The Timaru Herald MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1931. BRITAIN’S LAURELS IN THE AIR.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18833, 23 March 1931, Page 8

The Timaru Herald MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1931. BRITAIN’S LAURELS IN THE AIR.

Thanks to the magnificent offer by Lady Houston, the widow of the millionaire shipowner, Great Britain’s entry into this year’s Schneider trophy race is assured. Great Britain won the two previous contests in 1927 and 1929, and, according to the regulations, has the privilege again this year, as in 1929, of organising the race in Britain. Two foreign nations, France and Italy, have entered teams of high-speed seaplanes. Efficient organisation of the race demands Royal Air Force aid in the provision of accommodation for visiting teams and aircraft, while Royal Air Force pilots, belonging to the High Speed Flying Section, are the only men in the country qualified by actual experience to pilot aeroplanes flying at speeds of six miles a minute and more. Immediately after the 1929 contest, won by Great Britain at a record speed of 328.fi miles an hour, the Prime Minister, Mr Ramsay Macdonald, declared that Britain would do its best to win again next time. A few weeks later the Government announced that it would not participate in the race in any way, but recent events had encouraged a hope that the decision might be reversed. The British Government remained adamant, though the Royal Aero Club offered to guarantee the sum of £BO,OOO stated by the Air Ministry to represent the cost of participation in the contest this year. Conscious of the beneficial effect of winning the trophy on British aircraft trade the Society of British Aircraft Constructors addressed a , letter of appeal to every member of the Houses bf Parliament, Lords as well as Commons. The letter pointed, out that success in previous Contests has given British aircraft and British aero engines a prestige in the minds of foreign buyers that probably could not have been attained in any other way. The letter added: “The cash cost of defending the trophy lias been put at £BO,OOO. What, however, has not been brought home to the public is that this £BO,OOO, if spent, would within the next few months be represented almost entirely by wages paid out to shilled workmen who might not otherwise be employed. The I net cost to the Government, therefore, insofar as it absorbs labour from the unemployed, must be substantially less, If, indeed, the whole sum Is not more than fully covered by the exceptional employment created in other directions by the actual holding of the contest.

“The Society has already undertaken onerous liabilities in the event of a British team defending the trophy in British waters; but only the Government has the personnel, equipment and statutory authority essential to the organisation of the course and the defence of the trophy. “Both the foreign challenging teams have the full support of their respective Governments in regard to the provision of personnel and equipment.”

Lady Houston urged tliat the supremacy of British pilots could only be maintained by their entrance into the cup contest, and this generous-hearted woman added: “As I consider this of supreme importance and to show that I am not to be daunted, I will guarantee the whole amount, £IOO,OOO that you consider necessary, and I know I can confidently rely on the kindly help and cooperation of all who will rejoice if Britain wans.” While the nation generally deplored the attitude of Ministers—who can give nearly £IOO,OOO to opera and deny a penny for the maintenance I of British supremacy in the air—• there was universal admiration expressed for Lady Houston’s magnificent generosity. When the Government failed to do so, she removed from Great Britain the disgrace which would have been the inevitable accompaniment of Britain’s failure to defend a trophy which British airmen have already won twice in succession, and her action alone makes it possible for the British aeroplane industry—one of the great industries of the future—to look forward to a continuation of the leading position in ihe world which previous victories in this contest have given it. The air race, if all continues to go well, will take place next September over British waters, France and Italy being the challengers. It will probqblv be held as on the last occasion, over the Solent, but already claims for consideration are being made by other localities, among them the Humber, Morecambe Bay, and Belfast Lough. It is regrettable that the generous offer of Lady Houston prompted a display of bad taste on the part of 1 the Under-Secre-tary for Air, but perhaps the generous-hearted Englishwoman let her patriotism run away a little with her. The Minister’s sharp rejoinder, however, drew from a former Under-Secretary for Air the confession that he did not think that “even Mr Montague would have met Lady Houston’s generous offer of £IOO,OOO with such a contemptible display of prejudice and bad temper.” The average levelheaded Britisher pays little heed to the outbursts of the Socialists. He is principally interested, at the moment, in the gratifying fact that Britain, thanks to Lady Houston’s generosity, will this year defend the nation’s rich laurels in the air, against all comers.