The Dominion. SATUEDAY, JULY 8, 1909. BRITISH SEA POWER.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 550, 3 July 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. SATUEDAY, JULY 8, 1909. BRITISH SEA POWER.

A'dmibaii LoiiD Charles Beresford is apparently indisposed to be diverted from his ■ coufso of plain-speakiiig-dven by stieh a body of disapproval as reflects itself; in the hostility of nftwspapere so far apart, in purpose and attitude as; The Z'z'mefe and -The Daily since he resigned hdth active 'soilvicc lid has been 1 vigorously advocating 'the ;urgencyj of Britain's' naval but his attitude has been very diffoi'cmt ffdra that 6f. ; the Bcare-nlodgiJK. He has done, hia best,a'while preserving the integrity of hie. iviewe, and -.. indeia them t to tranelate tho naval cOhttovdrsy from the region, df hysteria; to the . doinaifl of ,; plain ■. busincssV Although', he has been Sir Joseph. Ward as having given his authority to the iogiti--thlioy of panic, hd has never lost an 6pportunify of. ridiculing ■ thd panic-mbng-ers, and distinguishing ; panic from con-' cern/. : ln' ; his latest speoch, rsummarised in. yesterday's eablos, hd ffladd no deviation' from this wise line bf conduct. No-. thihgYcould be moire emphatic than his references to the soriousheßs of the position,; but nothing could bo more. cooling to the excited imaginations of thd alailhe'd sectidn; of. thd-publid;than the gerioral tone of his oxposi tiori of what ho, considers to be the practical work ahead of the!riatioii; ; J ' ; , ': ' ' •■,'/■■■■•■• ■/■ ;: ;At :,nrßt;:sight,'the, sUggcring,,programme.; thai/ he proposes; in. order to "put the country in , a/state of ~ safety by March 31; ■ 1914," might appear', to justify oVerithd most absurd iinaginiilgs : of ■ the "alarmists. A little ■- ieflectibn, however, will show that , ' his -programme, jthbughheavy: arid striking, is not, alii; yery extreme. 1 At the present time ■the' , Dreadnoughts'■ dompleted, begun, or; autHorised. :number sixteen.pSy,'.;l?i2 thqre ' will be ; si-ttecp-'Dreadribughts afldat. : If the fdUr "contingent"' battldshipi fbt Whidh ;the dbvernmdnt. :has .obtained iproyisiobal authority are. '■|a-kdn>-iiiii.;as:.'adtuaii provisioii, have bddli.made for twenty Dreadnoughts by, April 1, ;i9i2— isSiiniiiigj df cbUrfee, -that thero, are:'tio : :bitches in : ;cbiistructidh: toEb'BHEESFOKD asks for. the. building of, ten Dreadrioughtsia addition to 'what nas.been authorised, btlt/hife ten-Drjcad-; noughts "would include the fbiif 'cbntih-. gent , isnips,' , , so that:t : h'e niimber of Dreadi noughts:.which lie'ddslres;to ; hayo coin-. April' ly is. This ,• incl.udes."druifeers of'; the ..Irivincibld classr which are by sb.mp' authorities designated: Dreadnoughts. : If the Govdrnt ~ j npnt'-^Me':ifW; ' g6;on''; W ith'., :iin#ent"ijiipsj':UiVotild.O'nJy havfc!toVlay : .down;tll;ree;'Dreadn6jjghts threeiraore before!Mardh : :», ! -1912,; in'brr dd? totib '■■ ' "d*J--. : ; mands^i)atlf : m tho-big new..programme; fbrmulated. by: the 'Admiriii'and friends is the enbi>. I {Qb-li^weign.t: : .Broperly: r itb !.• (ipdcr ; standv'ihii adyaficfl-V Lbßtf: '■ BiinESFbiip 'Jails •.i^t..ofib,''.toiiStj : c«B i Sl"dßif," how the 'aiijiual cost .of- cohstriictibri , in carryirig it out cuniparos with tho averaga cost in rcLotit vi'ais. . Spread over' tiio four jearfi l9oy-12, .tllfi £&7,b00,000 iiivohed— \\u take the mean of the two limits named by tho, Admiral—wouldmoan an expenditure on "now coni>trudtion" aVnonnting to over £14,000,000 a year. The average sUm expended on new coristructlon has btien about £10,000,000 AVhat is wanted, therefore, is an ad vance of CO per cent in the expenditure 6n building.

! Thb" purpbie'df this programme is, not ; tribreiyi'th6 kcuirng ;6f'a ; r'Bal;BUp6Hbrit3r:' bf,.detmany and. all the other; Vhidhi- is l an ,infinitely' more; valuable .and' inifl6fteht^fift : .te^efihieT6..v-A'-fi|6c^tabal ; ;poliey ivflilWe explained' : t^elts; aigo; isvd^iittle: It will-only;stiifliiiate Gprnian. encourage 'the teiiaf tilfit.all that is reguirdd> td over--take: Britain is thedjurt that determiinitidii and. fe'sourceS will ifiike faOssibie. '■": One . greai .forward -step, • dn ; the other; harid). would , 'discouragoi-°in-steadof stirnUlating', the rivals' of Britain, ".■ and v/ould iriafee ■['. the; margin , of superiority too great _efer to be wiped out/' That 'this' doctrine has begun to impress itself on the Government' is a reasonable assumptidn from, a statement by, Ml .lastlmolith.Vthat.v'a.. special/effort ia : n6cesSaty." . It'is .the docirihe Which (SLord ■ /BEEESfdRb, ;:lays, down in his deoiaraiion that "the adop-' tidribf a definite naval pr'dgramm'e would put an end to; the present wild and '•■ insaii6 cSmpetitiori'abrdad." GBimafiy', one can; understand, could compete with par-, tial and- piecemeal activities in Britain,. but har finances could not endure such a sttaiil as would; be placed upon them by the task Of meetiig a imme•diate burst of energy by hei^-'gf&Si.t -rivals' The money problem is not a very grave dtte • for 3iMi&i although the'; elasticity of the n'atida's' anancea , has been coffin promised by the enormous c6st of sonio of the State's "sdoial reforms.":' It is; hot Loed Bere3Foßd'b biiiinesß to find' ways ahd AM his duty by giving his expert dpinibn and yViceV, But are the overseas Dominions/ to do - no : thing ? To' p&y , a peppercorn' rental, and supply/an. isolated-Dreadnought or ktd :do nothing. Although LoedßbeeStcep'b .financial estimate , df ■ the ndw "price of Admiralty!'.is not in ahy'ivay alarming, it ahcHiid convince the overseas df the Empire df theifflpdrt ance' of putting their.houses ifl order to ineehj entirely; diit of their own resourced, the' large obligations that they cantidt avoid meeting in the near future .