Chief of the Imperial General Staff, in an introduction to a forthcoming book by Major Victor Lefebure, entitled "The Riddle of the Rhine: Chemical Strategy in Peace and War," utters a warning concerning this country's attitude to the use of poison gas in warfare. It will be recalled that Sir Edward Thorpe, in his presidential address to the British Association recently, denounced the ''continued degradation of science" in furthering the possibilities of chemical warfare.
The whole subject of chemical warfare (Sir Henry writes) is at present sub judice, and there is great danger that the future safety of this country may be jeopardised by the almost universal ignorance of the peculiarities and potentialities of this class of warfare. Recent publications in the Press have shown a tendency to deal with the subject on purely' sentimental grounds, and attempts have been made to declare this form of warfare illegitimate without full and careful consideration of all the facts and their significance for the future.
Major Lefebure has therefore attempted in this book to make it quite clear that no convention, guarantee, or disarmament safeguard will prevent an unscrupulous enemy from employing poison gas, especially if that enemy has discovered some new powerful agent! or possesses, as Germany does in her well-organised and strong chemical industry, a ready means for producing such chemicals in bulk at practically a moment's notice; further, that the safety of this country makes it imperative that the study} and investigation of the subject should be continued, and that our chemical industry should be developed, so that when an emergency arises we may have the necessary! facilities for supply ready to hand.
It is not for me to express any opinion here either as to the desirability of using gas as a Weapon or as to the possibility of preventing an enemy from using it. But I am convinced that a decision come to without full knowledge of the facts may involve grave danger and heavy preventable loss of life.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.