THE NAVY.

Evening Star, Issue 14786, 30 January 1912, Page 7

THE NAVY.

A SCARE THAT FAILED. TIY LORD CHARLES BERESFORD. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, January 29. Lord Charles Beresford has issued a pamphlet pointing out that in - bis book •The Betrayal,' the publication of which was suspended last autumn, he states that the whole- Admiralty policy from 1902 to 1911 was a series of disastrous mistakes. The personnel of tho Navy was starved, and efficiency and training were impaired. The coaling and repairing stations of the Oversea Dominions were dismantled. The present conditions of the trade routes arc a national danger. In 1903 there were 60 small cruisers on foreign stations, now there were 23, despite the fact that privateering, which was abolished under the , Declaration of Paris, was insidiously revived by tho Peace Conference of 1907. The sea-borne trade is now open to sudden and secretly-organised attacks conducted by merchant vessels which a few hours previously were sheltering in neutral harbors as non-combatants, and a few hours later they may repair in the same harbors and take in supplies before embarking upon fresh adventures. It was often forgotten that heavy-armored ships must depend for their utility upon the complementary units. He adds that a war staff is essential for the proper organisation of the fleet.

WHAT LORD C. BERESFORD THINKS. Addressing his constituency at Portsmouth immediately after the announcement was made of the personnel of tiie new Naval War Staff, Lord Chas. Beresford advised Englishmen to drop all their talk, all tlndr tad policy, of laying nvo keels to every one put down by ( iermany. What he wanted them to do was to remember new and always that England must at every sacrifice maintain her command of the seas. " Now," continued Lord Charles, "my mission to my countrymen 1 wont say is over, but it is considerably quieter. For many years 1 have spoken about Navyneeds, and always carried my point, because what I have proposed ha* been done. Now we have an entirely new Admiiahy Board. 1 say nothing about previous boaids. Sir Aithur Wilson will go on shore with the respect and esteem of every single soul in the Navy as a gallant officer whoso loyalty and fidelity to duty is proverbial, and one who could work most of us out in a, physical sense. And then there is Admiral Egerton. Whether he resigned or not does not matter. He is going to be appointed to some superior post by-and-by. Some say he resigned because he did not agree with the manning and education policy. But let us bury all that. What I am happy about is that the new board is going to have a war staff. No architect —nay, no archangel—in the past could have made out all that we wanted for the Navy to make it efficient or why wo wanted it. You want the war staff to do that, and when we have that I am going to sit still about the Navy. I have absolute faith in my brother officers that if they are enabled to work in the right way, and if they get the war staff, you will see that the Navy will be got ready and kept instantly ready for any emergency."' Lord Charles added that he would not dwell upon what happened recently, but the Admiralty knew that we were not ready. Germany knew that we were not ready, and she also knew that we knew that they knew. Now, he wanted all the civilian experts to stop talking all their blithering nonsense about our having been ready, for it did the country incalculable injury, and mostly came from people who gathered their nautical knowledge in a trip to Southend. No one supposed these drastic changes at the Admiralty came because of a- change in the weather. It was all due to the crisis. But now let them all bury the past and get the war staff, and he thought they would do well in the future. His mission in the past had been to call attention to many glaring necessities and shortcomings; and though be would not- allude to the circumstances in which he resigned office at the Admiralty, he would remind them of how, in June, 1909, ho unfolded a scheme to the London Chamber of Commerce, which set forth that it was necessary to spend 68 millions on the Navy. He was abused all round, and felt, he'had had a blister applied to the small of Iris back. The Government denied that all this was necessary, an 1 called him a blue funk and .rcaremonger, and all sort.- of names that were not even Christian. But- after this shower of abuse they laid down 62 of the 128 ships he had asked for, and two of the four floating docks; and instead of the 5,000 men he had recommended they entered 7.00G last year, or 13.000 in two years. But the weak point was that when these men were suddenly needed they wore only half trained. The Government had actually committed themselves'to 36 millions out of his 68, and had spent- 12 millions extra. He mentioned theso things merely to show that he was right in his demands for these things, as ho had also been in the matter of the War College ; and as long as he had Portsmouth at his back be felt he coidd carry those things for the defence of tho country, and he repeated that what they wanted for that purpose was the licet in such a condition of organisation and efficiency that it was always instantly leady. Among other matters which the new board n ust take into consideration was thy question of discipline, not only as a matter of law, but of administration, for they must be strict, while at the same time making things more comfortable for the men. They must also look into the grievances of the engineer officers, who had been treated, as he thought, scurvily. '•Practically," Lord Charles concluded, "I am moat strenuously opposed to the Government; but party should count for nothing in imperhl and naval questions, and if the Government policy was sound it would have rny support and assistance. What the British Empire wants is peace, and we must all work band in hand to place ourselves in such a position as to command peace." Tho new second in command of the .Homo Fleet, who has long been designated tor high command in war, is 52 years of age. The appointment of Sir George- Callaghan to be Commander-in-Chief of the Homo Fleet- moan.; that Admiral Sir A. .Milne and Sir Percy Scott (of gunnery fame) have little chance of further employment afloat. Sir Percy is matchless as> a. teacher of gunnery, and a remarkable administrator ' t lower-dock routine. Why is he scrapped? the appointment of the new Comtmndor-iu-Chiot fettles the prospects of Admirals Lambton, Sir George Neville, Sir Alfred Winsloe, Sir George Egorton. Charles Adair, Sir Frederick Fisher, and Charles Cross. The appointment oi Sir John Jellicoe as second in command of the Home Fleet shelves Admirals Goodrich, Inglefield, Paget, Lowry, Jackson, Golville, Farquhir, Fisher. and Simons. Herod among the children mado no more dashing slaughter than Mr Churchill among the

admirals. If the shunting of Admirals Egerton and Madden was due to circumslaneee conn-cted with the August crisis, or to avoidable administrative error, foreign admirals will now understand that Mr Churchill, however much we may dislike him. has shown himself one of the strongest. First Lords England has seen sinco Bainh.'un. ... 1 observe that the Silent Man, who created the modern Navy, has twice virited England with the noicelessness of an owl, and has been seen m the society of Mr Churchill. Ruthless, relentless, remorseless, in the- interests of tho country, Admiralty policy has thtw far hc<?n unchanged from the time when Fisher was at tho' helm. Another coup of Mr Churchill's is the appointment- of l'rmco bonis of Battenborg and Captain Packonham, C.B.,as Second and Fourth Lords respectively. For years past Prince Louis has been pursued with rancorous hostility Lv a flection of London Society. Many admirnlM tell m- that ho is tho ablest officer in tho Britisli Nuvv. His tactical skill is of that kind which makes men breathe hard when thev see it. He is liked by hu subordinates, and he will make the best possiblo First Sea Ixird in course of time. Prince-Louise handling of the lower deck mav create history. 1 affirm that Mr Churchill's appointment of Prince Louis has strengthened tho Admiralty. The appointment of Captain Packonham is a tardy rocognition of servicer, rendered to the British public which hitherto havo never met with due recognition.—"Yanoc," hi the 'Referee.'