Flights for other purposes exceed 22,000 miles each day.  Over 900 airports, completed and uncompleted, have been laid out.  The demand for aircraft has greatly increased.  The policy already adopted by the Congress is producing the sound development of this coming industry.

WESTERN HEMISPHERE AIR MAIL

Private enterprise is showing much interest in opening up aviation service to Mexico and Central and South America.  We are particularly solicitous to have the United States take a leading part in this development.  It is understood that the governments of our sister countries would be willing to cooperate.  Their physical features, the undeveloped state of their transportation, make an air service especially adaptable to their usage.  The Post Office Department should be granted power to make liberal long-term contracts for carrying our mail, and authority should be given to the Army and the Navy to detail aviators and planes to cooperate with private enterprise in establishing such mail service with the consent of the countries concerned.  A committee of the Cabinet will later present a report on this subject.

GOOD ROADS

The importance and benefit of good roads is more and more coming to be appreciated.  The National Government has been making liberal contributions to encourage their construction.  The results and benefits have been very gratifying.  National participation, however, should be confined to trunk-line systems.  The national tax on automobiles is now nearly sufficient to meet this outlay.  This tax is very small, and on low-priced cars is not more than $2 or $3 each year.

While the advantage of having good roads is very large, the desire for improved highways is not limited to our own country.  It should and does include all the Western Hemisphere.  The principal points in Canada are already accessible.  We ought to lend our encouragement in any way we can for more good roads to all the principal points in this hemisphere south of the Rio Grande.  It has been our practice to supply these countries with military and naval advisers, when they have requested it, to assist them in national defense.  The arts of peace are even more important to them and to us.  Authority should be given by law to provide them at their request with engineering advisers for the construction of roads and bridges.  In some of these countries already wonderful progress is being made in road building, but the engineering features are often very exacting and the financing difficult.  Private interests should look with favor on all reasonable loans sought by these countries to open such main lines of travel.

This general subject has been promoted by the Pan American Congress of Highways, which will convene again at Rio de Janeiro in July, 1928.  It is desirable that the Congress should provide for the appointment of delegates to represent the Government of the United States.