Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-22
NATIONS PLAN BIG EFFORT
TO CUT LAND AIR FORCES
Program for Conference Next February
Gives Much Attention to Serious
Phases of Modern Warfare.
BY RAYMOND LESLIE BUELL..

disarmament conference, which
will meet next February under
auspices of the League Of Ma
tions II Is expected that every
nation in the world, tncludlng the
limited States. will attend. At this con-
Ference a gigantic effort will be made
to limit and reduce the armies, navies
and air forces of each government. AS
a result of the Washington and LONDON
conferences, the task of limiting navies
already has been fulfilled for the large
naval powers. But the problem Of Inn
iting the size Of armies and OF air
forces remains.
ornaments promises to be, 1t may
prove even more difficult to limit ar
forces in a satisfactory manner. AT
the same time, the importance OF put
ting some curb upon a method OF war
fare which has only recently come INTO
existence daily grows more apparent.
When wars were fought with armies
and navies alone, distinction was
made between military ana non
mIne from attack. But with the oe-
velopment of military aircraft, fears
have been expressed that in the next
war this distinction will come to an
end.
Edward p. Warner, recently Assistant
Secretary Of the Navy for Aeronautics
and now editor of Aviation, declares,
'The most serious Of the airplanes
erect upon the conduct Of war Is the
prospect that It brings of the termina-
ton of the immunity of civil popula-
ton. It Is the prevailing belief
that there can be no assurance against
such attack in. view Of the great pos
sible military advantages, and that in
q long and hard war in the future, II
not indeed In every outbreak Of hos
tilities, such raids as we're made on
London ." from 1914 to 1918 would
become a daily event."
France Studying Strategy.
Some Of the deepest thinking upon
questions of military strategy has re-
Gently come out Of France. Last year
Admiral Castex published book on
the theory of strategy which seriously
questioned past estimates as to the
value Of submarines. During the last
few months another important book has
appeared entitled lie Danger Aerien ct
CThe Aerial Danger and the Future of
the Country written by Lieut.. Col.
Vauthier. This book constitutes one
Of the most complete discussions so
far written Of the dangers Of air attack
and Of the methods Of defense against
such attack. AS q result Of technical
developments, the radius Of attack of
bombing plane is now about 500 miles
that Is, such q plane normally can
ny into q country 500 miles and out
again without having to land.
At one time France found security
behind a series of land Notifications,
while England felt secure because she
was sheltered from the continent by
the sea. But the development of air
craft has wiped out old frontiers. From
the standpoint OF self defense, England
is no longer an island. Except for Rus
sta, every European nation today Is
entirely exposed to attack from enemy
planes. Despite the conclusion OF
treaties forbidding the use of poison gas,
there are few Europeans who do not
believe that If another world war should
come. air attacks upon London, Paris
and Berlin, not TO mention other cities.
would be certainty.
The United States is In a more for
tunate position. To be sure, Canada
and Mexico are geographically In a DO
stticn to serve as the base for air raids
upon the United States. But the
United States could quickly crush them
In case Of attack. So far as Europe
and the Orient are concerned, the day
4s sttl far distant when planes win
cross the thousands Of miles Of ocean
% bomb the United States.
Cellars No Longer Safe.
ANY such attacks would require air
bases IN the Wet e-n Hemisphere or
aircraft carriers OF our coast, and so
long IS the American Navy commands
the seas in this area, It Is doubtful
whether European or Oriental power
could establish an afr base, or at least
defend 1t. Thanks largely to geography,
the United States, therefore. is not
nearly so much concerned with the
problem Of air defense as are European
countries.
The chief method Of attack employed
BY an enemy plane Is bombing. There
are many different kinds Of bombs pro-
ductng many different kinds Of horrors.
Thus there is the incendiary bomb,
such as the thermit which once
lighted cannot be extinguished. This
bomb produces an enormously high
temperature Of 1000 to 5000 degrees;
every object with which it comes in
contact instantly becomes enveloped in
flames. AS q result Of these incendiary
bombs. persons who once. felt safe In
their cellars during air attacks, in the
future win suffer from the fear Of
being burned to death.
Bombs may also belcl1 forth poison
object Of which Is to bring death to
civilian and military populations. Ac-
cording TO some authorities, If bomb
carrying from 500 to 500 kilos Of phos-
gene we're discharged inside a struc-
ture, the concentration would be so
great that even those persons pro-
tected by masks would succumb. As
result Of an accident several years ago
in Hamburg an escaping cloud Of
=
people unconscious 10 kilometers away
from the scene Of the accident.
30 far as the use Of nicrobe cultures
4 concerned, number Of doctors be-
he7e that the airplane may use such
cultures to contaminate an enemy pop
ulation with plague, cholera, typhoid
fever. dysentery, typhus and other
terrible diseases.
Planes Seen as Transports.
In the third place airplanes may use
explosives as a means Of destroying
detectives. Such was the purpose of
the German raids upon Paris during
the World War An airplane today may
carry two tons Of bombs which is
about two or three times the capacity
OF the largest artillery And 1t is esti-
mated that a bomb Of 500 kilos will
penetrate 10 meters underground, so
that In future warfare it will be almost
impossible for even the heaviest struc-
t1re TO avoid being destroyed by air
attack.
Airplanes also may attack other
planes by means Of small cannon or
machine guns. And Col Vauthier
points out that there is nothing to pre-
vent the plane Of the future from land
ing detachments Of men, armed with
guns and explosives. far behind the
enemy lines, where they may carry out
surprise attacks.
Thus the airplane has injected new
Factor into the conduct Of war. One