BERESFORD-SCOTT INCIDENT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 80, 28 December 1907, Page 12

BERESFORD-SCOTT INCIDENT.

The Naval correspondent of tho "Standard,", referring to the above now well-known sensation, writes as. follows: — '.''ln, naval circloo at Portsmouth, interest in , tho, German visit is Entirely eclipsed by the Beresford-Scott . incident. Never beforo liavo I known tho Navy so uniformly excited, and it is lifctJo'J. wonder, for the incident,is unique, and on every hand one hears tho s-amo,remark: "Thero must be more bohind all this than, appears;" ■: A fow .additional facts may,: therefore, lxs ; of inteost. Tho, reading of tho oonsuro to Sir Porcy Scott. sopms 'Jo havo been most'impressive. Sir Percy', was ordered . to. roport himself. on board the" Kill" Edward VII. in frock coat and sword.: /Hero hp found Admirals Foley and . Custanco'y as well as ' Lord Charies Borosford, together,with thoir staffs. Tho staffs ,werp. ordered to. fall back out of earshot, and they lined around the aft - 12in. turret. Tho three admirals alone walked slowly right' aft to tbo -ensign staff and stood .thero;.\:..Bofdro t-hom stood Sir Percy Scott'at'attention.' .;, A dead hush. Ml .over tho. spectators.;.. Lord Charles Beresford produced a', paper.'' His voice , could just faintly, bo, hoard above tho lap of tho waves 'against,the ship's, sido. - Tho wards could nob bo distinguished,' but it was tho famous general signal that was being read to Sir Percy Scott. In tho Channel Floot thoy will havo nono of : tho * theory .that■ in making tho "paint" signal nothing particular; was- meant. ■ It is roundly 'asserted that 'whenever anything has been arranged to be done, Sir Percy Scott has invariably - put' in requests to be oJlowod to practioo gunnery';- "They wero purposely put in at wrong times,"; officers of the.Channel Fleet will tell you, "Tho object was to get ■ tho refusal-rnot to obtain the practice,!. said, another bluntly. "Of course,'ho;was nut up' to.it," said a third; jnoro bluntly -still. - - ; -'■ .■■■' ', •• Tho famous message to tho Roxburgh, ono and : all .; say;: was .merely thej climax! to a series.' ''Attempts," said ono, officer, "are now boing made to pass it 1 ofFas a'mero statement of fact. - That is rubbish. Had that been so this expression "'appears' would not havo'-boen.' usoa. : - Every, ono knew what 'paintwork appears to be more-import-ant than gunnery' was intended to convoy. It was a cheap sneer; at Lord Charles liorosford." ' ■' \ ■'■It' remains to add that the matter has boon reported 1 to . tho Admiralty, and with tho Admiralty, now rests tho' decision as, to whether. Sir Percy's flag'is hauled dpwn or not. The Channel.Fleet, rightly or wrongly, considers that Sir Percy Scott was . attacking his superior officer. • In holding this view, it'tends to attribute to Sir Percy an intention that may never have beep his. Dozens of officers roundly assert, that- -tho .incident will bo used against Lord Charles if his enemies'. see a'' quarter of . a chance.' Ho would bo .a brave: man who went on board .any' Channel 'Fleet'.ship to-day, either forward or aft; and even somuch as whispered criticism ,bf Lord, Charles Beresford's action. "Ho is'; the. Commander-in-Chief, and ", ' .Tjiis''attitude'is;' in /a way, remarkable, in that,"so far, no oritdcism' of Lord Charles BoresfordV action -has been- published. ■WI pointed'.that. out. '"Possibly not, yot," returned f.iny; .iofonnantj'.i' 'but unless . some of the newspapera put-'in plain facts, it will." So I havo given the facts as plainly as I heard them, aid without comment. ,■; GERMAN NAVAL SKILL. ,/,. .. When, sovon .years, ago, tho -Kaiser last came,to Spithead the handling, of the Kaiser Kriedrich excited considerabTo naval comment. The same lesson,' for,, those who.; cared.to bravo tho fog to see it,:, fras to bo read-'to-day. Tho Hohenzollom passed from Castlo to Clarence Pier at,a very high speed, indeocj, considering tho fog, in circumstances requiring much nautical skill. Right .under her counter, not' more than a dozen feet ; .away,- , hung ' tho destroyer Sleipner, keeping absolutely,' oxact,,station. In a sense, of-oourso,; this was'a snow performance, ! but' at. a .tamo when, in order:. to justify our .nayal' economies, evefy effort is mado in certain quarters to decry Gorman liaval, efficiency, this incident is trell worth attention. • , ,\Vith'. : one oxoeption—duo to ..tho . tricky tidos in Portsmouth ' Harbour—Germans havo .nover .been over'hero without oxhibiting_ most ■ romarkablo ability in handling their .ships. In view. of the singularly optimistic speect of Admiral Fisher at tho Guildhall, it is just as woll to romombtt that thorp is another navy .whoso heads do' not spend their, timo in talking of their efficiency and sufficiency. They do tljings, and keep qjiict about it: It was not the Germans who before Sedan talkod about the > > efficiency and suffi-, cieney and of their gaiter buttons. That part of the Navy whose duties lie in naval work rather than in the fields of politics express un•stintbd admiration for the handling of tho Gorman- ships to-day, but with Admiral Fisher's .'speech'' boomed largo in every Radical newspaper/ there is an unpleasant fooling- that it 1 ' isf -'our visitors: who have ■really earned tho title of tho "great silent navy. That little'/business of tho .HoliPni;6llern and' Sleipncr passing Southsea' Castlo in ' tho fog should bo an oyc-ope.'ner to thoso who think that after-dinner claims to : bo "imlli seoundus" justify , a "stand oasy." '• "• ■