The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1920-07-22
WHAT ANOTHER WAR MEANS.

chaos infinitely worse than that from which we have
govern ter opinions BY either sentimental or financial
reasons picture the world as holding up its hand and
saying Never again. with reference to war; They say
mankind will never permit such horrors again to be
perpfetrated also that they will not court the financial
collapse of all ChriGendom which another general
would assure But tacv ignoring the record of the
ages and the strongest clements of human n.rre which
are seshness and cobtiveness The fact is that
before such preparations for made now
being made as a result of the last war; The United
States for instance, imagined by its citizens but by
none of tho rest of the world the great nation of
peace, is building navy such it dreamed of
before this war began and has created paper, at
easta professional army four times great it pos
sessed in 1914. We may think that does not
but other nations it does and therefore it must what
ever we think about it, since they will govern themselves
accordingly 1t is needless to point out that the hor-
rors and lessons Of the have not prevented present
conflicts, where impoverished nations expanding in
hcsttes the substance that should be used to keep
their people from starving We may condude-indeed,
we must concludeha unless there be interposed some
sufficient restraining force, there will be another world
war how soon is needless to predict but not far dis
ant in these days of rapidly moving events 1t is worth
while them to consider what sort of war it will be
if not prevented and in that way gain an insight into
the vital necessity Of preventing it.
In the first place, we should dismiss from minds
all idea that any methods of warfare will be successfully
L.. call
international law Nations struggling for salvation from
complete destruction win refuse to be bound by any
agreements and will not refrain from using weapon
that promises them If but nation adopts
outawed or prohibited weapons or methods all
others will be forced To do the same as the late war
proved when the Germans introduced gas This IS
further made certain by the fact that expert military
men are aready planning methods Of attack and defense
using methods of warfare civilization less than decade
AGO would have turned from in utter horror 1t is not
mere theorists who are discussing such methods but
trained military men, who are not merely discussing
them theoretically but laying their plans based upon
them Furthermore, these new horrors of war are not
being unfolded to us by German mitarists, but by
British military expert We may be sure that our own
military experts are also giving them consideration
though not much publicity.
Briefly the war of the future to be one Of science
an dno of brute strength The shock of infantry and
cavalry combat will not exist because infantry end cav
airy could not themselves exist in the face or the whole
sale destruction of the weapons These are OF three
general types gas and poison heat rays and disease
germs Gas more deadly than any used during the war
was almost ready for 1t is expected that heavy
ow-lyng gases like those released by the Marans as
depicted in the novel by H. G. Wells, "The War Of
the Worlds will be released and, creeping and spread
ing along the ground, will destroy everything having
life within distance of several miles from the point OF
release Submarines releasing such gases along our
seacoast would depopulate coast towns an cities
Like devastation would be wrought by gas bombs drop
ped from arshps Like bombs containing the germs OF
deadly contagious and infectious diseases would be dfop
ped in cities far into the interior No longer would raid
ing airshps be content with the noise and small destruc
ton of the TINT bomb The pestilence which stealeth
at MONDAY would bring death to thousands where the
bomb would kill but score One of the experts OF
Great Britain saws; We must envisage these forms
of warfare and, far possible expend energy ume
and money in encouraging our inventors ana our
lists to study the wagng Of on wholesale scaie' IN
stead Of thinking so much about counting heads ana
methods which kill few individuals only at time
In other words the complete wpng out of nation by
poison gas heat rays and the scattering OF dease germs
IS to be the object of the offensive in the next war.
Against these subtle forms of DEATH methods OF de-
tense are few and almost futile. Great air fleets to
ward off the invading arships with their pestilenta
cargoes must be provided, and yet experience shows
that this cannot be wholly effective. The mobile tanks
n which the nfantrymen of the future viii be ncosed
must be fought with like tanks they too, will devas-
ate the land with poison ddsease. The heat ray,
uch as Bulwer predicted in his novel, "Kenem Chill
nglv which is expected to make infantry in the open
mnossible NAV also be a protection against tanks,