NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15849, 20 February 1915, Page 6

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

| MANNING THE NAVY. ; Some people may have wondered how I Britain is going to man all the new vfessels 1 which are to be added to the fleet during • the present year, including nine or ten ' battleships, which will each require a complement of somewhere about 1000 officers and men. As a matter of fact, although we have a good many men to draw on for now ships, still all these | -vessels coming into the fleet will not be manned in addition to all the ships now jin commission. Mr. Archibald Hurd, the | well-known naval writer, dealing with this j subject recently, pointed out that we are | employing, as the Navy List reveals, a | number of old ships— as the battle- | ships of the Majestic and Ocean types, a 1 good many obsolete cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. Mr. Churchill once observed that we ought to put at the disposal of tho men who represent us at s>ea " the best ships which science can devise and money can buy." That, is what is goiijg to be done. Officers and men who are now serving in the old ships will change over to new ships ; the. process is a familiar one, which is practised in all the navies of tho world. The result is that the number of units of the British fleet will not be increased ; but each officer and man will have his ability to fight the enemy multiplied three or four times. " It is a fortunate circumstance," savs Mr. Hurd, " that during the past three years the Admiralty arranged >to expand the personnel by 30,000 officers and men. We are reaping the advantage of that foresight. ''

MORALE OF GERMANY. In an interesting article in Land and Water, on the present morale of Germany and Austria, Mr. Eilaire Belloo passes a few remarks about the state of mind of the German population. " The first thing we shall note if we are wise," he savs, "is the profound conviction held everywhere, from East Prussia to the Rhine, and from Harburg to Silesia, that Germany will emerge victorious from this struggle. he average educated man would tell you toberlv to-day in Frankfort or Colognenay, does tell those neutrals who are seeking information on this point, and who convey it to us—that Russia can no longer recover the offensive, that France is already sick of war, that soon England will be the only objective of the German effort, and that peace will be dictated in no very long space of time, not in ruthless terms, for that would be impossible, but in just such terms as the German civilian has always conceived that

it would be dictated; a slight modification of frontiers to the advantage of Germany, German and Austrian economic preponderance over the Balkans and Constantinople, the maintenance of the present ecoromic superiority of Germany over France —which may, after this heavy blow, be left to what Germans believe to be its own rapid process of decay. The only doubtful point is England ; and here that German civilian opinion of which I speak •would tell you that with England as the sole erjemy Germany's task would be quickly accomplished. This point of view is in our ears—and still more in the ears of the Frenchso grotesque that it seems to belong to another world from the real world in which we live. But when you are talking of your enemy's morale you cannot, at the risk of error, concern yourself with what he ought to believe;'you must concern yourself with what he does believe that is what the civilian in Germany is believing to-day."

THE ALLIES' LEADERS. Jellicoe, is of short-stature, so is French, so is Smith-Dorrien, so is Joffre, so is Castelnau. Shortness seems to run amongst the allies'leaders. So does silence, Jellicoe is quiet and shy, French quiet and decisive, Smith-Dorrien uncommunicative and homely, Joffre quiet but aggressive. Never has so much of civilisation absolutely depended upon three men as it depends now on Jellicoe, French, and Joffre, and humanity may have something to learn from this common attitude of silence. It says a lot for Wellington's rule—" Do your work and mind your own business." But the quietest of the lot are Kitchener and Lord Fisher, who are said to get through a morning's work with a large staff without saying more than ten words, each word being a command. Joffre is not of the " blood and iron" school. But he is as stern a disciplinarian as a soldier can be. He is in truth the terror of those holding high commands in the French Army, because he is known to be ruthless in breaking men who make mistakes. After the last French manoeuvre. s !, which were acknowledged to be the most successful ever held, Joffre retired five high commanders because of failure. But all France—"decadent," "soft," "temperamental" France—applauded the act.