New Jersey and New York are to be connected under the Hudson with a vehicular tunnel. In determining the proper location of entrances and plazas, the commission in charge of this work, have many times used aerial photographs, like the above.-Photo, Fairchild Aerial Camera Corp.

delphia Public Ledger, from its Paris correspondent, who had just returned from a tour of airdromes in Belgium. "Everything that is newest and most up-to-date in French bombing planes," he wrote, "can be seen in the sheds. Giant planes, mostly all metal, or tiny wasps for reconnaisance and attack, constructed for lightness and speed, are the types of craft selected. Naturally at the present hour the old-fashioned censorship is not operating in the enlightened nations of Europe. But it is doubtful whether the figures of the exact number of planes and airdromes would receive official sanction in a dispatch to a newspaper, even of a friendly power-again taking consideration of the gravity of the present hour." The French, of course, are utilizing Belgium as the point of air operations for their forces on the Rhine and in the Ruhr, and, in addition, find a certain tactical advantage in such operation due to the fact that, from the Flemish plains, France could effectively use its aerial arm in any quarter of western Europe.

Writing in U. S. Air Service Magazine, February, 1923, under the title "France-Master of the Air," Major L. H. Brereton, formerly U. S. Air attache at Paris, stated:

"Today France is the foremost military nation of the world and in defensive warfare could, no doubt, hold her own against any combination of two powers. It is realized, however, that her future military importance cannot be maintained at its present value and with this fact in view Germany again becomes a menace to her existence. As the military power of France diminishes, it is considered essential by the General Staff that her air power increase and to that end more concentrated energy, time and money are being expended on aviation than on any other military project, considering the present importance of the military and commercial air service as compared to other arms of the military machine."

The normal number of aircraft carried by a French squadron is ten. Plans for 1923 called for 220 squadron, or an immediate service fleet of 2,200 planes. Add to this the usual 100 per cent reserves, and remembering that the building program is steadily being carried out, and some idea as to the potential air strength of the republic is obtained.

To maintain upon a rising scale such an establishment, and also to nurture the commercial enterprises of private companies, requires money, and total French air and allied appropriations consequently were greater in 1922 than, possibly, the United States, Great Britain, Italy and Japan combined. In fact, they amounted to a grand total of 438,299,252 francs or $84,591,755.63, at normal exchange. This figure was divided as follows: War Department, 248,797,282 francs ($48,017,875.42), of which 57,462,700 francs ($11,090,301.10) was

for new construction; Navy Department, 37,300,000 francs ($7,198,000); Colonial Department, 4,001,000 francs ($963,263); Ministry of Public Works, 147,210,970 francs ($28,411,717.21), including 45,382,000 francs ($8,758,726) for subsidies, and 30,826,000 francs ($5,949,418) for flying fields.

In July, 1922, the personnel of the French air service was given as 1,300 officers and 15,000 enlisted men. During the first six months of 1921, there were 2,356 civil pilots admitted to the air training schools. These pilots are available in emergency. Naval aviation, in 1922, included 160 officers and 2,550 enlisted men. Flying equipment included 144 planes, two rigid airships and six non-rigid airships.

The air organization in France is divided among the services, but a distinct trend is noted toward centralization. Strong recommendations in favor of an autonomous air service have been made by M. Fabre, Reporter to Budget; General de Castelnau, M. Flandrin, former Under Secretary for Air, and others. A degree on centralization in certain services, especially those common to both commercial and military aspects, has already been achieved in the Ministry of Public Works, in which is the Under Secretary for Aeronautics. The incumbent of this office is M. Laurent-Eynac, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, an aviator, and formerly director of the French Petroleum and Gasoline Supply Services. Under him are four sections, I, technical; 2, fabrication; 3, meteorological, and 4, air navagation. M. Laurent-Eynac also distributes the civilian subsidies, which have been steadily increased since authorized in 1920. In recent public statements, the Under Secretary said:

"We have two services which deal with airplane construction and operation. One is devoted to supervising the building of airplanes and motors, to increasing their efficiency and to extending the industry in every possible way. The other has to do with research work in aviation, motor construction, the study of the air as regards to flying through it, and to all matters of transportation and armament."

Mr. Eynac emphasizes the importance of the air mail as follows: "During one month we carried as many as 40,000 or 50,000 letters from Toulouse to Casablanca, which means a saving of five days for every letter. The weight of the Morocco mail in one month runs up to almost a ton. The amount of mail and freight on all of our lines is rapidly increasing. The French companies alone in 1919 carried about seven tons of merchandise and less than 1,000 pounds of mail. In 1920 the freight increased 700 per cent and the mail about 800 per cent. Last year (1921) we have three times as

much freight as we had in 1920 and the mail was more than eighteen times that of 1919."

As to general activities, Mr. Eynac said: "In 1919 there were four French companies which carried 558 passengers and 988 voyages, covering a distance equal to about seven trips around the world. By 1920 the companies had doubled the number. They had made about 2,400 trips and flew more than 500,000 miles, or over twice the distance from the earth to the moon. During that year we more than doubled the number of passengers and had seven times the amount of freight. The results in 1921 were even more remarkable. We then had nine companies which made more than 6,000 trips and covered more than 1,500,000 miles. The numbers of our pilots and mechanics have increased in proportion."

As to subsidies, the Under Secretary declared: "We shall have to continue to subsidize our air industry for some years to come, for we believe it will pay in the development of our commerce and in the national defense of the republic."

In three years French aviation activities have developed in an aerial net the lines of which, on December 31, 1922, exceeded 10,000 kilometers (6,215 miles). The annual development is as follows: 1920-Kilometers flown, 853,959 (530,738 miles); passengers carried, 1,379; merchandise transported, 48,100 kilos (105,820 pounds); mail transported, 3,925 kilos (8,635 pounds).

1921-Kilometers flown, 2,353,455 kilometers (1,462,681 miles); passengers carried, 9,427; merchandise transported, 166,490 kilos (366,278 pounds); mail transported, 9,481 kilos (20,858 pounds).

1922-Kilometers flown, 3,453,291 (2,146,234 miles); passengers carried, 14,397; merchandise transported, 529,644 kilos (1,165,216 pounds); mail transported, 41,173 kilos (90,580 pounds).

The French Government pays subsidies to lines operating over the following routes:

Paris-London.

Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam.

Paris-Strassbourg-Prague-Warsaw.

Toulouse-Rabat-Casablanca.

Bayonne-Bilbao-Santander.

Bordeaux-Toulouse-Montpelier.
Saint Laurent-Cayenne.
Saint Laurent-Inimi.

Antibes-Tunis.

Bucharest-Constantinople.

Oran-Casablanca.

Algiers-Biskra.

Dakar-Kayes.

Montpelier-Marseilles-Genoa.

Following are the principal French operating companies; with their equipment:

Compagnie des Messageries Aeriennes, 49 planes, operating between ParisLondon, Paris-Brussels, Paris-Havre, Paris-Marseilles, and Lyons-Geneva. Grands Express Aeriens, 9 planes, operating between Paris-London, Paris, Lausanne and Geneva.

Franco-Roumaine, 79 planes, operating between Paris-Warsaw, PragueBudapest, Bucharest-Constantinople.

Compagnie Generale d'Entreprises Aeronautiques, 64 planes, operating between Toulouse-Casablanca, Casablanca-Oran.

Compagnie Aero-Mavale, 3 planes, operating between Antixbes-Ajaccio, to be further extended to Bizerte.

Campagnie du Reseau Trans-African, operating between Algiers-Biskra. Campagnie des Transports Aeriens Guyanais, operating between Saint Laurent-Cayenne and Saint Laurent-Inimi.

The French were quick to recognize the necessity for international and colonial communications. All their air services have been devised accordingly. It is their intention to connect their Mediterranean possessions in the east and west with a line between Casablanca and Tunis, passing through Oran and Algiers. From this trunk line, other lines will branch off toward the center of Africa. Western Africa, Guiana and Indo-China will be similarly knit.

Even as satisfactorily as the existing subsidies have operated, consideration is being given for improvement. The present form is based on the distance flown, freight carried, and general safety. The contracts granted to companies have heretofore had a maximum duration of ten years. The Under Secretary is now studying plans for extending the concession periods to 30 years and providing for exclusive concessions within certain districts or over certain routes, the latter in order to avoid ruinous competition. The routes especially under consideration are those between Paris and London, Paris and Constantinople, and Toulouse and Casablanca. If legislative support can be secured for the thirty-year concessions now under discussion, it is hoped also to secure arrangements by which the state guarantees a low rate of interest on the capital invested in exchange for a share in possible profits of operation. This guarantee will not, however, under the plans now urged, involve the abolition of present premiums granted. What is intended is to bring the aerial companies. into substantially the same relations with the state as now apply to the railroads.

In commenting upon the French colonial communication scheme, M. Eynac has said: "In the future we contemplate to establish liaison between Paris and the Far East through aerial lines. ***