Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-03-14

Gen. Tasker II. Bliss, former chief
of staff and American member OF the
Supreme War Council in France.
sounds a warning against too hurried
efforts at wholesale or arbitrary dis
armament, in an article In the latest
the growing conviction that states
must make some concession of the
right to make war. saying 1t Is no
more revolutionary than the move
ment which led to the Introduction of
law as a substitute for violence be-
tween individuals. Provided the new
international spirit is not imperiled
by over enthusiasts. he believes the
world Is on the eve of taking an Inn
portant step forward.
Gen. Bliss at the start defines this
most important of all human prob
lens. before pointing out some of the
difficulties which, as a practical soldier
Of long experience. he sees in the way
Of its immediate solution.
What Is disarmament? asks Gen.
Bliss. ITO ask the question reveals
the gravity and the compiexity OF the
problem. To a fanatical extremist it
might mean at first sight the abolition
of every agency that nations employ
to attain their end in war. But great
numbers of these things are the out
growth of peaceful evolution: their
manufacture and use are necessary,
once man has had them, for the or
derby processes Of life. whether war
exists or not In short, the nation
which Is best organized for peace.
which is the most abundantly supplied
with the agencies which have come
with civilization and on which that
civilization largely depends, and with
the facilities for the production OF
them and with men skilled In their
use, Is the one best organized for war.
Cites Many Agencies.
Modern war would be quite impos-
sible without commercial steamships.
railroads, motor cars. factories of all
kinds with their skilled workmen.
telephones, radios. aero,
planes, laboratories for every KIND OF
experiment and research. on all OF
which also depends pretty much every
thing that is useful or beautiful In
human life.
LET us ask in another form the
question which 1 have already put.
What Is the thing believed to be
capable Of disarmament? In other
words, what Is armament? For the
purposes of disarmament, think That
it Is not only fair but exact to state
that the term ornaments includes
only those agencies for use on land
and under it, on water and under II
and in the air. which are provided
and maintained by nation solely Tor
the purpose of international war: In
other words, we must EXCLUDE
agencies which are necessary, or even
only desirable, in peace. They can
not be abolished. At the most. at
tempts may be made to regulate their
use, with the knowledge that the
regulation IL sure to go by the board
under the stress of war"
Gen. Bliss proceeds to show that
when a reduction Of ornaments Is
carried to the EXTREMIST limit In any
nation, that nation will still have, In
less quantity, the same kind of
armament that it has now, excepting
only such material as is provided sole
ly for the purpose of international
war. THE actual abolition Of ma
terial." he notes. would largely be
limited to the forms Of ordnance used
in the bombardment Of strongly for
titled positions and in very long range
firing, as In the case Of German guns
which bombarded Paris from a great
distance in the latter part Of the
recent war"
Views Are Important.
AS the United States has agreed to
attend the forthcoming disarmament
conference, and as Gen. Bliss is fire.
quently mentioned as one of the prin-
cipal delegates, his views on the
probable agenda Of the conference are
Of great Importance.
1.-THE size of armed personnel" he
writes, rs, of course, one of the things
subject to reduction and limitation.
A conference will find that, provided
it ia accompanied by a proportionate
reduction Of reserves of war material
and facilities for it's manufacture. 1t
is about the only way to limit the
ultimate war strength Of a nation.
1.-THE military personnel consists Of
the men with the colors and those
who have passed through their term
Of training and have entered the
ranks of civil life. There is a definite
relation between the numbers Of the
latter class and the former. A reduc-
ton in the former, in nations which
practise CONSUMPTION, would slowly re-
duce the latter class. Otherwise than
In this way. the numbers of trained
men now in civil life in any country
can be reduced only>by the processes
Of age and disease. But their i'm
mediate effectiveness for war may be
limited by a reduction In reserve ma.