Peacemaker

Last week Will Rogers flew across the continent, landed in Newark during a blizzard. It was the day after the U. S. Army began to fly the mails. Mr. Rogers paid tribute in his daily syndication to the courage of the Army pilot who, although new to the job, that day flew mail over the same route through the same blizzard. Five days later, seated in the Waldorf-Astoria, Will Rogers commented to newshawks on the wreck of a United Air Lines plane in Utah: "Grand feller, that Lloyd Anderson. I'd flown with him several times and with that steward, too."*

In the intervening time Mr. Rogers, the U. S. No. 1 air traveler, had seen the President, had talked to Major General Foulois, Postmaster General Farley and ex-Postmaster General Brown, Colonel Lindbergh, dozens of airpilots, commercial and military. He had also delivered a speech by radio, designed to smooth over the whole airmail controversy. Afterwards he told newshawks of his missionary work as a peacemaker:

"The President wanted to get the whole thing straightened out soon as he could, and yesterday morning I had a little chat with Colonel Lindbergh about it. ...

"I went at the thing just like a reporter, talking to this one and that one. and naturally I got conflicting reports and ideas on the question. Mr. Farley thought it was fraud and collusion, and Mr. Brown, he said, 'they have no case,' and that the bill allowed him to do the things he did do.

''It would be a wonderful thing if the President and Colonel Lindbergh would get together, because Lindbergh is so well informed in such matters. The thing I was getting at was that people shouldn't get the idea that Colonel Lindbergh was acting as a shield for the company he represents and that he'd been paid for that.

"I talked with Colonel Lindbergh about ten minutes and I could tell he wouldn't do a thing like that. His knowledge of aviation and his value as a technical adviser was worth every nickel that he got. He would have been worth every bit of it even if he'd never flown in his life.

"I told the folks he could probably give the President a lot of good information and that they could have been good friends. It was too bad a thing like this came up and I hope it can be straightened out."

*He meant Hostess Mary Carter who was one of the eight killed.

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