The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-09-17
POISON GAS IN WAR
HAS COME TO STAY
American Military Experts
Say It's as Humane as
-. Bomb '.. Fl
CHEMICAL WARFARE
IS LEGITIMATE
Conference on Disarmament May Dis
cuss Control of New Agencies In War
fare Will Take Long Time to
Formulate Rules.
By DAVID LAWRENCE.

by DAhl I'D LAW REN1E.
Especial Despatch to The ReformerO
Copyright 1921.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 17.-Poison
gas as means of warfare has come to
stay Americas military experts join
with those of other countries in insisting
that the gas bomb is just as humane as
the torpedo or the 1000 pound shell.
ANY idea that the United States army ex-
perts will advise the American delegation
to the conference on limitation of arm
amcnts to propose the abolition of poison
gases can be dismissed as out of the queS-
ton.
President Harding in his invitation to-
the other powers pointed out that lit
may be found advisable to formulate pro-
posals by which in the interest of human,
ity the use of new agencies of warfare
may be suitably controlled" y canvass
by this correspondent of military author
tiles develops the fact that the American
army holds chemical warfare TO be rec
ognized and desirable means of warfare
that is just as desirable as any other
means of killing the troops of the enemy
The experts say they hope the time will
never come when war is necessary to set
tie disputes between nations. They are
Just as anxious for permanent peace a.
any other Americans. But Mr.. Harding
himself in his speech to the Army War
college spoke his doubts about permanent
peace and indicated that armies and ma
vieS would always be necessary. lnaS
much as the commander-in-chief of the
army and navy feels that way. the eX
pertS declare it is their solemn duty to
advise upon such use of those agencies of
warfare as will bring n conflict to an
abrupt ending.
Universal Prejudice Against 1T
The prejudice against the use of poison
gas is of course universal. When the
Germans first introduced it. the same out
cry was raised as against the submarine
torpedo Yet before the war was over.
both sides used the gas bomb and Amer
lea invented such destructive gas bombs
As might have ultimately annihilated the
German army if the armistice had not in
terfprred.
The public has little idea of the awful |
ness Of the new agencies of war. But
the experts declare that the more deStruc
tive an agency * the more unlikely IL |
there to be war. The American military
authorities. however. are a unit in eX-
pressing the opinion that while gas may
be used against soldiers and sailors il |
should not be employed against non
combatants or where any nOn-combatantS |
and troops may be mixed. The use Of |
poisons should be reserved for attack on
strictly military or naval areas. |
VIII Require Months
When the agenda for the coming con-I
ference is completed, rules of warfare |
will be found to have been included. II |
can't be excluded gracefully for the |
American government has publicly ex- |
pressed itself on the subject and the other !
powers have agreed TO it without excep-i |
ton. But when it comes to framing
rules of warfare. the conference viii find |
itself absorbed for months in a phase of
the problems entirely apart from that |
which is involved in reducing military or
naval expenditures. The cost of gas war
fare is relatively small. Armies and ma /
yieS may be Scrapped but means of chem
ical warfare can be developed by any ma
ton, however. small. That's why before |
the Washington conference is over. il |
may be found necessary to consult the
other nations of the world. They viii |
want to have voice in any agreement |
that Is reported. 1t took several month |
for the famous conference of 1909 at |
London to draw up rules of warfare. The /
Hague conference of 1907 had not suffi |
GENTLY clarified the rules of war. But |
both the declaration of London and the /
Hague conventions of 1907 went by the
boards when the European war began IL |
1914. largely because the 1909 rules had
not been unanimously adopted.
What About TOrpedOes?
Whether or not limitation of new arm
amcnt is agreed upon at the Washington
conference, the control of old agencies of |
warfare is bound to develop more and
more Importance aS the military and ma
val experts of all the powers get togethcrI
here. The opinions of the American mil
itarv experts that poison gas shall not bel
abolished are significant 1t means that
the naval experts also will not wish the
use of the torpedo by submarines to be
held Illegal except of course as against |
ships carrying non-combatants. The right |
to torpedo naval vessels without warning
however is moot point Some contend
that an opportunity to surrender should |
be given. Others argue that in a ma
val battle no such chance is given when
a vessel is fatally hit. During the war
our naval authorities were careful not |
to commit themselves against the use of |
the submarine They are not vet ready |
to give up that new means of warfare
Germany NAV have been denounced for
the new agencies of war but |
military and naval opinion here indicates
that the new agencies have come to stay
and that America at least will take the
lead in urging that the wars of the fu-
ture be fought more humanely in the
sense that nOn-combatants shall not be
attacked, as the German army and navy
insisted upNu doing thrnrIUhout tho war