they were captured.

The extensive use of poison gas in warfare by all the belligerents is a
vindication of the American protest at the Hague Conference against its
prohibition. At the First Conference of 1899 Captain Mahan argued very
sensibly that gas shells were no worse than other projectiles and might
indeed prove more merciful and that it was illogical to prohibit a
weapon merely because of its novelty. The British delegates voted with
the Americans in opposition to the clause "the contracting parties agree
to abstain from the use of projectiles the sole object of which is the
diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases." But both Great Britain
and Germany later agreed to the provision. The use of poison gas by
Germany without warning was therefore an act of treachery and a
violation of her pledge, but the United States has consistently refused
to bind herself to any such restriction. The facts reported by General
Amos A. Fries, in command of the overseas branch of the American
Chemical Warfare Service, give ample support to the American contention
at The Hague:

Out of 1000 gas casualties there are from 30 to 40 fatalities,
while out of 1000 high explosive casualties the number of
fatalities run from 200 to 250. While exact figures are as yet
not available concerning the men permanently crippled or
blinded by high explosives one has only to witness the
debarkation of a shipload of troops to be convinced that the
number is very large. On the other hand there is, so far as
known at present, not a single case of permanent disability or
blindness among our troops due to gas and this in face of the
fact that the Germans used relatively large quantities of this
material.

In the light of these facts the prejudice against the use of
gas must gradually give way; for the statement made to the
effect that its use is contrary to the principles of humanity
will apply with far greater force to the use of high
explosives. As a matter of fact, for certain purposes toxic gas
is an ideal agent. For example, it is difficult to imagine any
agent more effective or more humane that may be used to render
an opposing battery ineffective or to protect retreating
troops.

Captain Mahan's argument at The Hague against the proposed prohibition
of poison gas is so cogent and well expressed that it has been quoted in
treatises on inte