Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-27

a matter of arms than valor
W The tribe that invented bows
and arrows quickly became the
master of the one using clubs
man with a gun could whip 10 with
BOWS and arrows. Firearms changed
IT,. political history of the world. The
repeating rifle mastered the old flint
lock: a regiment with machine guns
could vanquish 10 regiments armed
merely with rifles.
In the fierce struggle for existence,
nations have always been alert for the
slightest development of destructive
wea pons The inventor of one of our
most deadly rifles, and also inventor
of one of the most destructive bombs,
said to the writer:
81 have been received and dined
by every ruler of the world, and
have personal gifts from almost
ali of them. l have never invented
any sort of a weapon to kill that
did not make immense profits. But
all of my inventions for the protec-
ton of life have proved failures
financially"
This is not necessarily a matter Of
human bloodthirstiness, but a con.
sciousness that has come down
through ages of eXperience-that
preservation of life and property de-
pend upon our owning and holding,
and knowing how to use, weapons as
good or better than those of our enc
mics.
Destructive Inventions.
With a single exception of transror-
tation, the most startling inventions
of the last 800 or 400 years have been
along the line of destructiveness. Be-
ginning with that awkward expert
ment in armored Ships-the Mont
tor of Civil War fame-America has
kept quite we'll in step with. if not in
advance of, other nations in the mat
ter of armored ships, which until re-
Gently was the greatest of all naval
developments. But once started build
ing heavy battleships with thick plates
of steel, ships that were exceedingly
hard to sink, we built up sort Of bat
tleship consciousness, a naval HER
archy of armed craft that has persist
ed beyond its period of maximum use
fulness.
Aside from the constantly increas-
ing violence of discovered explosives,
and increasing range of big guns,
there have been developed in the last
few years two of the most deadly in
known-the submarine under the sea
and the airplane over both sea and
land.
In the medieval ages the knight
with the stoutest armor and the long
est sword could ride down the field.
Today the submarine and the air.
plane have the longest range and the
deadliest striking power. In the in
ventions of weapons the aim has al
ways been to produce the most deadly
effect in the quickest time and with
the smallest use of man ana money
power A little half-grown dwarf
with cheap pistol can kill the great.
est man God ever created. Any one
with the power TO pull the trigger of
IN automatic may wreak destruction
upon a dozen better men who are not
armed.
Meet Inventors Dreams.
These new weapons, the submarine
and the airplane, have fulfilled the
dream of the inventors of destructive
weapons. For cost in money and
man power they are tenfold the most
destructive vehicles of war ever con.
trived. A submarine manned by 80
or 40 men may sink a merchant fleet
and destroy half the commercial
wealth of nation. An airplane, cost
ing S3O,U0U or S40,000, manned by two
or three men, may fly a thousand
miles in a few hours and bomb a
fortress. a city, or blow forty.mil.
lion-dollar battleship out of the water.
We Americans are a peculiar mix
ture of rank extravaganza and fool
ish parsimoniousness. We spend $50
for a dinner, and haggle over a SIS
weekly grocery bill; we buy SIS UNI.
brella and grow penurious over $3.50
pair of rubbers. / have seen a mil
lionaire spend $1,000 in one day at the
races, and go apoplectic over paying
a charge of % cents for a shine. Ma
tionally we exhibit these same char
acteristics. We spend lavishly for a
gesture and bicker over a necessity.
Nationally we are divided and
always will be perhaps, into two
classes-those who believe in a thor.
ough preparation, not for war, but
for defense, and those who believe
peace comes by inertia and the grace
Of God. Yet, whether one belongs
to the preparedists or pacifists. it
seems incredible that there should be
any argument about expanding what
defense money we do appropriate for
the best possible weapons.
How Much Must Be Spent?
There may be a question Of how
much money America should spend
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