St our proposals mature Great Brltain will got record value for her ney, declared Sir Philip Sassoon, Under-Secretary for Alr, in introduc~ ing a inanelal resolution in the House of Commons to-day dealing with lengeterm subsidies for Imperial air routes.
The resolution, providing for an increase In the annual subsidy for alr transport from £1,000.000 to £1,500,- 000 and empowering the Air Mints-try to criler Into long-term agreements with transport undertakings, was carried by 259 votes to 122, "The scheme the Air Ministry had In mind, Sir Philip informed the House, Was designed to provide:
'A striking acceleration of schedules; 2 grant Herons the frequency of "The. cart 80 far 93 It concerns the United Hingdom, of all frsteclass mail matter within the Empire by alt ata rate of 3¥d. an ounce, As to acceleration, the Under-Secretary "for Air declared, they would work by degrees to a 'Two and a half days! schedule to Bast Aen; Four and a halt days' schedule to South Aftie Six io seven days" schedule to Aus 'Two snd a half days' schedule to 'Four and a half days' schedule to Singapore.
Turning to frequency of service Sir Philip sid the South Afsiean and Singapore services had already been duplicated, If the whole scheme, he proceeded, could be brought into operation as originally planned, there would ulti nine services a week to Egypt, five to India, three to East and two to Australia and South Africa, respec tively.
Negotiations for an extension of the Australian service to New Zea land were in progress, The Britisn Method When all services for which they were planning were brought to, ful Yon, the United Kingdom would be operating a route mileage of over 41,000 miles—nearly twice the route mileage which any other country, except the United States, was operat Ing to-day—and the route mileage of the Empire as a whole would then exceed even that of the United States, 'They might criticize subsidies in general, Sir Philip Sassoon added, but without subsidies, Empire services would terminate' forthwith, Postal contracts in place of subsidies would be no remedy, for any contract which would enable Empire routes to be operated without a separate subsidy would involve Pos Offices losses such os had been curred in the United States. The was merely a concealment of subsidy.
The British method—the adoption of which in America had been urged by an important Government commission—enabled "Parliament," the tax-payer and the general public to see much more clearly where they stood.
Air subsidies: per ton per mile carried in the latest year for which there were figures appeared to have been about nine shillings in Franc about four shillings in Germany and leven shillings in Italy, while the subsidy paid to Imperial Airways was now down to something under two shillings.
In conclusion, Sir Philip sald_proposals had been invited for a South Atlantic service from five different (groups. Empire and projected Atlan tle routes would eventually absorb substantial portion of the £1,600,- /000 specified in the contract—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.