New-York tribune., 1921-11-15
Industrial National Defense
Preparedness Against Not Fo Wa-Expanson of Merchant
Marine and Commercial Air Fleets.
By Hudson Maxim

made SO stanch and strong as to adapt
them for immediate conversion into
very efficient fighting ships. Without
violation Of a peace pact huge pas
senger ships and fast freighters could
be built which would need but a coat
Of gray paint to make them indis-
tinguishable from battle-cruisers and
which in few days could be armed
and converted into veritable battle
cruisers; and any nation with a great
merchant navy converted into trans
port ships and actual fighters could
unless we should also adequately equip
ourselves with merchant ships readily
convertible into potential ships of war.
Not only this, but also commercial
fleets Of the air in time of war would
become fleets of war. Airplanes built
to carry mail, freight and passengers
could, in time Of war, carry bombs
charged with high explosives and With
poisonous gases, and coulj also be used
- srreed the germs of deadly diseases
,
absolutely at the mercy Of an enemy
unless we, too, should be sufficiently
provided with commercial aerial equip
ment to defend ourselves and also to
carry the war into the lands of our
enemies.
When we sign any peace pact we
must do so with the full realization
that our work for national defense Is
not done; on the contrary, that it is
only begun; but it will be industrial
national defense, whose equipment
shall be profit-earning to the country,
instead Of being an unearning burden
of armaments without any use other
than for war.
Pacifists almost always confound
preparedness against war with pre-
paredness for war; and they would
have us not only disarm, but they would
also hive us abandon our military
school at West Point and our naval
college at Annapolis. They would, fur
thermore, put an end to all inventions
and discoveries for naval and military
purposes and stop the development Of
all naval and military devices. Such a
course would be national suicide.
Preparedness
While we may nationally, and as a
duty to the suffering world, do every
thing in our power to limit wars be-
tween the nations, we must also be
prepared for possible breach of m
ternational relations and the peace
pact. Without educated officers we
should be helpless; while, with edu-
Gated and trained officers, we could, in
an emergency, raise, train and equip
an army from inexperienced civilians
in a comparatively short time, as we
did in the World War.
A goodly number of trained officers
lessons the need of a standing army;
whils invention and discovery and the
development of invention in naval and
strengthen our preparedness against
war and safeguard US in the event of
war. without going to the extent OF
actually producing any devices OF
utilizing any discoveries on q service
scale, but only on what may be ra-
tionally termed laboratory scale OF
practical experimental scale.
i BY adopting such methods snd by
using such safeguards the nations may
disarm to any extent that may appear
to be practicable, lifting the burder
of armaments from the shoulders oi
the taxpayers all over the earth, releas
ing the savings for larger industrial
development
4 Let us not lose sight of the pregnant
truth that it is not the mere posses
sion Of armaments that leads nations