Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-06
A Defense of HOrribleness i'm War

salute them and might, at any time. be re-
trenched out of existence. They have to de
Tend" us against the soldiers next door and
the soldiers next door have to defend the
other fellows against our team and there you
are That Is primary But war itself one may
doubt their hunger for. and quite evidently
war to the utmost Is not to the professional
soldiers taste.
1t is part of the general absurdty with
which human affairs are at present conducted
that when we want a discussion of disarma-
ment or the mitigation and prevention of war
we consult military and naval experts, ex-
listing by and for professional war, and quite
naturally they advise strictly on profess
Sional lines. They set their faces against all
disturbing novelties that would obge them
TO learn their trade anew, are against any
proposals that might abolish their profession
and they do their best to make warfare hon
orable. comfortable and dgniffed for military
gentlemen. This, as people say, is onlyf hu-
man nature. They want nice wars They will
provide the spectacle, they will face the more
sportsmanlike tolls and dangers of the en-
tertainment and the taxpayers, the civilians
ana the common herd, the men will bear
the less agreeable part of the burden and
stand the racket of the subsequent clearing up.
These charges are substantiated by the pro-
ceedings of the experts who have been dis
cusslng disarmament" at Geneva under the
auspices of the League-as one might call
1t-tor the Preservation of Distinct Nations
and Established Boundaries for Ever. The
whole tenor of their activities Is to retain
war as standing institution, by restricting
its eXpensveness and keeping it's horrors
within the bounds of human endurance.
Alrplanes are to be defined arplanes
to be used) and peace airplanes mot to he
uSed). Navies are to be restricted to so many
hattleships side. Unsportsmanlike tools. and
especially submarines to be forbidden.
Professional soldiers found killed by poker
blows or poisoned food or other illegitimate
n1n tn hA
of Nations Umpires. Nations found playing
more soldiers than allowed by the rules
Will be instantly disqualified. Such, at least,
is the spirit of these entertaining researches
though the complete scheme has still to be
produced. So protected. there is no reason
why the professional soldier. dressed in full
uniform from spurs to feathers and the pro-
fessfonal seadog in blue and gold lace, should
not strut about the world defending" us all
to the very end of time The vrtuous pro-
posals of President Coolidge for further naval
agreement are Open to precisely the same OBJ
lection these Geneva schemes They would
bar invention They would professionalism
and trade-unionize war Except as paymas-
ter and victim, they would eliminate the ci-
william.
My friend Mr.. j. B. S. Haldane has called
this disposition of the military authorities to
give a pleasant and honorable quality to war
'Bayardism," because the Chevalier Bayard
that peerless knight, felt such a funk and
detestation of gunpowder that he put every
musketeer who fell INTO his hands to death
Dome, the other hand says Brig Gen
HartleY--who is really not such a soldier as
that sounds. seeing that he is a Fellow of
the Royal Society and A distinguished chem
ist-preaching in st. Pauls Cathedral in 1921.
thanked God for artihery, because it brought
wars to a quicker end. Mr. Haldane has writ.
ten one Of the most instructive and we'll in
formed books about chemical warfare that ex.
lists; he knows about ten times as much in
this field most of the worthy gentlemen in
gold lace, tabs badges labels. swords, belts and
suchlike adornnantS who would in practice
have to mismanage it, and his brains are GER
tainly ten times good. Consequently, his