TOPICS of the DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 121, 22 May 1909, Page 11

TOPICS of the DAY.

(Front Our Special Correspondents iLONTX>y, April ! THE CASE FOR THE ADMIRALTY. Sir John Kshcr is not concerned defe-na himself against his newspa critics, but he lias some vigorous chi pious speaking in his behalf. TheTe Dr. Macnamara, for example, who been Parliamentary Secretary to Admiralty for the past twelve monl He gives it as hisi deliberate judgm that "it would b« very difficult to vise a system of administrative org isation which: vroulS give the coun' prompter and sounder dispatcli of p , lie business." He goes furflief, and s: it -would be very difficult indeed get together a body of men who coi work harder, in more complete h; mony, or with greater devotion to 1 great charge entrusted to them th did the men at the Admiralty. '. points out that in July last the Ada alty mobilised and sent to sea to « gage In war tactics 'within a. few hon 268 warships—one of the most ranai able pieces of organisation ever plat to the credit of the naval administi tion. Another evidence of efficiency the wonderful progress made in gu nery during the last few years. As ; gards gun-layers' tests, it is sufficie to point out that in 1904 there we 1900 more misses than hits, while ISO 7 there -were 5000 more hits thi misses. As for the personnel of t navy, Great Britain has 125,000 office and men, practically all long servji Germany has against that a personn of 54,000 short service. Dr. Macnamaadmit3 that the English public ore c titled to be concerned about the nay for if the white ensign were ever haul< down we might as well put up our ehu ters. "But." he adds, "those who te the public that the navy of to-day is Tit easily ahead of its own standard f( very many years past, either do n< know or will not face the facts." Whlie the controversy has been ra; ing furiously romi3 the "Dreadnought programmes of England and German; the former"a magnificent preponderan< in ships of the pre-Dreadnought type 1c been either ignored or dismissed as ti longer material to the issue. Perhar in the circumstances a little technic£ information supplied by one of the At signers of the I>readnouglnt type wi not be amiss. Professor Biles, LL.D who was a member of thfi Admiralt Committee of Designers which evolve the I>readnought, has been explainin the difference between that type and th previous best. The Russo-Japanese wa showed the dominating power of th biggest pun—that is, the 12 Inch. S' instead of four 12in. guns the Dread nought was designed to carry ten —on pair at each end, as in the other battle ships, and three pairs in between, these The Dreadnoughts am able to fire eigh guns with each broadside, and cix gum when going ahead or astern. The oldc type carries four lOiru gnns, which the; fan fire on each broadside. If flrinj ahead or astern they can use two at s timn. Tho Dreadnought is therefore 1 considerable advance in J2in. gun power But while that is so, says the Pro fessor, we must not suppose that oui nre-Dreadnought ships are ships thai :an be despised. They carry our flag md they constitute the proudest anc itrongest fleet the world haa ever seen. Co-day they are quite able to take care )f our interests; and even if some conn■Tγ possesses many more Dreadnonghts ;han we possess and would beat out >e.adnoughts, those ships would still iold the seas. And even if our Dreadloughts were beaten the enemy would jet such a mauling in, doing it that they vonJd have, to lower their flag- to the leet that at present carries the flag for is. "

SIR JOHN riSHER aifD HIS CRITICS. In ihf recent agitation for more - T>readnoughts" the Government has been the target for the rrties' shafts, but now there are indications of anotheT determined attack upon thp Admiralty itself, and more especial h upon its head, Sir John Fisher, the First Sea Lord. The "Times" has published in the course of the la-st few days two long articles on "The Case Against The Admiralty," by an -anonymoua critic. Sir .George Arm-

~ strong, a retired naval officer, now f , journalist, made public on Saturday si revelations with regard to alleged esp ag-e in the Navy, aod read a prin copy, marked "private and secre-t," c letter of a. junior offieier criticising superiors—a letter which the Adtnirr is said to have circulated throughout Navy. A day or two' later Mr. Oirl Bellairs, M.P., another retired na officer, published a number of alleged stances of officers being punished by *° Admiralty for venturing to report XT versely on details of organisation. m - George Armstrong denounces Sir j< is Fisher, ■whereas Mr. Bellairs extends condemnation to the whole Admira as Board. he The "Tunes" eiriUo chaTges Sir j< bs- Fisher with abandoning or mutilnt nt Lord Selborne'a scheme of naval edn Ie- tion in far too hasty a manner. 1 decision that specialisation in engineer: shall in future be only temporary T most young naval officers assigned b- that branch is*characterised as invohy S enormous risks. The Firsfj Sea Lord, to acting as chairman of the committees ( pointed privately to report on schen m organised by him, has, it is declared, ma r " approval a foregone conclusion, and c< ie sideration of the schemes by the Boa J n a pure formality. "Restlessness, freque le alterations, contradictory statements intention, have marked recent arran; n " ments and rearrangements of Briti 3 » fleets." Nulceus-crew ships have not bo maintained in a state of full efficien< '•" necessary repairs having been postpoiw *" The "scrapping" policy of 1904-5, Und 13 which no fewer than 150 ships we *■ struck off the effective list ac being "n *~ only uselese, but worse than useless time of war," is severely criticised. is declared that a large proportion n these ships would even now be of servi n if they had not been "sorapped," ai c that in consequence of this policy, and t: s failure to build new vessels, the Nai '" has become dangerously weak in armon ed cruisers. The withdrawal of so mai a British warships from foreign stations, [ ~ is further asserted, has resulted in injui ' to our prestige and our national interest Finally, Sir John Fisher's policy of v ' troduodng the "Dreadnought" type hi compelled an entire reconstruction of oi Navy. Such, are the main features < . the criticism directed against the Fin c Sea Lord. Mr. Bellairs' "revplatSons" are sti > more sensational. After etating that : was not Admiralty organisation but pr ; vate individuals who made tho Goven , menfc aware of what was going on i , Germany, he proceeds to gtve alleged ii , stances of the punishment of officers wh [ have "ventured" to disturb the unctuou . self-satisfaction of the Board by drawin [ attention to defects in the make-believ pictures which tho Admiralty placed b< '■ fore the public." Says Mr. Bellairß:----"A young captain dared to sign . minority report to the commltce on th , personnel to the effect that €he polir . would lead to Ihe abolition of th marines. No one is surprised that afte only three months* service at the Ad miralty he was exiled to the Far East The only reports tolerated from corn mittees are the reports to order extollin; Admiralty policy. The Director of Nava Intelligence reported that the absenc of proper war plans jeopardised tin safety of the country. He was imme diately exiled to the East Indies. "The- late Admiral Montgomerie, on r false answer in Parliament, officially re ported that 40 per cent of his torped< flotilla wore in need of repairs. He was immediately deprived of the bulk of his command. A distinguished captain wh( ventured to send in his experience of the demoralisation of the nucleus crew system was immediately ordered to confine himself to his ship and given the opportunity of withdrawing his report, whinh he did. Lord Charles Bereaford, as the distinguished Admiralissimo of our forces in war, points out to this Admiralty, after the experience of the naval manoeuvres, exactly what his prospective fleet's shortcomings are as compared with Germany, and is thereupon informed that though the usual term of a Commajider-in-Chief is three years, he is to come on shore at the end of two years. "These instances can be extended, and in the aggregate they constitute such a horrible state of affairs as to make an inquiry into Admiralty administration an imperative necessity in order to bring about reform." To all these attacks Sr John Fisher maintains an unmoved front. He is one of those strong men who can hold their peace and go on with their work, however bitterly they are assailed. In all the recent uproar about the Navy he has not uttered a single word. He has faith in himself and in the Navy, and he. has the confidence of the Cabinet, of the majority of the House, and of the people at _.

a. "WHERE ARE ENGLAND'S 110 AIRSHIPS ? ■n:d ~ a The British, public is beginning t us awaken to the fact that in the conques ty of the air Great Britain is being left be tie hind. This week saw the first evidenci Dn of public activity on this question, in tb al shape of a meeting at the Mansion Housi n " under the auspices of the Aerial Leagui ie of the British Empire—a league whict d- aims at securing for the Empire the eam< « supremacy in the air as it now enjO3 r i in on the sea. Among those on the platforrr 18 were Admiral Sir Pevy Scott, Sir Hiran "7 Maxim, Colonel Cody,'Sir William Preece and the High Commissioner for New Zeain land. The speeches that were made anc ipr the letters that were read all laid stress 1- on the backwardness of England in re ie gard to aviation, and English ig apathy with the spirit of progress showr >r and the results achieved by other nations 0 in this new science, g For aviation is now a practical science n and supremacy will rest with the nation >• which, is the first to master it. Last « year, when Count Zeppelin's first airship c was wrecked, the German people subl- scribed £275.000 in a few weeks to red build the ship, and to that sum the Ger- £ man Government added £24,000. The ■t spirit shown by the Germans is an ob- '- ject-lesson to slow-moving England. Last h week the Zeppelin airship not only rode a out a gale in safety, but completed a ', journey of 250 miles. Presently Germany ■• will have a fleet of airships capable of r equalling, and perhaps excelling, this 3 performance, while England has only one t small airship of obsolete type, and is 1 spending a few thousands on elementary t experiments where Germany is spending f hundreds of thousands in building an 1 aerial fleet. Every voyage that the Zepl pelin airship makes adds to the Germans , S knowledge of the air, and puts tnem fur- ' ther ahead of the English. It is the same with aeroplanes. While [ foreign competitors are spending money ; on machines and gaining invaluable experience, no prizes have been offered to enable the British inventors to set to work. The solitary army aeroplane is a i hopeless machine, which merely excites ' ridicule, and even It has not had a fair chance through lack of funds. Yet the only defence against flying machines will be to meet them with flying machines, and when other countries are building them England cannot afford to lag behind. Admiral Scott told the Mansion House meeting that he had designed a gun which would "play old Harry" with airships within a distance of COOOft; but he was careful to point out that airships would make, their attacks in the darkness, and he had yet to meet the person who could tell him how to hit an object you cannot see. If airships are to be a menace to the navy and the cittes and arsenals of England, they will have to be met by airships. Scientists are amazed at the advance that, has been made in aerial navigation during the last year or so. No one anticipated such extraordinary progress in so short a time. At the present rate or progress, says Sir Hiram Maxim, we shall certainly have machines within a. few years that will travel at the rate ot 60 miles on hour and be able to carry a load of 15001b. If will therefore be seen that a perfectly unique, system of warfarn ia at hand. It hnn come, whether we like it or not, and it Is a problem that has in be faced. Of this there can be no question. We have, in fact, arrived at the beginning of a totally new ppop.h in warfare j the chango* which are Downd 1 to take place will be quite as great as the changes wrought by the discovery of gunpowder, and on account of th« facility of manu- j faeture, the change -will be much more rapid. In Sir Hiram Maxim's opinion, , however, the advent of the flying machine , will have a strong tendency to do away j altogether with warfare between the j highly-oivilised nations. But that Iβ a ( problem for the future.

EASTER IN ENGLAND. The great Easter exodus from London is (beginning in glorious sunshine, and promises to foe. the biggest on record. After a long and rather miserable winter, the Londoners have gladly seized this opportunity of a fair-weather holiday week-end, and Good' Friday will find thousands of them scattered throughout the length and 'breadth of the kingdom. The "bookings for Paris are very numerous, and an extraordinary number of people are going ac far as Rome, whither you can go from Londoa for £4 at Easter. Doubtless the ceremonies connected with the Beatification of Joan of Arc are the special attraction in the r Eternal .City, (There are. no* aneay

signs of an influx of foreigners Xo Lo don for the Easter holidays. .None the Continental peoples travel so mu< as the English. The French in partic i lar are great stay-at-homes. 'Feeling, ; t they do, that France is the only count: - worth living in, they have but little cvi osity regarding othera. Besides, when Frenchman goes on holiday he likes : take the whole family along with him ai consequently cannot afford to go fu ther than the nearest watering-place t his own coast. In London aloufc 100,000 shop assia ants will enjoy four d-ays' rest fro their labours at Easter, and, as tl majority of them come from the pro incee, they will take the oppertunit to revisit their homes, muck to tl joy of the railway companies. Railwa fares in this country become astonisl ingly cheap at holiday time, and lor jcurnoys to the provinces or the coas' are brought within the range of all b\ the poorest purees. Consequently tt habit of spending the Easter holiday far froni London is growing repidl every year. It is this change -of haibit, no doufo which accounts for the decline and di; continuance of many quaint old cv; toms at one time peculiar to Easter i the City of London. Xearly the la« eurvivaj is the "ceremony of sixpences, in the Churchyard of St. Bartholomei the Great, on the morning of Goo. iViday. .From an early period, it ha been the ha.bit of the churchwardens o: this day, after n sermon by the reetoi to place 21 new sixpences on the reputei temb of a former benefactor of th. church, Sir John Hayward. They ar picked up 'by 21 widows—choeen be fore for the privilege—each of whon kneel-3 to obtain possession of the coin and receives a hot cross bun on rising and is then ceremoniously assisted t< walk across the low tonrbrtone. In. re cent years each eixpence has foeen sup plemenr.ed by a half-crown, as the gift of the churchwardens. "* The ancient ceremony nseoeiated witl Holy Thursday—the washing of the feel of poor persons—though still carried >ut in the Roman and Greek churches has not been known to 'English Churchmen since the days of James 11. But "Maunday money"* is still distributed in Westminster Abbey on this day. There is an elaborate procession through the nave to the choir, in which the Yeoman of the Guard and the officials of the King's Almonary are prominent figures. A git dish containing the alms is placed on a taJble in front of the Sacrarium, and at a pause in the service the distribution is made by the. Dean, as Lord High Almoner, assisted by the cub-almoner (Cnnon Sheppard)' and others. The recipient? this year will number 68 of each s px—corresponding ■to the years, of the King's age. The gifts are now wholly of money.

THE NEW WHITE CITY. /About the middle of May the '"White City" at Shepherd's Bush' will re-open its gates as an International Exhibition. The building and colour scheme will be the same as last summer. The great difference between the old and the new exhibition will lie in the contents of the buildings, and where last year there were to be seen but the labours of "two countries, this year theTe will be exhibits from many parts of Europe and from the United "states. Some very large and important exhibits are coming from ItaJy and Portugal. Prominent among the more important features will be a large representative show of balloons and airships, and a great Health Resorts Exhibition, in which the various health resorts included in the programme will show in a panoramio manner, each picture being set in a frame and occupying from about ten to twelve feet equare. All of the side shows—which had much to do with the popularity of the first exhibition—will be retained, and new ones -will'be added. In addition to the Irish villa.gp, there will be a Scotch village, and the Scenic Railway will have a duplicate on the northern side of the grounds. Another new side-show—of the Johnstown flood type—will be the Meseina earthquake. The grounds this year will contain Portuguese and Italian ga/tdens, and it is expected they will form quite a distinctive feature. Tram-lines are being constructed all round the grounds, and it will be possible to make a complete tour for a fare of twopence or threepence. The musical programme will be. considerably larger, and in addition to the best British military bands there will be instruments from Italy» Germany, and other, couirfcriee, ■ '