Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, SATURDAY, SEPT. 19, 1936. FUTURE OF AVIATION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19124, 19 September 1936, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, SATURDAY, SEPT. 19, 1936. FUTURE OF AVIATION

The utmost importance attaches tc the discussions which will be com iiicnccd in. Wellington next week or.

various questions concerning the

future of aviation, particularly as ii affects Imperial relations. The conference is to be attended by the Aus tralian Minister of Defence and a representative of the British Aii Ministry as well as by New Zealand Ministers and the mere fact that the Mother Country and the Common wealth are prepared to send delegates to this country is of itself suflicient to indicate the seriousness with which the whole, question is viewed. Con sidoring its remoteness and.tlie rela

tivc smallness of its territory, New Zealand has not been entirely lacking

in progress in air transport, but ii would be futile to pretend Unit do vclopment lias proceeded as rapidly as could have been desired. In the lust few years Mere has been a welcome quickening of interest, and the recent Ministerial statement that when present plans are completed there will be upwards of a hundred aerodromes and landing grounds available is an indication of the increased vigour with which the problem has been tackled. Ground organisation

is, of course, an essential preliminary, and with the completion of this part of the programme expansion in other direction-; can reasonably be expected. The pending conference, how-

ever, is not so much concerned wiWi the development of internal civil aviation as with an extension of Empire air mutes and the creation of an adequate military air force. The two questions are closely related, more so perhaps than is generally recognised, and New Zealand is vitally interested In both, but hitherto has not displayed any great activity. It. is unfortunate that the British proposals in connection with a regular air mail service between the Mother Countrv and the Dominions should have been held up as ft result of difference of opinion between the three countries. The British scheme provided for all first-class mail matter to be carried by air at a Mat rate of U,d per ounce, but this met with opposition from the Commonwealth Government, not only because its own internal postage rate is 2d, but also

because it, favoured a surcharge of. 6d on air mail. Certainly the proposed reduction would mean a suDstantial loss to Australia, . but. the recent satisfactory Budget, suggests that the. country would well be able to bear it and there can be no doubt of the many indirect, advantages that would be derived from the closer. Empire link that would be established. On the broad and universally accepted principle that mails should be carried as speedily and cheaply as possible the project has everything to commend it, and the only possible objection' is that of cost. Xew Zealand, as a pioneer of penny postage, and which, by reason of its isolation, has most to gain from improved mail services, should be the first to welcome the .suggested innovation, but there is a lurking- suspicion that the Government has not displayed the enthusiasm that might have been expected. There has, for instance, been some comment against the service being .entrusted to a private organisation —authough the firm involved is the most efficient and most enterprising in the world—and some suggestion that Australian and New Zealand capital should be used for at least part of the service. These points, however, are trivial when compared with the major issue involved, and New Zealand should not have the slightest, hesitation in wholeheartedly supporting the British proposals.

Rven more urgent, perhaps, than the carriage of mails, is the question of dofoneC; and it is chiefly on this aspect that New Zealand has sought the advice and assistance of Britisn experts. The air mail project aad defence provisions are closely related, for it is obvious that whatever machines and bases might be user! for commercial purpose.-, will be invaluable in the event of hostilities breaking out. The Dominion's aerial defence force is at present, totally inadequate for possible needs and whatever contribution it might be called upon to make towards the Imperial service could rightly be regarded as going some way in the direction of remedying the deficiency, although it would be a grave mistake to assume that no further action is needed. This feature of the British, proposals also has. met with some criticism in Australia, controversy ranging around whether land machines or seaplanes should be, used for the service. Doubtless, there is something to be said for both views, but, on broad grounds, it should be conceded that since Great Britain is bearing the bulk of the cost and the service is an Empire one the Dominions should not adopt an antagonistic attitude. So far as New Zealand is concerned, s'he has so much to gain and so very little to lose that she should be anxious to eo-operalo with the Home Government. The general feeling is thai already there has been 100 much unnecessary delay in arriving at an agreement, and there will be a profound hope that tlte pending conference will result In the removal of all outstanding obstacles.