WILL SCIENCE END WAR?

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 59, 4 December 1918, Page 6

WILL SCIENCE END WAR?

POISON GAS MOKE POTENT. TEAK DIPLOMACY. Sir William Crookes, writing in the "Daily Chronicle," says-.— Airplanes, submarines, poison gas and liquid fire are among the innovations which invest tho Great AVar witli peculiar interest. The employment of these methods has beeu declared ouiside the pale of recognised warfare, but they are, nevertheless, the result of scientific enterprise, and it may be assumed safely that in course of time the lighting forces will be equipped with still more terrible means of destruction. War has an entirely new significance,' not only to the _ troop? in the fields, but for civilians residing far. from the scene of conllict. Formerly the soldiers or sailors took the risk and glory, while tho taxpayer grumbled and found the money; but now the- most harmless person may fall a victim to the indiscriminate havoc which Germans have so aplly dubbed "frightfulnessV' Submarines hardly compare with aircraft as important departures in the methods of war. A submarine is merely a torpedo vessel, with the advantage of invisibility, and no more, since sho is still restricted to the water in her operations. On the other hand, the flying machine enn go almost nnywhere, drop explosives, gn« shells or inllaimnntory material, which may destroy cities ami public works, and miller certain conditions, lay whole tracts of territory waste by fire. These machines had a very limited range of action mid carrying capacity to begin with, their employment until quite recently being mainly dependent on weather conditions. Every month records developments in their construction. From mere observation platforms they have become fighting machines, heavily armed, operating in squadrons. AVhat is to prevent a fleet of airplanes stealthily dropping poisonous matter into our reservoirs? .Disease germs may bo conveyed by the flying man and distributed over areas where epidemics would be likely to spread among man and beast. The potential power of nircraft seems boundless, and, however unworthy of civilisation, is a force to be .reckoned with. It is extremely doubtful if this menace can l>o restricted yet by negotiations between nations. Tho aid of science will continue to be invoked to amplify the latest means of slaughter and bring under control forces known to exist, but which have proved impracticable as destructive agents in war. Electricity, so far, has been utilised only on the battlefield for communicative and defensive purposes, and it would appear that these are its limitations. With the rapid progress of science the carnage in warfare has correspondingly increased, and it may well be that the lime will arrive when the elementary laws of self-preservation common to us all might bo sufficiently aroused to bring about some international guarantee against tho possibility of war. If such a suggestion is destined to be fulfilled, then the terrors of science will have accomplished that which diplomacy has failed to achieve.