§ Sir J. POWERasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air the estimated expenditure on the Air Forces of the principal air Powers for the present year and the actual expenditure for 1924 and 1913, respectively?
§ Mr. MONTAGUEAs regards Great Britain, I would refer the, hon. Member to the current Air Estimates for estimated air expenditure for 1929, and to the Air Services Appropriation Account, 1924–25, for actual expenditure in 1924. The corresponding figures for 1913 are not available, air expenditure having been included at that time in the Estimates and Appropriations for Navy and Army Services respectively. As regards other Air Powers, there is great diversity in the organisation of the Air Services of foreign countries, and it is not possible in many cases accurately to segregate the air force expenditure from civil air expenditure on the one hand, and, on the other, military and naval expenditure generally. A calculation has, however, been made in the case of the United States, France and Italy, which indicates that estimated air expenditure, both military and civil, for 1929 shows the following approximate percentage increases over the corresponding figures for 1924:
Country. Increase. Per cent. United States … … 160 France … … 90 Italy … … 55 I should add that these figures do not pretend to be more than approximations. This is particularly so in the case of France, since French Air Estimates for 1929 are cast in an entirely different form from those of 1924 owing to the recent creation of an independent Air Ministry. The percentage increase figure given above has, however, been arrived at after allowing for this factor so far as possible.