ominous that we have neglected both aviation and the chemical industries. Our sailors and soldiers cannot possibly protect us against chemical attacks from the air. Their gallantry alone will not save us. Their weapons will be as futile as are the spears of savages against machine guns and repeating rifles.

Before the War, we had given some attention to the aeroplane, but had almost completely disregarded the airship. Germany was Germany was the only Power which had developed the airship. The soldiers and sailors when urged to provide them argued that (1) the airship was still in the experimental stage; (2) that it was of doubtful value; (3) that terrible accidents had occurred through its use in Germany; and (4) that it would be best to let other nations experiment and for England to benefit from their experience when a reliable type of airship had been evolved. All these arguments proved faulty. German Zeppelins did an enormous amount of harm to this country. The few airship raids which took place did far greater damage than all the numerous aeroplane raids. Further, the possession of airships proved of the greatest advantage to the German fleet. Air cruisers acted as the eyes of their navy, while the British fleet was blindfolded through the lack of airships. We had the greatest difficulty in locating and destroying raiders, such as the 'Emden,' and in locating and destroying U-boats and mines. A few airships could have done the work of hundreds of surface vessels. Feeling keenly the lack of airships, we strained our energies to provide them. We copied a Zeppelin which had been brought down, and the proved value of our airships created a general determination that henceforth Great Britain should be foremost in the air, not only with aeroplanes but also with airships. Unfortunately, we have abandoned airships for the sake of economy, and the airships of other nations may prove exceedingly dangerous to us in case of war, not only by acting as scouts, but also by dropping explosives and chemicals in quantities which have hitherto appeared fantastic.

During the War the German airships were no match for our aeroplanes, as our aviators, after a time, readily set them alight. In any forthcoming war, this may no longer be possible. The airships of the future will not

use the highly inflammable hydrogen, but helium, which is non-inflammable. Helium is a very expensive gas which occurs in the natural condition in the American oil-fields. The Americans, recognising the vast value of airships using non-inflammable helium, have arranged storage for helium sufficient for a considerable number of airships and are energetically building them with German assistance. It is not unlikely that helium may be produced in the oil regions of Canada, of Persia, and elsewhere. From what has been said it will be seen that not only with regard to aeroplanes, but also in respect to airships, this country has sunk to a low position in the world. It should especially be remembered that in the future no nation can dominate the sea unless it also dominates the air.

The military and naval value of aeroplanes and airships is already great. It seems certain, however, that we stand merely on the threshold of aerial development. The airship and the aeroplane of five years, ten years, or fifteen years hence, will probably stand in the same relation to the airship and the aeroplane of the present, as that in which the 18-inch naval gun does to the guns used by Nelson and by the men of the Armada. It must be remembered that the steamship, the railway, the motor-car, and many similar inventions, were for a long time considered of doubtful value, and that torpedoes and submarines were laughed at. The future development of the air weapon may surpass the wildest expectations of the most imaginative writers of fiction. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that Great Britain should be abreast of the times and as far advanced as any other nation in the production of airships and aeroplanes. The British people have an extraordinarily great talent for engineering. The steam engine and other machines without number were invented in this country. There is every chance of England occupying as high a position in the world in the building of airships and aeroplanes as she occupies in the building of merchant ships and warships; but progress in construction cannot be achieved if our Air Service is starved for money, and if other nations are allowed to remain ahead of this country in the number of machines constructed and maintained. After all, inventors are apt to take their discoveries to the largest and best market.

A powerful and well-equipped Air Service is not only indispensable to the security of our Motherland and Empire for the maintenance of the peace of the world, but it is a positive saving to the taxpayer. A small Air Force can do the work of a large land force, as well as of important naval squadrons. That has been the lesson of the war and of our post-war campaigns in Mesopotamia, India, and elsewhere. At the recent Air Conference at the Guildhall, Commander C. D. Burney stated, and Lord Gorell discussing his paper confirmed the assertion, that 16 airships could be produced for the cost of a single battleship and that 9 airships could do the work of 60 cruisers; whereby 51,000,000l. might be saved. We were told at the same time that, per square mile of reconnaissance, airships would do for 17. 58. what it would cost 771. to do with cruisers.

In the past, England dominated the sea and ensured the peace of the sea. Naval supremacy cannot exist without supremacy in the air. The advance of aviation has destroyed the security which this country enjoyed through its insular position. The peace of this country and the peace of the world are endangered by our weakness in the air, and Powers stronger in the air than ourselves must feel as much tempted to make use of their supremacy in this most potent weapon as Germany did in 1914, and as Napoleon did when he was at the height of his fame. Our lack of preparedness in the air may conceivably involve us-and the world-in another war which would devour countless millions of British money. Prevention is better than cure. Relatively small sums spent now on aviation may prove to be the truest economy, as true an economy as an additional 10,000,0007. or 20,000,000l. spent on military preparations would have been before that fatal year, 1914.

Military and civil aviation go hand in hand. It is true that military aeroplanes and aeroplanes used for civil purposes differ materially; but men who can fly a civil machine can also fly a military machine. Civil flying is capable of providing us with a large body of able aviators, just as a prosperous merchant marine will provide us with a large body of able captains and seamen. The high development of civil aviation will not only furnish numbers of flying men who would

render invaluable service in the event of war, but would vastly strengthen aviation on the constructive side. Civil aviation is to military aviation what the Mercantile Marine is to the Navy, and just as our ablest builders of merchant ships can easily turn to the construction of warships, so the builders of peace aeroplanes without much difficulty can undertake the construction of war planes. At any rate, large and experienced staffs ready for the purpose of construction can thus be provided. The dispersal of these men, their absorption in other industries, and their emigration to other countries, has been a great calamity, not merely to our aeroplane industry and to aviation, but to the country as a whole. Though money might readily be provided at comparatively short notice, experienced staffs are the result of patient training during a large number of years.

Very important for an efficient military Air Force is the provision of well-placed hangars, repair depôts, etc. The construction and organisation of these requires a great deal of time, labour, and money. A highly developed civilian aviation service will automatically establish all these and training centres as well.

What the country really needs to-day is a National Air Force. This should be so developed that it renders aviation and Imperial Air Defence an integral part of the Nation's life-corresponding somewhat to the Territorials of our Army. This has already been recognised by our present Air Minister, and it is hoped that the forthcoming Imperial Conference will give consideration to the matter.

Before leaving the strategic aspect of aviation some consideration should be given to Military Defence generally and the increasingly important question of its future administration. There can be no doubt that military aviation has suffered, and is still suffering, from conflicts of policy and administration, as well as through the existence of competing authorities. Division creates disharmony and friction of every kind, thereby entailing weakness, inefficiency, and waste. The subject has been widely discussed since the days of the public inquiry into the administration and command of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915-16, when there was much jealousy and friction between the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal

Flying Corps, culminating in their amalgamation into the present Royal Air Force. Recognising the disadvantages of divided authority and that unity is strength, Rear-Admiral M. F. Sueter, Sir Cecil Beck, Colonel Claude Lowther, and various others have recently proposed a Bill to subordinate the three fighting services to a Ministry of Defence.' The Ministry of Defence Creation Bill was ordered to be printed on May 3, 1922. The explanatory memorandum states:

(1) The Bill is to establish a Ministry of Defence consisting of a Principal Secretary of State, who shall be President of the Ministry of Defence, and an Under Secretary of State for each of the three departments: Admiralty, War Office, and Air Ministry respectively, for purposes connected with the development and maintenance of the three fighting services, viz. the Navy, Army, and Air Force, in an up-to-date and highly efficient condition, with the utmost economy, consonant with the increased efficiency which this Bill will effect, and for other purposes in connection therewith.

(4) The Ministry of Defence is responsible to His Majesty's Government for the proper consideration of all strategical and tactical questions bearing on the defence of the realm, i.e. on the surface of the water, under the water, on land, and in the air; for the proper equipment and maintenance of all arms of the three fighting services in a state of readiness and efficiency according to the principles of strategy and tactics adopted; to arrange for the provision and regulation of an adequate supply of personnel to all three fighting services; to examine the estimates which may be prepared by each of the services with a view to the co-ordination and reduction of unnecessary services and to maintain a balance as between one service and another in the expenditure required to carry out the general scheme of defence; and will be responsible to His Majesty's Government that the actual expenditure is the minimum that can attain this object.'

It is much to be hoped that the divisions which at present keep back the development of the air weapon and cause endless waste of effort and money will be abolished by the unification and centralisation of our defensive arrangements. The plan entails an eminently

So high an authority as Admiral Mark Kerr also favours unification of the three services under a single administration, as does Rear-Admiral A. P. Davidson, Major-General Sir John Davidson, and Major-General the Right Hon. J. Seely, M.P., amongst many others.