ons which
took part in the war, and I hope other countries will shortly be
included. As soon as the Convention has been ratified, the International
Commission of Air Navigation will be established, and for the first time
the world will see the international control of a great transport
service. I believe this will prove an important practical step towards
international co-operation and goodwill.

We have no excuse for ignorance of the effects of Imperial and
international co-operation. The war gave us an example of what the
British Empire can do, provided its combined knowledge and effort is
brought to bear for one great purpose; and in no respect was this better
exemplified than in the utilization and scientific development of
aviation. The world-position of the Empire as a whole is still the best.
Commerce and communications are its bonds, and, if we are so determined,
it is in our power to shape the destinies of the future.

A definite advance has been made since the Armistice and, if all goes
well, a very much greater one will be made during the next two or three
years, and in ten years mercantile air services will be operating on a
self-supporting basis. The science and concentration employed in the war
must be made to serve the requirements of peace. Readiness for, and
success in, war are vital when war is unavoidable, but in peace it is
civil and commercial activity which is vital.

As in its infancy it seemed incredible to those responsible for the
direction of the older services that the air would be their most
valuable partner; as, during the war, they grudged its logical
development to strike widely where they could not reach, and tried to
tether it closely to them, so now in peace the air is struggling to
attain the apotheosis of communication.

In the phase of world commerce of which we are on the threshold,
science, brain-power, energy, and faith must, and increasingly will, be
harnessed to the work of perfecting air communication so that human
mobility can be increased, knowledge interchanged, and the fruits of
production distributed throughout the world.

As a soldier I have of course dwelt on the possibility of war in the
future and of the part which aviation would play in it, but it would be
a great mistake--though I think that mistake is constantly made--to
suppose that soldiers look forward with equanimity to the prospect of
war. On the contrary, soldiers, more even than civilians, if this be
p