NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15685, 12 August 1914, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE POSITION IN JAPAN.

Upon tho declaration of war between Britain and Germany, Japan declared tluit sho was prepared to act in accordance with tho spirit of her alliance with Britain. A cable from Tokio states that the Japanese Cabinet is now considering tho question of intervening, on the ground that British possessions in Eastern Asia are in jeopardy. By tho terms of tho AngloJapanese Allianco of 1905, which was renewed in 1911, Britain and Japan pledged themselves to prcservo tho common interests of all Powers in China by insuring her integrity and independence, as well as the principle of equal opportunities for the commerce and industry of all nations within her borders. They agreed, on the other hand, to maintain their own territorial rights in Eastern Asia and India, and to com© to each other's armed assistance in tho event of those rights being assailed by any other Power or Powers. Tho naval strength of Japan is as follows: —Four Dreadnoughts, six battle-cruisers, 10 pro-Dreadnought battleships, nine armoured cruisers, 13 cruisers, 55 destroyers, 13 submarines, 63 torpedo-boats. Two of tho Dreadnoughts, the Sottsu and Kawachi, carry each 12 12in guns, while the Aki and Satsuma have four 12m and 12 lOin guns. Five of the pre-Dreadnought battleships aro about equal to tho British King Edward class, mounting four 12in, with a heavy battery of 6in guns. The battle-cruisers Kongo and Hiyel are very powerful vessels of their class, each carrying eight Win and 16 6in guns. The other four aro less powerful titan the Australia, each carrying four 12in as their main armament, with secondary batteries of Bin or bin weapons. Tho Japanese- Army comprises 19 divisions, and it is estimated that the mobilisable war strength is 1,100,000 men, of which the peace strength is about 280,000. Japan has a fine auxiliary fleet, comprising 19 modern liners, ranging from 5000 to 20,000 tons. These vessels, some of which are on tho Australian run, in time of emergency would carry 6in and 12-pounder guns.

THE FIRST SEA LORD. The man upon whose shoulders tho whole weight of tho last war scare fell—when two squadrons of the Home Fleet were actually lying off the Scottish coast cleared for action with the gun crews sleeping in their; turrets, and orders given to take no chances, but fire on any foreign torpedo vessel that approached within dangerous range—the First Sea Lord in the crisis was Sir Arthur"Wilson. It is now realised that Sir Arthur Wilson was handicapped in that hour by tho defects of his virtues. • He was a wonderful tactician—the admiral who, more than any commander afloat in recent years, was enthusiastically trusted by his fleets.: But he gained that trust by knowing every detail of his work himself. He was a portentous worker, and refused to be helped by more than one-third of the number of assistants whom other admirals thought necessary. But when it comes to a crisis the work of a fleet of 500 ships is more than any human being can accomplish. In Admiral Wilson's time the offico of First Sea Lord practically involved the responsibility for every department of tho intelligence, war plans, mobilisation, and supervision of all other departments as well. Mr. Churchill realised that this was an impossible system, as Lord Charles Beresford had long contended. Ho swept it away in ono act. To-day, Prince Louis of Battenberg has not one-third of the work to do that Admiral Wilson had; and ho has three great divisions of tho war staff, which Mr. Churchill instituted to help him. -The work that fell on tho lobes of Admiral Wilson's brain is now performed by the Intelligence Division, the Operations Division, and the Mobilisation Division of tho great war staff at Whitehall. The fact that that organisation exists to-day makes all the difference between the crisis of 1911 and that of 1914.

ISOLATION OF GERMANY. The tragic isolation. of Germany' was tho keynote of an interview, attributed to i a prominent Continental statesman, which appeared recently in an English magazine. " You ask me to give you the key of the international situation. That key is in Germany,, or, rather, in Berlin. For Prussia controls Germany, and will more and more control it in tho future. The Germans are nervous and uneasy, and that is why they ceaselessly increase their ! armaments. They are nervous because the whnlo European situation has been radically changed, to their detriment. The i whole balance of power has been upset by ' the results of tho Balkan War. They are nervous because they are tragically isolated. Germany has no friends, no i allies, and has, therefore, to defend herself on two, or rather on three, fronts. She has to defend herself at once against France, against Russia, and against England. It is true that the Triple Allianco still subsists. But it subsists only in name. For Germany can count neithor on Italy nor on Austria. She cannot count on Italy. For Italy is a hopeless coquette, .and she transfers her erratic affections wherever her interest leads her. Nor can Germany count on Austria No longer can Austria bo called tho loyal eecundant.' For Austria has ceased to bo controlled by her Teutonic population. Sho is at the mercy of the Slavs, both insido and outside of her empire. She* is abandoned by Roumania, who is seeking the support of Russia. She is detested by the Servians, who have the best organisced army in the Balkans."

RUSSIAN NAVAL OFFICERS. Tho young officers of the Russian Navy are. described as belonging to a generation that ban taken to heart divers events of tho Russo-Japanese, war. With a wider experience of blue water, they will be first-rate in their sphere. Admiral Roussinc, the Russian Naval Minister, is sharp, quick, keen of vision, and very much " on tho look-out," and the imago of Princess Lioven, of diplomatic fame. She had a silhouette profile all in acute angles—tho sort of angles conventionally used by painters to represent forked lightning. A lino from tho loots of the hair sloping forward to the bridge of tho nose and then sharply dipping made the first angle. Tho next one was in the nose, which had a sharp point, and the third bounded tho lips, chin, and jaw. It was a .remarkable countenance, and so is Admiral Eoussino's.