The Washington times., 1935-07-24
By H. r. KNICKERBOCKER
international News Service Staff

international News Service Staff
Correspondent
(world copyright. 1885, by International
News Service. Reproduction in whole or
part strictly prohibited.)
LONDON, July "a GN.S0 us
there any possibility Of changing
the utterly suicidal character Of
the next war?
Is there any way to make the
words Of Britain's prime minister,
Stanley Baldwin, no longer true
that "the only air defense is in
offense, and that means you have
t, kill more women and children
more quickly than the enemy If
you want to save yourselves"
The answer is that Europe sees
no possibility, no way in sight
today.
Adolf Hitler proposed in hi last
Reichstag speech that nations
should agree to prohibit bombing
of civilian populations from the
air. But three years ago, months
before Hitler came to power, Bald
win despairingly exclaimed in the
House of Commons, Nobody
would keep the promise"
Can't Stop Bombing
Ludendorff, professional mill
tarist, said that in 1880.
Between Ludendorff and Bald
win lies the whole span Of Euro
pean character. Baldwin, peace
full Englis.lman, stands in rela-
ton to his countrymen like a
father to his children. He enjoys
the profound respect Of all his
political opponents, including paci-
fists. His virtues are led by good
faith.
Yet Baldwin told the House in
November, 1892:
"The prohibition Of lombard
ment of the civil population is
1mpracticable SO long as any
bombing lasts at all. We re-
member in the last war areas
where munitions were made.
They now play part in war that
they never played in previous
wars and it is essential to an
enemy to knock these areas out.
$50 long as they can be
knocked out by bombing and no
other way you will never in the
practice Of war stop that form
of bombing. The prohibition Of
bombing airplaneS or Of bomb
ing leads you to two very OBJ
ViOus considerations. The first
difficulty is, will any form Of
prohibition not to bomb, whether
by convention, treaty or any
thing you like, be effective in
war?
ALL RULES OUT
Cranky, / doubt it, and in
doubling it I make no reflec-
ton on the good faith of either
ourselves or any other country.
II a man has a potential weapon
and has his back to the wall
and is going to be killed, he will
use that weapon whatever it Is
and whatever undertaking he
has given about it. Experience
has shown us that the stern test
of war will break down all con"
VentiOnS."
Baldwin went further. He
pointed out that the Geneva gas
protocol of 1925, pledging %
countries not to use poison gas,
was obviously beng violated al"
ready, because "other'' nations
were continuing to develop poison
gas.
Assault may start the next war
on the land with massed tank at
tacks by monster land battleships.
The French have terrestrial dread
naughts of 10 tons. The British
planned in 1919 to steam-roller the
Germans with 5000 tanks and
10000 cross-country tractors to
supply them.
But without such masses OF
tanks on hand to make their ini-
tial attack decisive, both sides, &C.
cording to Major General j. F. c.
Fuller would be able speedily to
construct anti-tank works sunk in
uncrossable moats, and protected
by fields of land mines the uncon-
querable headlines Of the modern
machine gun, whether or not
equipped with poison bullets would
then, according to European mill.
tary thought, make assault i'm
practicable.
Everybody to Lose
Americans can only note that in
the Great Chaos" nobody viii
win. Everybody will lose. No
merely strong nation can stay out
of it. Only an overwhelmingly
strong nation can keep out Of it.
Strength today means airplanes.
Nine million Englishmen voted
"for peace" in a ballot just held
here. But Europe is spending
every day $12,500,000 for war.