Page:"The next war"; an appeal to common sense (IA thenextwarappeal01irwi).pdf/138

 of the new poison gas that it sterilizes—not only kills cells but prevents the growth of cells. Concerning one successor of Lewisite gas an expert has said: “You burst a container carrying a minute quantity of the substance which makes the gas, at the foot of a tree. You do not see the fumes rise; it is invisible. But within a few seconds you see the leaves begin to shrivel. While we are not quite certain, we estimate that land on which this gas has fallen will grow nothing for about seven years.” In the next war,—unless we discover meantime some still more effective method of killing—clouds of such gas will sweep over hundreds of square miles, not only eliminating all unprotected life, animal and vegetable, but sterilizing the soil—“for about seven years.” What were farms, orchards and gardens will become in a breath deserts. The power of its soil to produce food is the first, vital item in the wealth of nations. It would seem that this increased loss of productive land should at least balance the decreased loss in buildings.

So modern warfare, in its economic aspect, follows the same rule as in its human aspect. Now that we have renounced all pretty rules of chivalry, now that we have put brains into the business, its destructiveness ever increases. There, perhaps, lies the best chance of eliminating it from the world. The desire to create and to conserve wealth is deeply implanted in the bosom of man. Why not? The two primary forces by which a species lives are the