AIR NAVIGATION BILL. (Hansard, 26 February 1919)

§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR AIR (THE MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY)

My Lords, in rising to move the Second Reading of this Bill I ask your Lordships' indulgence, for, although I have spent a certain number of years in both Houses of Parliament, it has not been my privilege to fill such an important position as the one I occupy now in bringing to your Lordships' notice the Second Reading of a Bill of this description. I feel that at this late stage of the evening I should not be entitled to go into the briefest possible survey of the important matters which have actuated us in moving the introduction of this Bill. But I should like to draw your Lordships' attention to the fact, which has been forced upon our knowledge in the last few years, that the science of the air—a subject we have to regard in its entirety—although it has come quickly upon us, is something which we have to consider as controlling much of our everyday life. A Bill of this description is a measure which even the present generation quite a few years ago would have said would be introduced in a future which none of us would possibly see. I am anxious this evening to impress 384 upon your Lordships the importance of the measure I am introducing.

Hitherto there has been a prohibition of civilian aviation. Consequently, unless a measure of this description is passed, the progress of the industry and of the science itself will be retarded, and we shall be placed in an inferior position in the competition for supremacy in the air which I think we can claim to have at this moment, and which I sincerely hope we shall maintain for all time. We know that there have been various experiments from the earliest times of history with a view to obtaining the mastery of the air, but until the period which stretches over the last ten years we have never been able to say that we have achieved that supremacy and conquered that force of gravity which hitherto has dominated the universe. We are in an analagous position to our forefathers some eighty years ago when railway travelling was first inaugurated in this country, and I think that we are entitled to say that we shall be able to look forward in the future to as great an expansion of this industry of aviation as we have been able to see in railway travelling from the early years of the last century until now.

In making these general remarks I would venture to say a word of caution, and that is that while we are all optimistic and believe that there are immense possibilities in this great science, still we feel that any hasty legislation, or any steps taken without due care and consideration, will retard the objects in view and hamper and hinder those great purposes which we hope to see carried to successful fruition at no distant date. In 1914 the sole functions of aircraft were reconnaissances for the Army and artillery observation, and since then we have seen during the various stages of the war the great progress which aviation has made, and also the great achievement of aviation as one of the decisive factors in bringing about the termination of the great struggle which we are glad has ceased, we hope for ever.

The Bill which I am introducing to-day, as your Lordships are doubtless aware, is an enabling Bill to allow the Government to introduce those Orders which will regulate for the future civil aviation. Your Lordships are also aware that during the war a strong Committee—the Civil Aerial Transport Committee—has made certain recommendations for the regulation of aerial 385 transport when re-opened, which include the licence to pilots and the registry of machines. This Bill is to authorise the issue of Orders which will define what steps shall be taken to carry out these purposes. To carry out these recommendations will require permanent legislation; consequently this Bill is only a temporary measure.

There is also the question of inter-State flying by civil aircraft, which is now being considered by representatives of the Allied Powers in connection with the Peace Conference, for which an International Convention must be prepared and approved by the Allied Powers. To secure the passing of this Convention, and of permanent domestic legislation, will take a certain amount of time, and His Majesty's Government had these two alternatives placed before them. The first was to make temporary provision by emergency legislation, and the second was to postpone the re-opening of civil flying until such time as the permanent Act embodying the findings of the Civil Aerial Transport Committee and the results of the International Conference on Aviation could be enacted. His Majesty's Government decided that it was desirable to adopt the first of these two alternatives, and to provide, by means of the Bill which is now before your Lordships, for the regulation of civil aviation, embodying in Orders to be made under the Bill those provisions of the recommendations of the Civil Aerial Transport Committee which are suitable for the occasion.

I desire to press upon your Lordships that this Bill is an enabling Bill only, and that the actual re-opening of civil aviation will depend upon the enactment of the Orders which are provided by this Bill. It will also be realised that, having regard to the enormous development of aviation during the war, it was impossible to revert to the old system of practically unrestricted flying which prevailed up to the beginning of the war. The matter is one which concerns the safety of the public, and therefore your Lordships will appreciate the necessity of the control of flying by His Majesty's Government for that most important purpose. Before the war the safety of the public on the ground was alone considered. With the expansion of aviation which we see coming it is obvious that the safety of the public in the air—if I may use the expression—must also be safeguarded. It will be seen that 386 provision is made in this Bill for laying all Orders under it on the Table of both Houses of Parliament. That gives an opportunity to either House to raise objection to what is contained in the Orders with a view to revoking those Orders if need be.

As regards the Orders themselves, I should explain that they are being drafted in the Air Ministry, and that at every stage of them the fullest possible consultation is proceeding with representatives of the aircraft industry and with representatives of the House of Commons, where, as your Lordships are aware, there is a Committee which sits for the purpose of considering these matters as they advance stage by stage. If your Lordships consider it right to have a similar Committee in this House—I know well that a great number of your Lordships take a deep interest in aviation—any recommendation made by that Committee will, I need hardly say, be most carefully considered by His Majesty's Government.

I would also explain that the basis of the Orders is the interest of public safety, and that all the provisions of them are being framed with that object in view, and will be as little restrictive as possible bearing that object in mind. Your Lordships are aware that in the discussion in another place certain Amendments were proposed. The contention was that this Bill was a restrictive Bill, and was inclined rather to hamper and hinder the industry than to give it the free scope which is necessary at these initial stages to allow us to extend the industry and to maintain supremacy over all other nations. I should like to emphasise this point, that it is necessary that regulations of licensing and of registration should be made in the interests of the safety of the public. Apart from what is necessary for that purpose, the desire of His Majesty's Government is in no sense to hamper civil aviation in this country.

In asking your Lordships to give a Second Reading to this Bill I would also crave your indulgence for a further point with regard to the importance of the Bill, without which the prohibition of civil aviation remains, as it is at present, in its most stringent form. I would ask your Lordships' permission to allow this Bill to pass through all its remaining stages to- 387 morrow. It is a measure of great importance, and I apologise to your Lordships for asking you to adopt a course which is distasteful to all of us. But when your Lordships realise that during all this time there has been this hindering regulation which has cramped the activity of those who are energetically disposed to concentrate all their powers into giving us the opportunity of keeping that supremacy which we have maintained and are proposing to maintain to its fullest extent, I feel that your Lordships will agree that the sooner we can have this Bill passed into law the better. I beg to move.