Mr. MORGAN. I would not say that there was any seeming want of interest, particularly on the interim agreement. I am confident that practically all, if not all, the nations are going to go along on the imterim agreement. They have various ideas about their willingness to be in accord with the two and five freedoms. We have had indications from a number of nations that they are going to at least accept the interim agreement very shortly. Of course they have not done so yet, but that may be meaningless. I think matters of this sort always proceed very slowly. Mr. LATCHFORD. May I add to Mr. Morgan's statement that the interim agreement provides that the nations who have elected the 21 members of the Council, if they do not accept that agreement within 6 months from the time of its signing in Chicago, will lose their place on the calendar. Mr. MORGAN. Which I think is a good reason to believe that at least 20, or perhaps 21, will accept before the 7th of June, which is the deadline. Senator WHITE. What about the voting provision of the Council? Does a party to a controversy have a right to vote or not? Mr. MORGAN. No. Senator WHITE. So we depart from Yalta in that particular. Senator GEORGE. Is there any other formal statement to be made by any representative of the State Department? Mr. CLAYTON. No, sir; this is all. Senator GEORGE. Is there anything else that either of you gentlemen wish to add? Mr. CLAYTON. Thank you, sir; I do not think of anything further, Mr. Chairman. Mr. MORGAN. I would like, if I may, since you were kind enough to suggest that we assemble the witnesses for those who are in favor of the treaty, to tell you what we have in mind, subject to your approval. Senator GEORGE. Yes. Mr. MORGAN. We expect that tomorrow testimony will be given by Mr. Pogue, chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board; Mr. Warner, vice chairman, who is an expert on the technical features, and by Mr. Burden, Assistant Secretary of Commerce; and on Wednesday, Assistant Secretary Lovett of the War Department would like to testify as to the views of the military. I believe he is also going to speak for the Navy Department. That is my understanding. I do not know whether or not that is correct. Those are all the people that we have definitely thought of bringing down. Perhaps you would like to have representatives speak for some of the air lines or for industry. We have them available if you wish to have them called. Senatof GEORGE. The committee will of course decide if it wishes to call representatives of the industry. Is there anyone here in opposition to the treaty? [No response.] Mr. Clerk, has anyone signified a desire to be heard in opposition? The CLERK. No, sir; I do not have any record of any, Will you Senator GEORGE. That is all. The committee wishes to thank Secretary Clayton and the others who have testified this morning. The committee will recess until 10:30 tomorrow morning. ask the witnesses to be here promptly at that time? Mr. MORGAN. Yes, Mr. Chairman. (Whereupon, at 11:30 a. m., a recess was taken until tomorrow, Tuesday, March 20, 1945, at 10:30 a. m.) CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1945 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, The subcommittee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10:30 a. m., in the committee room, the Capitol, Senator Walter F. George (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators George (chairman), Pepper, La Follette, and White. Also present: Stokeley W. Morgan, Chief, Aviation Division, Office of Transportation and Communications, State Department; Stephen Latchford, adviser on air law, Aviation Division; and Edward G. Miller, Jr., office of Assistant Secretary of State Acheson; Wil-liam A. M. Burden, Assistant Secretary of Commerce; L. Welch Pogue, Chairman, Civil Aeronautics Board; Edward Warner, Vice Chairman. PROCEEDINGS Senator GEORGE (chairman of subcommittee). The committee. will please come to order. Mr. Pogue, I believe you are to appear first this morning. Mr. POGUE. All right, Senator. STATEMENT BY L. WELCH POGUE, CHAIRMAN, CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD (Mr. Pogue was accompanied by Dr. Edward Warner, Vice Chairman, Civil Aeronautics Board.) Senator GEORGE. You will identify yourself as Chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board. Mr. POGUE. L. Welch Pogue. Mr. Chairman, it is indeed a privilege to have an opportunity to urge ratification of the Convetnion on International Civil Aviation produced at the Chicago Air Conference last fall and transmitted to you by the President for the advice and consent of the Senate. There is hardly another subject on which our people are more interested than that of aviation. Its possibilities for the future promotion of international trade and travel and good will are so great, over a long period of years, as to be beyond accurate prediction today. We expect that international trade and travel, both on nonscheduled and on scheduled civil operations, will be opened up widely and rapidly after this war is over. Because of the very great mobility and flexibility of aircraft in its operations, unimpeded by shore lines, barriers, and bottlenecks which have plagued other forms of transportation in the past, new problems arise in this international field which require international cooperation for their solution. This is particularly true in the field of safety, a subject in which every traveler is vitally interested. In the rapidly growing field of international trade and travel, both by private aircraft and by international air lines, we can expect to be faced with the need for constant attention to changing and new conditions which may affect safety and other operating problems. In addition, the aeronautics art is so new, dynamic, and changing as to require the constant attention of the best experts in the field if international cooperation on the governmental plane is adequate to meet the need that will exist. In other words, because this whole development of international aviation is growing so rapidly and is by nature so scientific and technical, proper arrangements for insuring the necessary high degree of safety and for taking care of other necessary regulation is administrative in character and cannot be met once and for all by a rigid statute or international treaty. If these matters are to be handled intelligently, the world must be organized adequately on an administrative level to meet the changing necessities of the case. It was under these general conditions that the Chicago International Civil Aviation Conference was held last November and December. That Conference achieved some of the greatest and most progressive steps ever taken in the field of civil aviation. The principal product of that Conference was the convention on International Civil Aviation now before you for the advice and consent of the Senate. This convention, if it comes into force, will create a world-wide aviation organization which will be a milestone of progress in the cause of aviation and of international cooperation. Its only predecessor (established under the Paris convention of 1919) did not have adequate functions or world coverage to meet future needs. I believe that representatives of the State Department have indicated to you the limited nature of this coverage in their appearance yesterday. This proposed new international civil aviation organization has been vitally needed; and its structure and functions give it a scope equal to the task before it. Of course, the performance of the organization is still to be tested, but the start of its existence is bright with promise. It represents a strictly modern, up-to-date attempt to provide for order and regulation in the safety and technical fields for all types of civil airplane international operations and, if accepted by the nations will for the first time have organized the whole world with respect to the regulation of these very important matters. This Convention on International Civil Aviation was of course not the only document produced by the Chicago Air Conference, but it is the only one about which my remarks are now directed and, as I understand it, the only one before the committee today. The world aviation organization created by the proposed treaty which is before you is of the greatest importance to international aviation's development. On the other hand, international flights, whether by private aircraft or by scheduled airlines, would find it almost impossible to operate if there were not some adequate safety measures in force everywhere to insure against the operation of aircraft in a way which would endanger everyone else in the air. In order to secure the establshment of minimum safety requirements in the international operations, international cooperation is essential. The world organization established by the proposed treaty which is before you is an attempt to provide that international cooperation so absolutely essential to safety. The functions of the world organization include the responsibility of making recommendations, and of keeping them up to date, as to many technical rules and regulations-referred to as "annexes" to the convention-relating to international aviation safety matters including, for example, airways systems, communication procedures and systems, rules of the air, air traffic control practices, standards. governing the licensing of operating and mechanical personnel, logbook requirements for civil aircraft engaging in international aviation, aircraft registration and identification marks, meteorological protection of international aeronautics, aeronautical maps and charts, customs procedures and manifests, and search and rescue and investigation of accidents. In addition, the functions of this world organization include the responsibility of acting as a sounding board for world public opinion on international aviation matters; recording and publishing information regarding air-line operations; investigating and reporting in the field of navigation and air transportation; assisting with the provision of airports and other air navigation facilities in certain situations; recording and making public agreements between nations and between nations and air lines relating to international air transportation; and acting as the agency for hearing certain complaints, making certain recommendations, and in some cases, deciding disputes. Here we have a design for international collaboration in a field where the self-interests of all demand that it be a success. There can be no doubt that our people look forward to a wide development of international civil aviation of all sorts. If this is to be done, it will require international cooperation. I believe that this proposed treaty offers a fine opportunity for this Nation to participate in that cooperation as the nation which gave birth to aviation and as one of the world's outstanding leaders in the field. This proposed treaty being directed primarily toward the establishment of a world organization and the creation and maintenance of adequate safety and technical standards in the field leave it clean and free from the controversial issues which have plagued international efforts at cooperation in the field of civil aviation in the past. The world organization has no power to determine such economic matters as where international routes are to be run, who is to operate them, and what the rates and competitive practices are to be. I do not believe that there is any serious question in the minds of aviation people but that this proposed treaty deserves to be ratified by you and to be supported by the Nation. In my opinion, it would be most unfortunate if in this field where everyone expects world cooperation the effort to achieve it should fail. I am glad to report to you that the Civil Aeronautics Board unanimously joins in recommending to your honorable body that this proposed treaty be ratified. Senator GEORGE. Mr. Pogue, have you heard from any source any objection to any particular provision of the treaty? |