The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 1930. THE AIR MENACE.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 April 1930, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 1930. THE AIR MENACE.

Although such a considerable amount of time lias been sent in attempting to limit naval armaments, largely for reasons of economy, there appears to be no attempt, says an exchange, to pla-e restrictions on the size and activities of air fleets. The object of war is to inconvenience the civil population of an enemy Power to such an extent that it will sue for peace. In the past, the achievement of this object lias depended on the success of military or naval forces, hut the same result could he accomplished more rapidly by tile use of aircraft. The modern tendency is to attain greater mobility of fighting forces, ns is evidenced in Great Britain’s mechanised armies and in Italy’s latest high-speed cruisers The aeroplane is the most mobile of all, and this to such a degree that it is enabled to strike directly at the civilian population of a country. The high pitch of efficiency to which the aeroplane has been brought was revealed by the recent flight from the south of Knglam! to Scotland ol a squadron controlled entirely by wireless. It is difficult to imagine the terrific destructive power of such a fleet of pilotless [ilanes, each carrying a load of death-dealing high explosive on chemicals, and an attach' of this nature would surpass all the known horrors of war. Little would it avail to bring down these planes for it is obviously

not very material whether their cargo iof death is precipitated earthwards with or without them. The Joss of the I craft themselves would be of small muI merit, for hundreds, if not thousands, ! of them could be produced in a shorter time and for the same expenditure us | a modern battleship costing £7,000,600. A re.ent report concerning the activities of the Royal'Air.Force in England states that the defences by which London was protected during experimental, but nevertheless intense, air raids wore practically impenetrable. This is admittedly something of an •achievement, but there seems to be no ground for assuming that this system of defence affords similar protection 10 other cities or to vulnerable points such as lines of communication. It would seem almost impossible to devise a system which would protect the whole of Great Britain from an aena> attack, hurtling westward from the Continent perhaps, at a speed of 2CO miles per hour, for, in addition to tiie important element of time, the queslions of visibility and uncertainty of (.he point of attack must play a prominent part. In this connection, it is obvious that isolated points such-as the Suez Canal would afford easy targets for sudden air attacks. A further menace lies, in the ease with which commercial planes can be converted into war ma bines. Countries in which civil aviation has made great strides through being subsidised would therefore, in the event of hostilities, have a considerable advantage over those in which aviation has hot been so fostered The problem as to how limitation of air power can he brought about is certainly a difficult one, but, as it seems to be recognised generally that, no civilisation or social system could withstand aerial warfare, it is one of paramount importance, not merely from the point of view of economy, but also in the interests of humanity. One of the biggest of the problems that lie ahead, said Britain’s Secretary for Air only a few days ago, is “air disarmament*”