The Dominion. THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1909. THE RIVAL NAVIES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 506, 13 May 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1909. THE RIVAL NAVIES.

.•'J™ ca b]® to-day brings the important intelligence that Lord Charles Beresford, Admiral Oustance, and other naval officers are said to bo sceptical about the value of the Dreadnought. Presumably what is meant is that these officers doubt, not the value of tho Dreadnought,: but the theory that in comparing the naval strengths of two nations only the Dreadnoughts should count.. In holding such an opinion Lord Charles Beresford would only be endorsing a view already expressed by -several first-class authorities, of whom none is more emphatic on the point' than the man who ought to know more of the subject than anyono else. This is Sir .William White, for many years Director of Naval Construe-; tion. It is impossible nowadays to pick up any British newspaper which does not contain a great quantity of discussion as to the relative strengths of the British and German navies, and it is quite possible to find in half a dozen newspapers chosen at random half a dozen different estimates of the number of Dreadnoughts which each Pow6r will possess, at various dates during the next few years. v Mr. M'Kenna,' for example, estimates that in December, 1910, Germany will have nine Dreadnoughts, Dreadnoughts will number thirteen in April, 1912, as against ten, fourteen, and twonty Britiah Dreadnoughts on tha

same dates. Me. Balfour, on the other hand, has declared that the German Dreadnoaghte will number thirteen in Decomber, 1910, and will always exceed the number of Britain's capital ships thenceforth unless the British programme is augmented. Since Mn. Balfour is one of those who regard pre-Dread-nought ships as negligible, his calculation amounts to a statement that, on present programmes, British supremacy at sea will cease at the end of next year, and that therefore Germany will become navally superior to Britain, and able to destroy British supremacy on the seas, in less than two years.

The great difficulty in gauging Germany's future strength arises from the impossibility of being quite sure to what oxtent ; the German contractors can respond to a German call for more speed. The weight of opinion is strongly on the side- of the British Government's claim that in the measurable future Britain will always have the advantage in capital ships. The feeling, however, is obviously growing that far too much attention has been paid to the Dreadnought throughout the controversy. People are beginning to remember that the. pre-Dread-nought assets of: Britain are enormously superior to the corresponding power of Germany. The figures in this relation were stated by Mr. Asquith in the debate on March 22. They may be thus tabulated: . ' _ British. German. PflE-DsEADNonoHT Battleships :— ' Number ' 40 20 Aggregate . Displacement i • (tons) 585,000 241,000 Total number of guns of calibre from 6 to- 12in. 650 884 , AEsiotraED CBTJISEBS:— Number .". 85 8 : Aggregate Displacement ' .(tons) 416,000 75,000, Total number of guns of calibre from. 6to I2in. 470 112 The- true theory of naval situation <has been stated by Sir . Edward Grey, in the speech on which we commented yesterday: "And. let me observe," he said, "when we oome to this point of 1911 really we have overlooked far too much the value of our pre-Dreadnought ships. Before the first Dreadnought was launched in 1906 the fleet which we now have without a Dreadnought was'the most powerful fleet tho world had yet seen. Are we really to believe that these are all to be absolutely useless in five years between, then and 1911? Of course they count, and must count.- As long as Dreadnoughts are small in number, if we havo but a superiority of twelve to eleven, or anything-of that.kind, these pre-Dread-nought ships count for a great deal. If our superiority was sixteen to thirteen foreign' Dreadnoughts, still the pre-Dread-nought ships would count for a good deal. As they got into higher figures,,say .twentyfour to twenty-one Dreadnoughts, they would count for less arid less, ana eventually when Dreadnoughts have increased to the maximum point they would hardly oount at all.. But observe: according to the German programme after the next two years the German output* of Dreadnoughts is to. drop, and therefore progressively as these preDreadnought ships become of less and less value, and as we are continually replacing them by newer' types, oiir superiority in Dreadnoughts will increase as the value of pro-Dreadnought ships diminishes. On the programme we havo to deal with I maintain that is a valid . argument of .considerable force for the ooming years.", '

Tho most recent oablo' messages indicate that while there has been no diminution of the public sense of the grave position to be faced by the' Empire, thero has been a distinct improvement in the tone of the discussion;: Nothing could be, finer than; Lord ohaei.es Beeest ford's appeal, for .what we may call tho blunt-and . decent old-fashioned way of considering the position—-'/the old British style";:, "let:us bury party, get to-, gcther, and put things right." : Although Lord Charles is an opponent of the party now in power, he is thoroughly satisfied with, the committee which that .Government has set up to go into , the whole .question of Britain's naval: future. It has often seemed, in late years, that the really . national. vision < of. things has been/ destroyed in England by. the. bitter' .'.poison, ,'of - party, but m any really vital issue the pld national characteristics will peep out in the end. Lord , Charles Beresford cannot succeed in making the politicians becomo as little children; but :his great position and the part he has played in the 1 Navy discussions;will give his cbunsols of plain honesty, tremendous weight/ The: net result of the last two months' excitement, now happily ended, is a great entry on the; credit* side'of the Empire's moral budget.- Facts, previously unknown have been laid bare;"doubtful points have been"resolved; distrust as to the future, we think, at Home as well as in the Empiro's oversea States, has disappeared.