Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-01-19
THE NEXT WAR.

AS time goes on we are finding out
more and more about the preparations
we We're making to fight Germany
The other day we read about the
plant We had built for making poison
gas, the largest plant in the world
and gas much more deadly than any
used by the Germans. Our scientists
worked hard on the formula for this
gas. If they kept at it. they could
perhaps improve on it. Maybe in a
dozen years they could make a gas
so deadly that ton of bombs con-
tanning it would destroy a city. Per-
haps we ought to keep our scientists
busy on this problem and have on
hand at all times enough gas for an
army. 1t would be wise to store
quantities of It along our Canadian
and Mexican borders so as to have
it handy in case of need.
Then, of course, airplanes. Armies
are helpless without them. BY ex-
perimenting we can perfect plane
that will cross the ocean. We can
easily arranged to have 1t invisible
from the ground when il is ten thou
sand feet in the air. If we can not
succeed in making gas that will
wipe out a city. we can find some
explosives that will do the business.
Five hundred tons of T. N. T. dropped
on Paris from as many airplanes
would ruin the place and make Wash
ington the artistic center of the uni
verse. We ought to have ten thou
sand airplanes always ready with the
men trained to operate them TO be
sure, such vast scheme woud keep
n good many men from doing any
thing useful but there's no use in do
ing things by halves. If were gong
to have a big army we must EQUIP II
in a modern way. With regard TO
those airplanes, it would be only pru-
dence to have secret agents IN Ser
muda and the Azores with under
ground stores of machine-guns, etc,
so that small force could go there
and prepare landing stations Tor the
airplanes on the way across. OF
course, Bermuda and the Azores do
not belong to u.s. and it would seem
hardly right. But we mustn't let SEN
timent interfere with duty. There
might be war any time, and we must
be prepared.
Then we come to submarines. Ev-
erybody agrees that submarines are
the war vessels of the future. Ger
many did a lot of harm with SUD
marines, and she was handicapped
In all kinds of ways. She had nine
submarines on the average doing busl-
ness every day. What could we &C
complish with two hundred? Suoma-
rines require very carefully trained
crews and the boats are laid up a
good deal for repairs. If we wanted
to have two hundred IN commission
all the time we should arrange Tor
three thousand in all. OF course. 1t
would be lot of work and 1t would
take a lot of money, but ought we
to hesitate when the country is In
danger?
AS for tanks we are rather good at
tanks. The two-man. tank is great
thing. 1t is safer advancing in tank
than on foot Why not try to nave
so many tanks that there VIII be
enough to go around for everybody
But there is no special reason why all
the tanks should be small. We could
proba bly, devise one as big as Dat
tleship and while we are about 1t, We
could fix so that it would go on
water as we'll as on land. we could
start a fleet Of those toward Rome
and nothing could stop them.
OF course, this last idea may be I'M
practicable. But there is nothing I'M
practicable about gas or I. N. T.. or
submarines, or airplanes. III we are
going 10 compete with Enropc IN any
way worthy Of our great country. We