NAVAL NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 14510, 31 October 1910, Page 2

NAVAL NOTES

+ [CO-STIUBCTED BY THE N.*VY LEACVK, 0t.w.0 Y>nAXCu.) WHERE Lit HIT LIVES. Tho night is- upon us; and anguish Of- longing tliat vearns for tho dead: Rut mourners that" faint not or languish. That veil not and bow jiot the head, Take comfort to heait it a token I!.' given them of comfort to be: While' darkness, on earth is unbroken. Light lives on the sou. —Swinburne. Ti is worth remembering that, when the ' last .-eietui.-t ha-; achieved his latest mechanical marvel, and the most brilliant experts have finished their clearest. exposition of' how it is done, the factor that will decide Armageddon, if Armageddon comes, is a Iranian one: it if the spirit of the men of the Royal Navy.---Standard of Empire.' Tt is repotted that the "Mia/.ilian Xavy 7-eagr.c have collected subscriptions sufficient to piovide a. fourth battleship for Enuil. Site will be called Hiaehuclo.— Item from the daily Press. A WAR OF ARMAMKXTS. Mr l!or.';ir Law. a rising Unionist politician and a member of the next I'tiionist. Cabinet, told 5.000 people in (ilasgow that we are engaged with (iermany in a war of armaments. " He might have gone fatthcr and said that (Ireat Ibitaii: and (iermany ;:i-'> at this hour at war. This is a. fact which th»y woihl do well Lo remenibcr who cry peace when then' is no peace, ami ■who ciiny tlieir lidioiilocs theories f.n far that thev would applaud as an act of the highest .i'nl rrost ixalterl statesmanship the announcement ih.u the Imperial Government had decided lo cease building battleships, and to tc.lv upon the humane instincts of hoi commercial rival*. It is not necesspjy nowadays that war should bo :i--,omi)a'iii-d with' tin" destruction of pinrettv,' the linking "i ships, ami the •laughter of human beings. Dur wars can 1- blood !".-*. but they are not the less war. l.v: year the most momentous toulli't of m.Hie;n lime--. wes waged, the prize !„,.,_. 1 1.,, secured po.-session of a. large t-'hv'of .--onieonfi else's territory. In 1870 s.o ,-s of thou.-amis of Erciich and Oermaii -oMmrs were sacrificed on :!;e battlefield I, r much le.s- than Au-t-n- in 1909 oht.iii"d without the h*s of a 'nan. Ihe rca-uu should be i-I:»i'h to the most dangerotis anti-militaiy or anti-iaval man in ex'steme. Aii-iri:k v;v assured the peaceful annexation of liosuia Herzegovina, hj". cause Oerm.i'iv stood forth, clad - m shin in.' armor." ~'nd told Uussia. to cea.se h"f I iovora'.io:i. Uu.-sci heatd. was amazed, looked h-lj.lefdy round, and obeyed. tho.si-: who wild- NOT lfar.n. Vet- wen sins tr.i'i.-parcld object Uv.-ou in ihe truth o! lie \l >. s-vch and I i-eimaii Kaiser ami i amnion ,-crse doctrine, that i'i. v milv can maintain peace- who are m a ;, .-Vloii'ic. , omma-nd it. i.s lost upon those r.-. !! m. a.:dug uiakliii.e.s who lift their v?"* 1,. |,:,.t:.-; re,:.-:- wle-m their fellow country- :. , i! iiisi.-i tiia' Fngland a!'.<! tie' F.mpiie must stairl armed and ready ai any nn-[.••--111- lo milnw up lier verbal or written .iqmvts witll fh" -word. Why war to-day L-. confined temporaiov to a war of armaments a.nd let of blow?, i, because lb. :- im'.nv dare not provoke those l,lo\t-. f.n-.'-1 ind" commands peace on the peas l,y th-.-em-, method.s and in virtue of the same |*i\veis that Oermanv last vear brought to hear on Ru-d-i. Let Fng<and lose tliat superiority, and the balance nf power and i.-r commrruai supremacy nould diaan|ear possibly without a single blow or the filing of a shut THE CRUX OF THF SITEATIOX. .'mi so. by !h.' sbec- logic of Ihe position, v.e are broitu'lit face to face with the que--Don that i- acked on every side: Is Krigland making provision to retain an iindoiibted stipremaiy at sea'.' The answer i.s ■' Yes." so far as the immediate prevent is concerned, hut up till within the last week or two t|ic-i<- was some douhl a- to '.he aii.-wer. say. in 19"lu and after. Happilv. nciML deb.vi ram- -.-. ha'.'i' consideraljly cleared the air It !> true that the Eirsf Lord of the Admiralty thioughout the re- , ..-itt panic period has been somewhat .-cornful in his, reference.-* to his a.nd the Navy's critics, and he had stoutly declared l hat' the Xavy of fireat iifitit'li i.-. mort> than equal to the two-I'osverstamlard. fliti iailh ;ti!<l knowledge would appear to lie justitied. The Jlrili.-h Xavy btill holds I-r own in ship.-, eti.i,. and men. The. naval corresponds'!!! «f the ' Daily Teh'jraph' is reprrrteil to have placed the luliire relative llre;tdi:otight .-trength of the i-.to I'oweis as fo'lows -. (iieat- Britain. Oermanv. Jlcremhec. l'jtl ... 16 II April. 1912 20 17) April. 1915 25 15 Mr Bnrgoyne, M.P.. in the ' Xavy League Annual' mot yt to hamll. estimates th" rilalivo wtreiiglh-3 singly and in combination in March, 1915. as under: lireat- .Britain 27 wcrman. '7 Germany and I'ni'od States <>Ji lie) many, Italy, and Austria 21 TIN.-: EKiCRK-i EXPLAIN Kl). Mr Burgoyne's li.gurcr, differ on.iy in a;ija aiaiiee from the later ones of the \l>ai!y '!'i-!egr;iph.' lie did not know, when writing his article, that the coming of the 15.5 iiiiii would, tet, the Cennan programme back as it is now asserted that it will: ffeiice. he credited (iermany with s-evei.ii.ecn. not thirteen, nreadnotijriitf. in 1915. Thv further <lifference in the- total number of Dreadnoughts in tlie two ta,bh'ci, to Great Britain is probably <lue to Mr Eurgnyne including in his total the Australian ;md Xew Zealand battlcthip (I'tiitjeib. The lacf <if impoituni e. iiowever. is thai, the Admiralty have distinctly scored in the matter of guns. Kveii as the appearance of the Dreadnought in 1305 revolutionised the world's line of battleship.-, to the introduction of the 15.5 gun and the devotion of the I2in is paid to have lu-or ' , i.iennnti ;hipbnil(ling up with a :-'■■ t ui n. "AIIKAD OF On: RIVALS." The arming <■!' the Lion and Orion -with these taiperb ict-trunientr of destruction cannot be recarded as a surprise. The subject, has been freely dit'-ussed in naval (irelcs and the Press for months past, and whil" do di.'inite infoiiiiatiou wasolitain-

••'hie tlic belief was jjeneral that the I2in ;,im wa*? to l>o KMpei-scded. A writer ill the " Observer' fome- six weeks ;<[■■> wrote : " We have entered upon a new epoch in mi.viil gunnery. It wis nut lung au'o the Lioneral belief that (lie SG-calibre 12in gunu reprewntcd the height of achievement in tho armament of our warships, but t Mia.unilbrnf weapons are now outi lapsed by the 13.5 mints of the J,ion, launched l;itt week. Although the A<lminilty are inainlaiuiut! wcreey in tlie- matter, it ii> anticipated that the battleship Orion, lo be launched next Saturday, will be biniila,rly equipped. There has been too nitieh of a disposition within recent years," the writer Hurler state?, " to depreciate iho quality of British l,uug. They lacivi*l endurance; their life was short; they sometimes drooped at the muzzle. The G'crrp;uiß had stolen ;i march upon ub again! *!ut if one thini; it, more clear than aiiit iB that the Admiralty have proceeded with the same admirable combination of lioWnepp, caution, and certitiulo which have been such a precious used lo the nation within Tecent years." The, which is very eoitfolins in'thivc day.-; of, peeeimisin, jianic, and partisanship. "GROG" IX THK NAVY. It is taid that the will find ik> place in the Now Zealnml and Australian battleship*-. The Canadian Navy, eo far a* its official dietary i? concerned, is lo be tiui on teetotal jinee. Curiously enough, thifi departure from Britißh 'custom appears to havo occasioned no regret amonj; tho men who have volunteered for service in tho N'iobe and Rainbow (now in the Canadian (service). They a>-c represented as bidding uood-by« to the jrrojr-tub without Borrow. No donbt Iho Admiralty will watch with close attention the outcome of this reform. It ha« for 6o)n& years paet been suggested that the grog-tub should he baniflhed from Uritish ships, but hitherto the authorities have been timid as to the feeling of the fleet generally on this ques- . tkau. li.apg«^^>b^a.'fuc_t.be-j«iMl>die-

pnto that an jncreaemg number of naval officers are- in favor of this change, and it is a. significant fact that- nearly half the men of the fleet no longer take up their daily epirit ration, the issue of which, in Gfiife of some opposition, li.i.s for some years past been denied to seamen under eiVghteeit years of age. Probably the Admiralty will still hestitate to take drastic action, preferring to watch the gradual increase in the number of men who do not take up their daily "tot" until the time arrives when the "spirit drinkers are in such a- minority that the grog-tub can be banished without running .any chanceot causing widespread discontent. —-A Cautious Admiralty. - So long as a large proportion of the men of tho fleet show a liking for tho spirit ration, tho Admiralty will probably maintain this old custom. But though the ! grog-tub may still continue even for a ; decade longer, there is no doubt that it 1 will eventually disappear. When tins ! time arrives, the change will inevitably be j accompanied by a quid pro quo which will I probablv take'the form ot an increase in ■ pav. 'We are not certain, says the | ' Naval and Militarv Record.' that even ' to-day, if the Admiralty made a firm oiler lof in! Teased pav the majority of the men would riot be 'in favor of an immediate break with tradition. In view of tho present naval outlook apparently the AoI miraltv are not inclined to make this ail■dition'to the naval voice. ISonte time ago, | when the question wa« diiscusrcd m the House of Commons, the authoriticrs elfectuallv t-ilcnccd the advocates of this reform'bv the figures whi-h they produced showing the very heavy charge which would fall upon the votes even if the Admiralty merely paid the men im-der a universal ami compulsory system of spirit abstinence the small sum which. it> now credited to voluntary teetotalers.