send over enough troops and military supplies to determine the war before that time, although all she oan send will be necessary. We must throw m our "weight to a far greater extent than would be made possibles by the despatch of troops alone if we expect to have our force turn the tide within the year." Mir Coffin explained that Your plan contemplates maintaining a constant raiding patrol over the enemy's territory for 60 miles behind the fighting lines. If we .build the quantities of machines for^ "which we have the capacity and train our thousands of available men we can tear up the enemy communication lines and prevent movement of troops and supplies." "We can train thousands of aviators ami build thousands of machines without .rnterferincr m the slightest with the plans for building xij> our armies and for supplying the Allies' with food and munitions," said the Seci'etary for War, Vv Newton T). TJaker. "Every consideration points to the effectiveness of a highly-developed air service m its relation to the, part which the United States can play m putting on end to the war. It lives up to all America's tradit : ons of doing thin crs on a splendid scale : it will put us* off our mettle from the point of view both of meohanioal

ingenuity and of individual d.iring :niii initiative. A few Ihuusand trained American aviators, with the machines for their use, may spell the whole difference between victory a.nd defeat 011 the Western front."

The plan of General Squier .is : "An inundation of ainpla-nes would better ••x.. press the idea of its magnitude Mian a mere thrust on a largo scale. Sweep -.he Germans from the sky. blind the Prussian cannons, and the time would le ripe to release an enormous Hock of flying fighters to raid and destroy military camps, ammunition depots, and military establishments of all kinds. Once given an upper hand the Jiving machines i.ecomc- frightful engines of destruction. The greater the air tleet the safer it becomes to the aviator connected with it, and the move deadly to the oiwniy a-u;ninst which it .is sent. -Six hundred and forty million dollars looks like a lot <>f ■ money. Considered m the terms of winning the war it is a positive bargain."