Humanity. No reliable statistics that we can get show that gas in any way causes tuberculosis any more than a severe attack of bronchitis or pneumonia causes tuberculosis. Since its principal effects are upon the lungs and, therefore, hidden from sight, every impostor is beginning to claim gassing as the reason for his wanting War Risk benefits from the Government. We do not claim there may not be some who are suffering permanent injuries from gas, and we are trying very hard to find out from the manufacturers of poisonous gases and allied chemicals if they have any authentic records of such cases. So far the results indicate that permanent after-effects are very rare.
As to non-combatants, certainly we do not contemplate using poisonous gas against them, no more at least than we propose to use high explosives in long-range guns or aeroplanes against them. The use of the one against non-combatants is just as damnable as the other and it is just as easy to refrain from using one as the other.
Gas Cannot be Abolished. As to the abandonment of poison gas, it must be remembered that no powerful weapon of war has ever been abandoned once it proved its power unless a more powerful weapon was discovered. Poisonous gas in the World War proved to be one of the most powerful of all weapons of war. For that reason alone it will never be abandoned. It cannot be stopped by agreement, because if you can stop the use of any one powerful weapon of war by agreement you can stop all war by agreement. To prepare to use it only in case it is used against you is on the same plane as an order that was once upon a time issued to troops in the Philippine Islands. That order stated in substance that no officer or soldier should shoot a savage Moro, even were he approaching the said officer or soldier with drawn kriss (sword), unless actually first struck by such savage. Every officer preferred, if necessary, to face a court-martial for disobedience of such an order rather than allow a savage Moro with a drawn kriss to get anywhere near, let alone wait until actually struck.
Let the world know that we propose to use gas against all troops that may be engaged against us, and that we propose to use it to the fullest extent of our ability. We believe that such a proposition will do more to head off war than all the peace propaganda since time began. It has been said that we should not use gas against those not equipped with gas. Then why did we use repeating rifles and machine guns against Negritos and Moros armed only with bows and arrows or poor muskets and knives. Let us apply the same common sense to the use of gas that we apply to all other weapons of war.
Effect on World War Tactics. A very brief study of the effects of chemical warfare materials on the strategy of the World War will indicate its future. It began with clouds of chlorine let loose from heavy cylinders buried under the firing trench. These took a long time to install and then a wait, sometimes long, sometimes brief, for a favorable wind, but even at that these cloud gas attacks created a new method of fighting and forced new methods of protection. Gas at once added a tremendous burden to supply in the field, to manufacture, and to transportation, and in a short time even made some decided changes in the tactics of the battle field itself.
Cloud Gas. The fact that the gas cloud looked like smoke is responsible for the name “cloud gas.” Really all gases are nearly or wholly invisible, but those which volatilize suddenly from the liquid state so cool the air as to cause clouds of condensed water vapor. The cloud obscured everything behind and in front of it. It led the German to put off fake smoke clouds and attack through them, thus taking the British at a tremendous disadvantage. Then and there began a realization of the value of smoke. Cloud gas was also the real cause of the highly organized raid that became common in every army during the World War. The real purpose in the first raids, carried out by means of the box barrage, was to find out whether or not gas cylinders were being installed in trenches.
These raids finally became responsible, in a large measure, for driving the old cloud gas off the field of battle. It did not, however, stop the British from putting off cloud gas attacks in 1918 by installing their gas cylinders on their light railway cars and then letting the gas loose from the cylinders while still on the cars. This enabled them to move their materials to the front and put off gas attacks on a few hours’ notice when the wind was right.
Toxic Smoke Candles. To-day we have poisonous smokes that exist in solid form and that are perfectly safe to handle until a fuse is lighted. The so-called candles will be light enough so that one man can carry them. With these, cloud gas can be put off on an hour’s notice when wind and weather conditions are right, no matter how fast the army may be moving and whether on the advance or in retreat. Cloud gas will usually be put off at night because the cloud cannot be seen, because then men are tired and sleepy, and all but the most highly trained become panicky. Under those conditions the greatest casualties result. The steadiness of wind currents also aids cloud gas attacks at night.
Value of Training in Peace. And this brings up the value of training in peace. We are frequently asked, “Why do you need training with masks in peace; why do you need training with actual gas in peace; cannot these things be taught on short notice in war?” The answer is, “No!” Nothing will take the place of training in peace.
All of us recall that early in the war the Germans spread broadcast charges that the Allies were using unfair and inhumane methods of fighting because they brought the Ghurka with his terrible knife from Asia and the Moroccan from Africa. And we all know that after a time the Germans ceased saying anything about these troops. What was the cause? They were not efficient. Just as the Negro will follow a white officer over the top in daylight and fight with as much energy and courage and many times as much efficiency as the white man, he cannot stand the terrors of the night, and the same was true of the Ghurka and the Moroccan.