THE NEXT WAR

Hokitika Guardian, 21 January 1929, Page 8

THE NEXT WAR

SIR W. ROBERTSON ON JTS HUH UOlto. DEADLY GAS ifitOM THE AIR. Field-Marshal Sir William Robert, son, who was C'lnof of the Jmpena. General Stall from 191 u miliS early 1.. js4o,ov}J,<Aa;,\a>J while 1110 juuireeL co.si tills, was me principal speaker at a Peace Conference laid in connection will the League of .Nations Union at ii, St. Jamos’.s Square, n csunimster, yesu. rally. 'I he world, lie said, would never Know precisely wiiai it had to pay fur the last uni Taking all the bciugcrents into account, tile direct nioiitj outlay seemed tu ha.e been neau., 1/ -to,t<L/d,Olio,o> jO , while the indirect cost of such items as destruction of property and so forth might he guessed at not less than Jko\i,U.U.UIi'J,OJU J or some iiVU,(Wd,v.K)t),oU(l in all.' The loss of life was about IOy'XKXOCu, which was double that caused by ah the wars of 'the preceding 120 years put together, and there were probably not less than 2f>,o'.X),(K)‘o wounded. Sir Wijliam continued: — 'file expenditure on our Army and Navy alone averaged between £5.000,0(A) and £7,Obi>,l)oo a day timing the last two years of the war; we lost 1,000,01 X) valuable lives and 8,000,0(h) tons of liierehaiit shipping ;and in the three operations at Arras, Mossines, and Paschedael in 1017 our pieliniinnrv arLillerv bom Ija rumen t cost us more Ulan £7)2,.C0,1)00, while the total weight of artillery ammunition expended in one of those operations reached the colossal total of 480,000 tons. We know, too, that should another great war occur the loss ol life and waste of wealth will exceed by many times the experiences of 1914-18. while the horrors which may be sulfered by the civil population from air attacks, combined with the use ol new chemical substances, would seem to be almost limitless. Modern wars are no longer controlled by soldiers, but by politicians. Involving, as they do. the employment of ali the resources that can be made available. military, naval, diplomatic, financial, and industrial, they arc much more political in character, both as to conception and execution, than they used to he. Distrust and jealousy still prevail, and the nations seem to have, learned little or nothing from their experiences of JO years ago. They still fail to see that war can never he the means oi bringing lasting peace. Ever since 1918 the “ next ” great war has constantly been talked about as thougl it must necessarily come and nothing ecu Id prevent it. LARGE IfORC.ES STILL. Franco and Italy still consider tin maintenance of large armies to he r. national necessity. Russia also continues to keep up powerful military forces. Germany is fretting at what she eonsders to he her defenceless position. The United States, influenced by Imperialistic tendencies, apparently means, whatever happens, to go on increasing her navy and her official utterances on the question of armaments not infrequently hear a close resent - / lance to those claims that we have sc accustomed to hear made by Germany previous to the tragedy of 1914-1918. The Uni tod States may be fully entitled to take her own course, without care or thought for the interests and opinions of other States, 'hut it is, nevertheless, disquieting to reflect- that she cannot attach much importance either to the League of Nations or to the Kellogg Pact, or she would not he so anxious a-bout her naval position. COUNTING HEADS NO TEST. Real progress in the limitation of armaments will not. I suggest, ever he- materially assisted hv mat horn at i ■ cal calculations regarding the difleient classes of armament, or bv the counting of heads, ships, and aeroplanes. The military effectives of one country may he more numerous than those of another, while the latter may he much more efficiently armed. Tin question calls for treatment of quite a different kind. A long and bitter experience shows that lasting peace will never he ensured either by the preponderance of force or by a balance of power. Only by the infusion of a more generous. Irani; and trustful spirit into t|.» ■-nuduct of international affairs will the world be saved from drifting into another war. Viscount Cecil, who presided, said: It docs seems deplorable at such a difficult time to sacrifice every year unwards of £100.000.™. We slic'd think a country insane il, in it time of great- difficulty, it sank 100,000.009 golden sovereigns in the sea. Solely from iin economic point ol view it is hardly less harmful to sink I hose millions into the sea than to spend them on armaments.