Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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TIGER ‘43 been counted against our enemies. American planes are demonstrating their superiority over their oppon- cn ' s. The spectacular feats of these fighter planes and bombers make the headlines every day. But behind this front, a quietly operating branch of the Air Forces is working without rest. It has built a great transporta- tion system from the United States, across Africa, to Asia; there is an air route to almost every country of the United Nations. It was an undertak- ing of great magnitude, but American skill and American ingenuity made it possible. The success of this great system has awakened people to the realiza- tion that airplanes can be used for more than transporting passengers and mail. Bulky articles of machinery and food are now being carried. As the size of planes increases, so will the load. This realization has made people wonder about the world after this war. Who v ill control the air? Will it be the United States and Great Britain, or will all countries control it equally? This question is already attracting the attention of rich and poor alike. It has led to harsh words in Parliament and Congress. For the average person in America, the pre- sent task is to learn the difference be- tween the two main ideas, their ad- vantages and limitations. Basically, there are two extreme concepts of the post-war air world. First is the freedom of the air theory. In this theory, planes of every country would have the right to land and trade at airports anywhere, with only indiscriminatory customs pro- cedure to delay them. This is very much like the freedom of the seas doctrine. Countries, such as England, whose technical skill and outlying bases would make an air transporta- tion system feasible, would suffer be- cause her bases would be used by everyone. On the other hand, coun- tries also possessing the technical skill but lacking outlying bases would benefit. Directly opposed to the theory of “freedom of the air’’ is that of sovereignty of the air. Every nation would have unlimited authority in the air over its territories and terri- torial waters. No other nation would be allowed to cross this three dimen- sional sphere of influence without being accused of trespassing. Now, let us investigate the pos- sibilities of each of these systems. A careful study of a globe will show that with the present practical range of airplanes two thousand miles, the United States would need many more outlying bases. Our lines of commun- ication extend out into the Pacific as far as Manila: into the Atlantic, as far as Porto Rico. This would leave a gap of half the world to be flown in one hop, a feat which is impossible at present. If the air were free, this 15

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TIGER ‘43 of a day will listen to a musical pro- gram of some sort. It may be that Harry James’s “Trumpet Blues” will be preferable to some, while Schu- bert’s symphonies and songs appeal to others. But through listening to music, more and more people have come to find a satisfying, inspiring type of pleasure. So vital is the need for music in ' war times that musicans have ex- pressed the hope and belief that we shall not be satisfied with music al- ready written. The very emotions themselves which are experienced in war times are expected to cause some outburst of “Music of courage” on the part of composers, so-called be- cause it is designed to fill our hearts with much-needed courage and deter- mination. “Tin Pan Alley” has already produced various sentimental, patri- otic, and emotional songs, which, de- spite their intense popularity, are de- stined to be short-lived. But up to the present time, only two important classical war-time composers have reared their heads. Mr. Andre Kostelanetz has writ- ten, “When the war began, I gave a great deal of thought to the manner in which music could be employed to mirror the magnificent spirit of our country.” He discussed the question with some of his composer-friends and decided that the greatness of a nation is best expressed through its people, and that the most successful people would be the most logical sub- jects. The results of this decision was “A Lincoln Portrait”, in which the composer, Aaron Copeland, has suc- cessfully expressed the outstanding qualities of courage, dignity, strength, simplicity, and humor, so predomin- ant in the character of Abraham Lincoln. The Russian marvel, mad-man, or what-have-you, Demetri Shosta- kovitch, ‘worked ceaselessly through the heaviest bombings of Leningrad to finish his “Seventh Symphony”, which he composed as a tribute to the immutable will, indomitable spirit, and staunch character of his countrymen. Indeed, the need for music has been found throughout the world in this time of crisis, and as our own President has told us, “The man who disparages music as a luxury and non- essental is doing the nation an injury. Music now, more than ever before, is a national need.” THE COMING AIR WORLD By Donald McPhail In Africa, in Asia, and in Europe, our Air Lorces and these of our allies are sweeping the skies free of enemy planes. A ratio of three to one and sometimes four to one has 14

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TIGER ‘43 would not be a handicap, for wc would be able to land at international airports in Africa and Europe. There ■would be no privileged countries at these airports; and so everyone would have an equal chance for trade. With the airways extending into globe-girdling corporations, there would be a tendency for government subsidation because of the huge oper- ating expense of such a project. No individual or groups of individuals would be able to pay for even half of it. This would lead to subsidy iwars and monopolies. We could, as some European countries do, allocate different areas to different lines so that expenses for each wouldn’t be so great. We would, in any case, try to make them as self-sufficient as pos- sible. Since the United States would be competing with Europe, the com- petition would be very .stiff; but since when has an American shrunk from competition? If the other coun- tries wished to start a subsidy war, we could play the same game but with the chips stacked higher on our side of the table. “Sovereignty of the air’’ also has its advantages. In a recent speech, Vice-President Henry Wallace said in part, “Freedom of the air will be to the future as freedom of the seas was to the past.’’ The United States, however, did not fare so well with this “freedom of the seas’’. Our ports were choked with sleek liners from Britain and France and ugly tramp steamers from Japan and Germany. Our merchant marine languished and almost died. Before the first World War, over sixty-two per cent of our freight was carried in foreign ships. After the war, in the late twenties and thirties, our tonnage had reached second place, although still only half as large as England’s. Labor from these foreign coun- tries worked for lower wages than American sailors and so they were able to underbid us. The same thing could happen again in the construc- tion of airports and other facilities and in the manufacture of the planes themselves, although a higher tech- nical skill is needed in the construc- tion of planes than in the building of ships. If the sovereignty of the air doctrine were observed, each country would have an equal chance of re- ceiving concessions from another country whose cities presented pos- sibilities for bases. Again, we would have competition, although not as intense as the one previously men- tioned. It is evident, then, that we do not want either extreme freedom or sovereignty of the skies. The assump- tion should be that the air shall be a reasonably free ocean of commerce in w ' hich all nations shall participate according to their responsibilities and technical skills. Toward this end, it 16