AIR, MAIL RATES
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—I heartily endorse the plea put forward by Lord Elibank, in your last issue, for cheaper air mail rates for the Empire. Civil aviation is ripe for the introduction of wise reform. In the comparatively few years of its existence, it has expanded beyond recognition ; it has been the object of the concen- trated attention of some of the most clever and courageous people of our time, and it is now capable of expanding much further under congenial conditions. The Government attitude has been consistently sympathetic, but the present high and variable cost of mails by Air is the chief deterrent to the advance of Civil Aviation towards further development.
Trade prosperity depends on the triple alliance of (1) Manu- facturers; (2) Advertising ; (3) Quick business communica- tions. It would pay us commercially to run the Air mails at only Id. a letter more than the ordinary mail to all parts of the world. This could be done with a small Post Office sub- sidy, and would result in a great profit in commercial matters for the country. I hope that, following the wonderful Budget, for which Mr. Chamberlain should have the greatest credit, the Postmaster-General, remembering the huge surplus that the Post Office had last year, will make the great advance suggested above with regard to Air mails, and thus give business people of the Empire an advantage over all those of
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