Making War Too Terrible

Maybe war will destroy itself by becoming so dangerous and destructive that no nation will dare the undertaking. Reports emanating from chemical and other laboratories are to the effect that means of destruction have been developed of such type as to end a war in a day, with terrible casualties, the victory depending upon the suddenness of the attack.

Rudolph Hess, Hitler's friend, in his speech the other day, when appealing to France for an understanding, put forth the reminder that modern war methods may have entered the obsolescent stage, implying the thought that all the preparations France has made for war along former lines may be of no use.

This making of war impossible by its mere destructiveness is suggested anew by a statement issued the other day by Nikola Tesla, the famous inventor, who said that he had invented a device that would project a death beam of sufficient intensity to bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy airplanes 250 miles away and cause armies of millions to fall dead In their track. Nor would the victims of this powerful beam know what hit them.

Now the prediction of Tesla may not he taken literally. Possibly his invention wilt do just what he claims for it. But there is no doubting the fact that weapons and means are being developed that will make war too terrible and destructive for any nation to consider it an agency for the arbitrament of disputes. It would seem that the fear that some nation may have possession of an invention such as the Tesla death beam contrivance would cause all nations to hesitate about going to war in the future. But human passions, once aroused, are difficult to manage. They upset reason and lead often to tragic folly.