the Convention was drawn up by the Council of Ambassadors, on the recommendation of the Aeronautical Commission in Paris, whereby a State which has accepted the Convention in other particulars will be authorized to permit the flight over its territory of the aircraft of specified non-contracting States. These derogations will be for a limited period, but will be renewable unless an objection is lodged by a contracting State.

This Protocol to the Convention has been signed by most of the contracting States, the United States signing with interpretative reservation which is practically identical with the American reservation to Article 5 (see above), except that it does not specifically mention the Dominion of Canada.

The remainder of Chapter II deals entirely with the registry of aircraft.

CERTIFICATES OF AIRWORTHINESS AND COMPETENCY

Chapter III provides for the issuance, by the contracting States, of certificates of airworthiness to every aircraft engaged in international traffic and of certificates of competency to the commander and crew of such aircraft.

According to Annex B, the design of every type of aircraft in regard to safety must conform to certain standards which will be fixed by the International Commission for Air Navigation; however, until these standards have been fixed each State is free to determine its own standards.

Annex E enumerates the minimum qualifications necessary for obtaining certificates as pilots and navigators of aircraft.

ADMISSION TO AIR NAVIGATION ABOVE FOREIGN TERRITORY Chapter IV grants every aircraft of a contracting State the right to cross the air space of another State without landing, in which case the aircraft must however follow the aerial route fixed by the State concerned and it must land if signalled to do so for reasons of general security.

Aircraft flying from one State to another must, if the regulations of the latter require it, land at one of the air ports specially designed for this purpose. The provisions of Annex H, dealing with Customs, oblige any aircraft crossing the national boundary to land at and to depart from specially designated "customs aerodromes but these provisions were strongly objected to by both the United States and the Dominion of Canada. The United States reservations on this point read:

"The United States reserves complete freedom of action as to

customs matters and does not consider itself bound by the provisions of Annex H or any article of the Convention affecting the enforcement of its customs laws."

The Canadian reservation is equally comprehensive, being to the effect that "it shall not be necessary to observe the provisions of this Annex."

The stringent control which Annex H provides for international air navigation may be justified by the existence of strongly fortified frontiers in Europe, but in the Western Hemisphere, where boundaries are not, as a rule, fortified, the provisions of Annex H would mainly result in retarding the growth of air navigation.

Chapter IV further provides that each contracting State has the right to establish restrictions in favor of its own aircraft insofar as they carry persons or goods between two points on its territory. Aircraft in transit through a contracting State shall be exempt from any seizure on the ground of patent infringement, subject to the deposit of security.

RULES TO BE OBSERVED ON DEPARTURE, WHEN UNDER WAY, AND ON LANDING

An aircraft engaged in international navigation must be provided with the certificates of registration, airworthiness and competency above mentioned; with a list of passengers, if it carries any, and with bills of lading and manifest, if it carries freight; with journey, aircraft, engine and signal logs, provided for in Annex C; and, if it is equipped with wireless, with a special license.

Every aircraft flying for whatever purpose above the territory of a contracting State must furthermore bear its nationality and registration marks and comply with the Rules as to Lights and Signals and the Rules of the Air provided for in Annex D.

PROHIBITED TRANSPORT

Chapter VI prohibits aircraft from transporting explosives, arms and munitions of war in international navigation as well as between any two points in the same State. The carriage of photographic apparatus on board aircraft may be regulated by each State.

STATE AIRCRAFT

Chapter VII specifies the nature of State aircraft. These are:military aircraft and aircraft exclusively employed in State service, namely, mails, customs, and police. All other aircraft are deemed to be private aircraft and shall be treated as such, except that an aircraft commanded by a person in military service detailed for the purpose shall be deemed to be a military aircraft.

Military aircraft can fly over the territory of another contracting State only with a special authorization, in which case they shall enjoy the privileges accorded to foreign warships. These privileges a military aircraft cannot, however, acquire by virtue of a forced landing or a landing upon summons, nor do they apply to police and customs aircraft.

INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR AIR NAVIGATION

Chapter VIII institutes a permanent Commission for Air Navigation placed under the direction of the League of Nations and composed of two representatives each of the United States, France, Italy and Japan; one representative of Great Britain and one each of the British Dominions and of India; one representative of each of the other contracting States.

Each of the five States first named (the British Empire counting for this purpose as one State) "shall have the least whole number of votes which, when multiplied by five, will give a product exceeding by at least one vote the total number of votes of all the other contracting States."

This system of voting is justifiable on the ground that the aeronautical interests of the States which have a plural vote are greatly superior to those of the States having a single vote.

STANDARD AERONAUTICAL MAPS

Annex F provides for the publication of two types of standard aeronautical maps, termed general and local maps, respectively.

FINAL PROVISIONS

In the Final Provisions of the Convention, embodied in Chapter IX, the contracting States agree to collect and to disseminate statistical and meteorological information, to publish the standard aeronautical maps above mentioned and to establish a uniform system of ground marks and wireless stations necessary for international air navigation. The international system of ground marks adopted is described in Annex F.

The Dominion of Canada objected to these ground marks, making the reservation that "it shall not be necessary to prescribe that aerodromes be marked as specified in Section II."

The final articles of this chapter provide that a non-signatory State which took part in the war of 1914-1919 may adhere to the Convention only if it is a member of the League of Nations, or until January 1, 1923, if its adhesion is approved by the Allied and Associated Powers. After this date such a State may be admitted

if it is agreed to by at least three-fourths of the signatory and adhering States.

The practical interpretation of this chapter means that Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey cannot become parties to the Convention without the consent of the Allied and Associated Powers, for the votes of the latter greatly exceed those of the States which remained neutral during the Great War.

CHAPTER IX

AIR PORTS; GROUND ORGANIZATION; AERIAL

P

COMMUNICATIONS

ROPER terminal facilities and means for maintaining communications constitute one of the most important of the complex problems confronting American aeronautics.

AMERICA'S LACK OF AIR PORTS

The United States is sadly lacking in air ports, as may be seen from the following statistics, which the Manufacturers Aircraft Association has compiled from the latest available information. On Dec. 1, 1920, there were in the United States and its possessions a total of 271 air ports, there being included in this number the air stations of the Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps, which are not, as a rule, available to private flying activities. This number does not include landing fields which may be used in case of emergency only.

Although the Army Air Service lists about one thousand emergency landing fields throughout the United States, the number of air ports is, as has been said above, only 271. The nature of these air ports is given in the tabulation which follows:

The United States has thus one air port for every 14,000 square miles of territory, whereas the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Ireland) has, according to the latest information published by the British Air Ministry, 101 air ports, or one for every 1,200 square miles of surface area. This comparison vividly illustrates the backward state of this country in aerial communications.

Nevertheless, a certain advance has been made during the past