The Washington times., 1921-11-09
.U.S.T0OPPOSE
ELIMINATION Of
GAS|N WARP ARE
More Humane Than High Ex-
pIosive Shells, Technical
Advisers Declare.
BY HARRY l.. ROGERS.
Z, n. 3. StaH Correspondence.
Copyright, 1921, International News

1tE1s
seryiceD
The American delegation to the
Forthcoming conference on limitation
OF armaments will take a firm stand
against any attempt TO do away with
the use OF poison gas In warfare IL II
follows the views OF experts selected
to advise on that subject. IL was learn.
ed from an unimpeachable source %
day
With almost limitless natural re.
sources and thousands OF skilled chem
lists, the United States enjoys a posi-
ton OF peculiar advantage in the pro-
duction of poisonous gas upon large
scale. To prohibit the use OF gas en-
tirely is practically impossible, since
any nation might conduct its expert.
ments surreptitiously and spring the
terrible surprise at the most unex.
pected moment.
Gas" said Brig. Gen. Amos A.
Fries, chief of the Chemical Warfar"
Service of the United States army, and
one of the chief technical advisers to
the American delegation TO the con
ference on the limitation of arma-
ments. ''is too deadly, too dangerous.
too easy to develop and produce in
secret for any nation to give it up"
Mustard Gas from Indigo.
For example. in the production OF
synthetic indigo, which in point of
volume leads the dye industry, the
steps for nine-tenths of the way are
perfectly harmless. At the final mo
ment, however, the addition of one
ingredient marks the difference be-
tween harmless indigo and the deadly
mustard gas. perhaps the most feared
of all those developed in the world
war.
The dye industry, in which Germany
excelled before the war, furnishes the
means OF producing dozens of deadly
gases upon a moments notice.
General Fries believes the only
limitations that can properly be
placed upon chemical warfare" are
those which might also be imposed
upon other forms of warfare.
For example, II 1t is declared to
be contrary to the principles of in
ternational warfare to throw high
explosive shells into cities from a
distance OF 100 miles, he believes IL
should likewise be deemed contrary
to international practice to throw
gas shells into that city.
The American experts contend,
however, that from the point of
view Of humanity, poison gas has
all the advantage over plain lead
bullets or high explosive. Notwith-
standing the vast amount of propa.
ganda spread against the use of gas
during the world war, the casualty
statistics demonstrate beyond all
doubt, 1t Is asserted, that gas is by
far the most humane Of the modern
engines of destruction. The total
American casualties in the World
War were 253,217, of which As, ,059
cases resulted in death. OF that
total. 70.750 were gas cases, of
which 400 resulted in death.
Bullets Found More Deadly.
In other words. high explosive and
bullets caused the deaths of approx
mately 25.4 per cent of those injured,
while gas was fatal in only approx
imately 2 per cent of the cases.
Despite the campaign of publicity
thrown out against the Germans for
their more intelligent use of gas, the
Allies gradually adopted that weapon
and eventually developed II to a point
Of equality, II not superiority. This
proves, experts assert, that gas will
remain a factor in the problems of
modern warfare. until some more
deadly weapon is developed.
The American technical advisers
also have formulated their views upon
such other novel weapons" of war.
fare as radio. controlled apparatus,
germs, and epidemics and these views
will be given due consideration by the
A A,nerican delecation