The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-03-07
PAINLESS GAS FOR
ALL FUTURE WARS
British General Sees No OBJ
lection to Fumes That XIII
Without Suffering.
NJ GEN. SIR LOUIS JACKSON.


written for international News Service,
LONDON. March lit is quite clear
that we are on the eve of the most
extensive notifications in the art Of
war known to history. The changes
made In the recent war were only the
beginning. IL Is necessary to develop
new arms with the knowledge that
The nation which best does SO will
hav a great advantage in the next
war.
There are people who were crying
Tor reduction OF ornaments and
VINO declare that another war Is nm
lmpossibiiity just as. six years ago
they declared war with Germany was
an impossibility. In future wars We
snail be exposed to much greater dan
gers than In the recent war. Ger
many has not refrained from saying
thAt she hoped Tor revenge some day.
MecAsaicaI Trsssport.
j believe that one of the greatest
developments In the art OF war will
De brought about is mechanical trans
port. The tank was a freak which
was called into existence by excep-
tional circumstances which are not
likely to recur, and which II they do
recur can be dealt with by othcr
means. The outstanding feature or
the tanks has been that they msd<
mechanical TRANSPORT indepe ndept OF
the roads. That is going TO infiuencr
most deeply the tactics of ~ fulure
III the whole of the transport ot -,
army liz carried ~ vehicles with cater.
plilar WI" AZ " I be independent.of
the % 's. There would be no tonE
colun ne 81 transport. An army could
adNal ira open order on broad
fiont ''rrying guns. munitions, sup
oli"s 8 ID men. At the same time fast
cars AM actor cycles would be useful
for sudden blows at long distance.
In Future Wars.
With regard to the use of gas in
future wars, there is no more reason
to forbid its use than to forbid the
use of rifles. There are gases which
kill painlessiy, and it is easy TO con-
ceive cases In which il would be more
humane 10 use gas than explosive
shells. II might be possible to come
to some agreement that no gas should
be used which would cause unneces-
sary suffering. Commercial progress
and prosperity in the twentieth CEN
fury will depend on chemistry, and
chemical productions must have a
great effect on all future warfare.
We need not trouble ourselves yet
with flying destroyers, or flying con-
crete forts, but in twenty years time
the, air force estimates may be the
most important part of our prepare
tions for war. Bombing and recon-
! Nuisance machines will be developed
by commerce, for the machines used
in commerce can easily be adapted
for war purposes, and civilian pilots
can be taken over with the machines
For fighting machines special types
are required. and highly specialized
! military training is necessary for the
personnel.
One result of a return to open war
fare will probably be that bombers
will not have the same targets near
| the front of the armies and will Sc
| cure better results by going farther
afield and bombing the centers where
| munitions are manufactured. stores
are accumulated and troops trained.
Wireless TeieRraphy.
Wireless telegraphy will be tho
principal means of communicating
with aircraft and a development O.:
the electrical listening posts used in
| trench warfare: a ground wireless
system will become the standard
| means Of communication between ad
vanced infantry and the headquar-
| tiers controlling them. I believe also
| that smoke and light signals, a pillar
Of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by
night will be used by troops to show
the positions they reach.
| There has never been war before
in which such an extreme variety OF
! weapons were employed. The long
| rifle has seen its day and should be
replaced by short carbine which
would be accurate up to 500 yards.
| Each man should also .carry a good
dagger which might be made attach
able to the carbine like bayonet. |
do not think the automatic pistol
will survive, and / am not sure that
the grenade will not also go, if as
sumed that in future we will have
| open warfare.
New Artillery.
The artillery must be of charac-
| ter that it can be brought to the re-
quired position in the shortest posi-
BILE time. Caterpillar traction should
be employed. and if we allow for n
daily advance of twelve miles the
guns must be capable of an effective
barrage up TO $4,000 yards.
| The soldier of the future must b.
absolutely different from his predc
cessors. The days have gone by when
| initiative was considered not only
| unnecessary but dangerous. In add
| ton to his rifle the soldier should be
| able TO handle n Lewis or machine
| gun. and to help the artillery. H.
should know something of explosives.
have a knowledge of fuses, under
stand signalling. and be capable OF
handling a ground wireless set. He
should receive intensive training and