Evening star., 1921-08-03
Editorial Digest
The Bomb Heard Round the World


Whether the airplane bomb that
Of the peace ship to be launched at
the disarmament conference In No
vember. or whether its detonation
cheered the workers toward success.
has not been satisfactorily settled In
the columns Of the press of the coun"
try. Some writer's content themselVes
with disagreeing over the question Of
whether or not the dreadnaught
should be scrapped. or to demanding,
with the Virginian-Pilot Undependent
big ships. or more bombing planes.
without considering the peace ques-
tton at all. Few go as far as the Bal
timore Sun independent democratic).
which declares that the big navy in
terests OF the world. trying to block
the Ostfriesland affair into propa-
ganda for larger appropriations"
The bomb heard round the world"
means but one thing to the New York
the evidence the Globe says: What Is
there which the battleship now ac-
complishes which cannot be better
done by three-plane navy, in which
aeroplanes and submarines are COM
Din. oined with iS the lighter; smaller yes
which has in the past witnessed so
many painful instances in which the
military mind has clung to methods
and ideas after they were obsolete.
VIII be interested in the reply. 1t will
also want to know why the $4,000
900 naval bill does not provide for
even one solitary aeroplane carrier"
The three plane Navy" also appears
as a necessity to the Newark News
Sindepeandent1 Under a and the "dreadnaught"
seems seems a NJ, useless luxury" to the Ann
| which joins in the call sounded by the
Buffalo News (republican) for some
thing that Is really worth while in
the line Of aerial development" With
out voting to scrap the dread
marks that the attacked battleship
Philadelphia Public Ledger '(inde-
pendent) predicts intense activity on
the part of every principal power in
designing and building fleets Of
Times (democratic). sis going to
amount to much as a sea power here
after" unless 1t is "plentifully sup
Piled with aeroplane carriers" Su-
premacy Of the air; says the Port
may win the next war;" and to the
New York Tribune (republican) the
sinking of the Ostfriesland didn't
develop anything very surprising, ex-
cept to the ultra conservative" but
the lesson it teaches is that "the
Navy needs aeroplane carriers"
The chief need emphasized by the
test, the Manchester Union independ-
ent republican, believes. Is defense
for the battleships. giving a means
and. says the Philadelphia Bulletin
independent republican, mo navy OF
the future will be adequately armed
unless it possesses ample protective
weapons against such an attack.
Perfection of such devices. adds the
engage the designers Of battleships.
just as the matter OF protecting ships
from the torpedo boat. and then the
submarines formerly had to be met.
A number of writer's are more IN
terested in defending the battleship
than speculating on other phases OF
the test. 1T has not yet been shown
that the aeroplane has made the bat
tleship obsolete" is the fiat state.
ment of the Birmingham Age-Herald
explains. Superiority of aircraft over
battleships could not be demonstrated
except under conditions of actual
warfare, which were not duplicated
off the Virginia capes." To put the
big ships in this category the Detroit
wrong. "Such a deduction would be
grotesque." it says. for the battle
ship is also vulnerable to depth bombs
and to submarine torpedoes when
they are properly planted. but 1t re-
mains potent engine Of war never
theless." The Ell Paso Times demo
cratic) holds similar view. remark,
ing that "the automobile torpedo and
"the submarine" when they appeared.
theoretically relegated the big sur
face craft to the discard" but, the pa
per concludes. putting Theory versus
fact" and in the case of the aeroplane
at could whip any battleship" under
one condition. namely. that the battle
ship didn't hit back" The Pittspnrgn
Gazette-Times trepublican) oelleVes
that it will take another war" to
prove whether or not the battleship
IS obsolete, and the Charleston News
and Courier (democratic) thinks that
the world will continue to ouilo tnSm
''for some time to come unless VT
Hardine's disarmament conference
ends the process