A WARNING

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 106, 28 January 1908, Page 4

A WARNING

Sir.—Tlio Eirst. Spa Lord, speaking at tho Lord Ms.vor s, Banquet, .pledged',-himself personally to an assurance to the nation, that British .Nftv.v was adequate, efficient, and in. instant,readiness for-war;. That assurr anco wo aqcept'without demur, for wc know that it could onlv.be. based:oil:a full knowlodge of what- up to then, were the Ascertained , programmes and proposals of other Powers., Sinco t-haWate, however, tho Ger'man Government has submitted to' the Reichstag. a measure wbiebx foreshadows, -a-i'ivory considerable.' expansion to ■ the present of . the Gorman Navy- The proposals .this measure embodies * are as foljow:— 1. It provides, that; Germany shall. in l , future lay down annually fqiir armoured; ships, in lieu, of threo as has been horetoforo customary. . v',. .2. Under it the ■ German-annuaKoxpendir turo otithe Navy that- now. at £13,900,000 will .by 1911,. liave attained to a sum of £"23,000,000. 'VV.-;: , V '-'j.iV 3. Apart from .. this -there : is,, to bo extra expenditure on tlie widening of the Kiel Canal, .and ,it goes without saying,tha^the now ships Germany will lay down will grtatly surpass iiv fighting power the'present7battleships' that t-hey.'will eventually replace.]; .J . 4. The measure provides, with the. method that i? so characteristic \ of, the most / per- . fectly ! organised war 1 Power " in . tho world,that ovory armoured-unit: is to be foplacea by an Ersatz wjthin-twenty years. . It is frequently .stated', that foreign pro-, grammoj nro often very much "on paper," There; is in that. assertion a modicum of truth, but we ! know, as regards theproposals which the Gorman nation formulated rind sanctioned in 1900, that'they'have, been fully carried out.,, and that every, unit projected in the measure .that the Reichstag then approved lias been' punctually laid down lip to 1906. In.' this 'Connection we. would wish to draw - the- serious attention ; of; the public to the important precedent sot by Lord Goschen—the' then First Lord.'pf. the Admiralty—in 1898. .'Hie.'Cabinet and tho Admiralty having ascertained, aftor-the. introduction, of tho Estimates for that: year}' that an abnormal. expansion in Russian naval expenditure had been sanctioned, replied in tho month of July,, bringing before the House a supplementary programme providing for the commencement or four battleships ana four armoured crhisers,in addition to the normal programme of the year." It is not overstating tlio case to say that the laying down of these 'vessels probably preveritcd' thb spread of the .conflagration 'that soon followed ili tho Far East, by so uncrossing our Naval power that Great Britain, ; \rhose , interests were most vitally concerned', became practically , the arbiter situation.' It is ,an undisputed fact that; since the Estimates of -1904-5 our Naval havo been /reduced by : £6,400,000',- whilo ' the outlay on Naval worlds has been rcducod ;by ■ £4,000,000. ,It must 'be . plain, c howeyei - ; to every man that in the' period between 1904 and 1908 a reduction-in tho total expenditure of over £10,000",OCO ; accompanied as it has been by ah increaso in German expenditure of £0,500,000, gives food for : anxious thought-. That:a largo proportion of the (reduced British expenditure lias been affected by a saving in 'wastage," the' Navy League "willingly admits. None tho less, however, do we firmly believe that whatever reductions in national expenditure have to be made, to effect .theni out of- tbe Navy Estimates would -be, the falsest of economy. ThcEmpirc cannot safely, rest content unless wo annually spend oil new construction a sum- that, will keep us well ahead of any two-Power standard. 'l'lie Navy League seeks in no way to press any policy of construction on the lespoi-sible officials and experts. It. is for f heiu to decide whether tlio."money tlio nation so willingly gives.sliall be expended on oat'.leships, cruisers, torpedo craft., or fleet auxiliaries. All we ask is that in every one of its component parts the Fleet- shall be maintained at the standard of strength that is lital to our national existence—namely, that which would bo sufficient to crush tho naval p i.ver , of any coalition that might bo formed against us. To this end wo ask tho assistance 'of tho Press and the aid of all patriotic citizens of the-Empire. AVe are, Sir, Your obedient servants, . - ' R. A. YERBURGH, , Presidont, H: SEYMOUR TROWER, Chairman of the Executive Committee. WJI! CAITJS CRUTCHLEY, Secretary, The Navy League, 13 Victoria Street, S.W., December 9, 1907. ~