ated look to a much greater
speed than the pre-war speed of about 40 miles an hour. It is not at
all uncertain that they will not run up as high as 100 miles, though
at the present time that figure is extreme. But granted that they no
more than double the pre-war speed and reach the actual figure
contemplated of about 75 miles an hour, they still would triple the
best passenger-steamer speed, which would make them a matter of the
utmost importance in all long ocean voyages.

Just how the balance will be struck between airplanes and airships is
a big question. It is interesting to note, however, that the
supporters of the airship have worked out a general theory that the
lighter-than-air vessel with its already demonstrated cruising and
weight-carrying capacity will be used for all long routes, and for
that almost exclusively, while the heavier-than-air vessel, with its
great speed and facility for maneuvering, will be used for local
flights. This, in their viewpoint, would mean that the world would be
girded by great lanes of airships, fed from a few main centers by
swift-scurrying airplanes radiating in from every direction.

IX

THE CALL OF THE SKIES

The day of the air has undoubtedly come. The old order of the world
has been entirely changed. A new life is breaking in over the near
horizon. Almost in a moment the span of the world has shrunk to a
quarter of its former size, so that where before we thought in terms
of countries very soon we must think in terms of continents. The world
is shortly to be linked up as it never has been before, till the great
continents are brought as near as were the near-by nations of the past
years.

Any one who doubts the future of aviation should realize the
helplessness of the science after the armistice because of the
complete lack of international laws to make possible its application
in Europe, where it was most highly developed. With men and machines
ready, they had to hold to the ground largely because there was in
force no treaties assuring them the right to cross frontiers. The
broad plans for international routes were held up because aviation
itself was so big in its expanse that it could not meet its just
fulfilment within national lines.

As a result a new law must be written. The law of the air will be one
of the most intricate and the most fascinating in the world. It
presents problems never before presented and covers a scope paralleled
only by the laws