The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-12-07
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsxIN, Director.
Washington, D. @.
THE DIsARMAMENT ILLUSION.

of the disarmament so far discussed
at the conference amounts to no more
I than an agreement among quarrel
some men each to throw away an an
tiuuated blunderbuss which he has
| in his hand while keeping two loaded
automatics, a hand grenade and a
dose of strychnine in his pockets, is
the way one observer describes the
situation here to date.
The two most deadly instruments of
human destruction so far discovered
poison gas and the airplane-have not
/ even been discussed. The proposal so
| far is merely to scrap few capital
\ ships which will probably be obsolete
before the next. war gets under way
anyhow.
| OF course. the real business of the
| conference is to try to reach some set
| Element of the troubled questions in
| the Far East, which are almost sure
| to cause war in a few years unless
| adjusted. There are some signs OF
! progress toward such an adjustment.
/ But it is pointed out that the whole
| pretension toward disarmament is fu-
| tile unless a more effective program
| than the present one is evolved.
: France, next door neighbor of It's
ancient enemy Germany. has served
notice on the world that it has no IN
| tention of reducing its land forces to
! a point where there could be danger
| of successful attack from its PROSTATE
! enemy. once IL Is on IeeL again
| England, Japan and the United
| States discuss the ratio their navies
! shall bear to each other. A serious
mulIing over of this aspect of the sit
uation occurs when it is proposed that
! the American and British ships shall
1 be matched in strength, with Japan
/ having three capital fighting ships to
every five in the American navy. y
| counter proposal is made that the
ratio shall be seven to ten.
How About Poison Gas?
Whatever the final conclusions on
| the number of superintendent and
battle cruisers and TIE matter of land
forces, under arms in the reserve, for
all nations, it may mean very little
unless effective means can be devised
to put check on chemical and aerial
warfare for the future.
Chemical warfare was employed on
a large scale in the world war for the
first time. Gas, first used by the Ger
mans against the Canadian troops,
was developed rapidly by both sides
while defense against gas attacks was
rushed. When the armistioe was
signed, the war was 55 per cent
chemical, according to military au-
thorities.
The airplane became a tremen-
dously important factor before the
war was over. Planes for all sorts OF
war uses were developed, ranging
from the small speedy scout and COM
bat planes to the slower, heavier
bombing planes, hospital planes, and
the like. Defense against aircraft at
tacks has never reached the effective
ness of defense against other forms
of fighting. The anti-aircraft gun Is
highly useful, of couse, but. the best
| defense against the enemy flyers when
the war ended was other flyers to
drive them off or bring them down!
The trouble with curbing chemical
| sa,.gr, hot Bn To1Q &c yNrn
would be of a tremendous military
value in war can be camouflaged into
chemical plants of the most innocent
looking sort during eras of peace. II
is disclosing no secret to say that the
chemical experts of all countries are
hard at work now experimenting ana
devising new and awful combinations,
capable of results far beyond the most
destructive engines of war yet used.
The whole world sat up and took
notice recently when a commercial
plant in little German town blew up.
Some explosive so powerful that INT
is mild by comparison not only wreck
ed the plant completely. but destroyed
practically the whole town and its
population 1t Is not unreasonable to
suppose that the other nations of
the world are at least trying to keep
pace in the development of destructive
chemicals, so that they will not be
caught mapping if war should come
again.
Aircraft forms another fighting arm
which can be developed in peace
times in apparently unwarlike ways.
In this, tho, America is tagging far
behind European nations, notably
France and Germany. Not long ago,
a flood of advertising came out of
Germany, showing a pretentious plan
for air routes of travel from Germany
to points all over the continent of
Europe and even across the Mediter-
ranean to Africa. The French quick
" saw in this threat to their own
safety, and a race for supremacy OF
the air was begun.
Today in Europe travelling by air is
a common thing. American railroad
man who have looked into it find the
United States tagging far behind in
this development of transportation.
For transportation is the aspect this
aerial development wears in peace
times
Aircraft Hard to Limit.
France saw in the German plans
for extensively developed aerial routes
of transportation the means of eco
nomically preparing for another war,
and Immediately set out to pass its
ancient enemy in this respect. Avia-
tors by the hundreds could be trained
and ready for possible war use thru
peace time flying. 1t was the partic-
ular appeal to the French nation that
this sort of war preparation would
cost little or nothing, as the CONNER
cial flying eXperiment-andi it is about
past the experimental stage now
could be made almost, if not entirely,
to pay for itself.
To make certain that this develop
ment would not lag, the governments
of Germany and France are literally
substituting the con- panies formed for
aerial transportation. The flyers en-
ployed could be quickly made into
military flyers if war should come
Many of the planes in use for COM
merciaI purposes might prove useless
but planes can be turned out at
tremendously greater rate than can
trained men to operate them.
England is tagging behind France
and Germany in this development. The
threat of future trouble with Germany
is not as acute with England as with
France. The British honestly hope to
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