tion, steadily grew; the increasing preponderance which
aerial warfare will have in the future, and the horrors which it may
bring, have been touched upon; and the possibilities of civil aviation
in peace and war have been outlined.

The conclusion has been reached that we cannot dispense with aviation,
even if we would. We must consider it as a whole and lay down the broad
principles on which it should be developed. The air (I write as one who
during the last months of the war held the post of Chief of the Air
Staff) materially helped, if it did not actually win, the fight. It has
greatly complicated and increased the problems of defence. In future its
influence on these problems will be still greater. The air has no
boundaries. Great Britain and the Empire are no longer protected by the
seas. A correct assessment of their needs will entail a growing ratio
of air force to Army and Navy, and air power will in itself depend on
the development of civil aviation.

But though air action may be expected with justice to grow in proportion
to that of the Army and Navy, and will certainly absorb certain
functions of both, it would be unwise, at this early stage of
development, for air forces to attempt too much at a time--such as, for
instance, to garrison geographically unsuitable countries.

A certain amount of reliance could also be placed on civil machines
temporarily borrowed for purely policing measures in uncivilized
countries, or for the assistance of Government during civil
disturbances; and for such purposes it should not be difficult to devise
a scheme, especially when the State exercises a measure of control
through the grant of subsidies, for the obligatory enrolment of civil
commercial pilots in the reserve, and for periodical refresher courses
for pilots, who are not actually in the service of companies, at civil
aerodromes. Such systems are in force in France and Canada. In the event
of war the independent striking air force could thus count upon a large
proportion of civil reserve pilots and machines.

Air, allied to chemistry and the submarine, will be a difficult
combination to withstand. The more its potential terrors are grasped,
the less likely is war to be loosed upon the world, and it cannot be
realized too clearly how much more easily than any other instrument of
warfare aircraft and gas can be cheaply and secretly prepared by a
would-be belligerent. Meanwhile, if civil aviation can be built up as a