Judge — June 1937 — page 20: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

JUDGE ON THE BENCH Spain: Military Experts’ Holiday NOrHING could be happier than the state of a military expert in these days of the great curtain-raiser in Spain. From their upholstered offices in the capitols of the world, the effects of military science can be observed at close range. When German and Italian fliers destroy the unprotected town of Guer- nica, the gentlemen with epaulets may have a twinge of sympathy but what they are essentially concerned with is the technique of murder as applied to civilian populations. By working at the matter scientifically they have established that it is possible for a combination of pur- suit planes, Bombing planes and raiding places not only to bring a city to ruins ut to annihilate the populations either by machine-gunning individuals as they seek to escape or by burying them in their homes or by burning their roofs over their heads. As is so often the case in even the most perfect of theories, there has been a conflict in the minds of the military geniuses. They have wanted to believe that their new inventions of massacre are a complete success and Guernica seems to bear them out. But in proving their case so completely, they have defeated another campaign which was endeavor- ing to prove that the next war would not be as horrible as pacifistic fanatics would have one believe. At frequent intervals it was pointed out that although it would be necessary to have a thousand more bombing planes if the country were to be safe, it had been proved conclusively that bombing planes were of little value in a war as compared with the old-fash. ioned infantryman. By some magic, this was supposed to make all citizens feel happier and more ready to support any future military appropriation the experts might possibly conceive. WEN the rebel battleship Espana was sunk by the loyalist planes, the confusion became even greater. The experts didn’t know whether to cheer or view with alarm. It was pointed out im- mediately that the Espana was an obso- lete ship and not a fair test. Just to make sure, therefore, it would be necessary to have a dozen more battleships, bigger and better, and a million more bombing planes, bigger and better. With this we would be safe, protected no matter what happened. It was pointed out also that the Spanish war had not been a conclu- sive test of the value of air armaments. The planes after all could not capture advantage points. All they could do was destroy the civilian populations, harass the enemy forces and create murderous havoc. It was still necessary for the foot soldiers to walk in and consolidate the gains. But there will doubtless be further op- portunity for observing the effects of organized murder as the Spanish war continues. In Ethiopia it was discovered that the use of gas on native soldiers vroved some excellent points. Gas has =, Sgt Sr Ce so far not been used on the Iberian Penin- sula but there must be eager men in many war ministries anxious to see its effect upon city populations. It is asking a great deal of men who have labored loyally for years over test tubes in labora- tories not to have their work appreciated. Bree these words can see print, the experiment may have been made and an ideal situation would be Bilboa, where the population had its choice of facing death from the artillery of the Italians and Germans or of leaping into the Bay of Biscay. Hemmed in as they are, they should be ideal guinea pigs for a laboratory test. It will be possible to determine how long a child can remain alive without a gas mask and with no protection other than the folds of its mother's skirt. The care which attends the data-taking during an eclipse of the sun can go into this great scientific work. It will undoubt- edly be found that there are gases which are tardy or laggard in their action. In. stead of killing, they merely strangle— and at too leisurely a pace. There will be others which kill so quickly as to be annoying to invaders, piling up bodies wherever they may be found and ob- structing free passage into a captured city. There will be problems to be worked out; but just as Guernica will be an ob- ject lesson for the next World War, it will be necessary to have a working chart of all forms of destruction. In many ways Spain has been a fortunate thing. —KS.C. Judge comicbooks.com