"THE BETRAYAL."

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue LXII, 30 January 1912, Page 5

"THE BETRAYAL."

GOVERNMENT'S NAVAL POLICY.

LORD BERESFORD'S CRITICISM.

BY CABLE—VKEB3 ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.* LONDON, Jan. 29.

Lord Beresford has issued' a pamphlet regarding his book "The Betrayal/' the publication of which was suspended last autumn. He states that the Admiralty policy from 1902 to 1911 was a series of disastrous mistakes. The personnel of the Navy was starved, the efficiency of the training impaired, and the coaling and repairing stations in the overseas dominions were dismantled;

"The present condition of the trade routes," he states, "is a national danger. In 1903 there were sixty small cruisers on foreign stations. Now there are only twenty-three, despite the fact that ..privateering, which was abolished under the Declaration of Paris, has been insidiously revived by the Peace Conference of 1907. The seaborne trade is now open to sudden and secretly organised attacks conducted by. merchant vessels which a few hours , previously might be sheltering in. neutral harbors as non-combatants, and a few hours later may repair in the same harbors and take supplies before embarking on fresh adventures.

"It is often forgotten that heavy armored ships depend for their utility upon complementary units."

He added that a war staff was essential to the proper organisation of the fleet.