AERIAL ARMAMENTS AGITATORS

Maoriland Worker, Volume 13, Issue 31, 1 August 1923, Page 15

AERIAL ARMAMENTS AGITATORS

H. €, Weils Says They Are "Out for Plunder " "Some -people cannot see fartfitu than their" hoses," said Mr. H. G. Wells, the famous novelist, when interviewed hy a "Daily Herald" representative recently on the policy of the Air -League of the British Empire, of which he is a Council member, "and are incapable' of disregarding fetishes and prejudices of another age. ■' ' ' • .-'.,...- . '■..,

"Some of these dear gentlemen ai'e under tho impression; as you quote in your issue of May 28, that 'the only way to avoid air raids is to be strong in the air.'

"That is an absurd contention. • However strong and however powerful in the air a nation may be, it cannot prevent the aeroplanes of a rival country penetrating its defenses. "I speak not now as a novelist,, but as a practical man, and in the war of the future one bomb will wipe out inhabitants of a small town, and a rain of bombs will destroy every ifving thing in a large city. "When that stage is reached the profession of arms will be reduced to absurdity. No one, neither the combatants nor non-combatants, will survive, and, for all we can tell, civilisation may end in dust and smoke. "To arm. therefore, In -such a fashion is not to defend this country from attack by air, for the country is virtually indefensible. All we can do is to retaliate and wipe out our enemies and do to them what they can do to

us. _ -'■.■'- "l believe," he said, speaking of the Air League, "that in the main theyare a lot of commercial people purely out for plunder, and though the. Air League cannot be called a parallel to the Navy League, it savours very much of a ring of interested persons gathered -together to induce the Government to embark on a vast and expensive air policy. -•'-■'' ."•' - "I do believe, however, and believe most whole-heartedly, in research in all matters connected with aviation, for aviation is the coming transport of the future, and a tremendous advance in air travel is as inevitable as the coming of the new year after the decline of the old. "I object," he concluded, "to interested manufacturers attempting to stampede the Government to place large orders for aeroplanes and aeroplane parts in the hands of private firms. "They are, in most cases, inefficient, and I can see no hope for any real development of civil aviation until aircraft manufacture is placed under national control."