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It is a very vital concern not only to the pilots and their employers but to the country as a whole that the air transport industry secure and retain, for as long as they can fly, the highest type of young men as pilots. The air transport industry has come to be a major form of transportation. It is to the interest of everyone that the development of air transport not be held back by any high-grade personnel.

The industry is important not only in peace. It is even more important in time of war and in maintaining a state of preparedness. The air arm of the nation must have the highest efficiency at all times. This is not only because air pilots constitute a most important source of air offices but also because the industry itself must render directly extremely important services during periods of war.

No matter how high the pay of pilots, there is no adequate substitute for an adequate and efficient retirement system. The pay of pilots ought to be sufficiently high to enable them to make savings. But it is wholly unreasonable to expect a pilot, who is disqualified at a relatively early age to provide himself with an adequate annuity out of his own savings. In cases of early disability that would be impossible even if the pilot saved 100 per cent of his pay.

Even if a pilot is fortunate and is able to earn a first pilot's pay for many years, there is no certainty that he will have a retirement income, for to do that, he must not only save; he must invest wisely. The investment of savings is a highly specialized function. Even if pilots do save individually, some of them will make investments which will not turn out well. In any event, most investments depreciate in value during