THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16285, 19 July 1916, Page 10

THINGS IN GENERAL.

THE SUBMARINE ADVENTURE. Ths pride of Captain Koenig, who crossed from Germany to America in a cargo-laden submarine, is easily understood. For him it was a great and successful adventure. We need not grudge him his jubilation, even though we may wish to see him nicely trapped on his way back. But apart from the personal side of it as affecting the captain and crow, the incident has no significance. So far as the war is concerned it has no more effect than a straw blowing in the wind. The Germans are fools in many ways, but they are not foolish enough to believe that the British blockade can be neutralised by an nnder-water fleet. A submarine dot and then may escape, but .-ill will not escape, and even if they did they would merely be carrying freight trifling in comparison with Germany's ne?ds, and at ruinous cost. If merchant submarines can break the British blockade the organising power of Germany, of which we hear so much, must be indicted for gr. ss incompetence for neglecting for a year and a-half such an obvious opportunity. The voyage is no more than a little bit of by-play, cheering no doubt to the German-Americans, but rather chilling on the whele to the thinking portion cf Germany, for it brings into stern relief the unpleasant and ever-present truth that on the whole surface of the sea no German ship can. sail in safety. A DISCARDED GOSPEL. We hear these days of a rapid spread of pessimism in Germany. The Germans are weary, tired of the war. which was glorious and ennobling so long as women and children were being slaughtered in Belgium, in Poland, and in Servia. hut which became to them sheer murder when French and British guns made German trenches untenable. Is Bernhardt dead? Has his gospel of the purifying influence of war lost its hold on the German mind, or is it only a fair-weather gospel— while the German is cutting throats, but to he cast off when he is getting back a little of what he gave? Here is a "young German" opinion on war written and published about a year before the invasion of Belgium:—"War is the noblest and holiest expression of human activity. For us, too, the glad great hour of battle will strike. Still and deep in the German heart must live the joy of battle and the longing for it- Let us ridicule to the utmost the old women in breeches who fear war and deplore it as cruel and revolting. No, war is beautiful, its august sublimity elevates the human heart beyond the earthly and the common. In the cloud palace above sit the heroes, Frederick the Great and Blucher and all men of action The Great Emperor, Moltke. Roon, and Bismarck are there as well, but not the old women who would take away our joy in war. When here on earth a battle is "won by German arms and the faithful dead ascend to heaven a Potsdam lance-corporal will call the guard to the door, and old Fritz, springing from his golden throne, will give the command to present arms. This is the heaven of Young Germany." Two years of it and the '" cloud palace " has become a mere shambles. When French and Belgian women were used as shields, and driven in advance of the German armies, all Germanv glowed with the heroism of it. The might of German arms, which was the hall-mark of right, was worshipped from Hamburg- to Munich, from Cologne to Konigsberg. Now appeals are going forth to neutrals to stop this butchery, to restrain the "old women in breeches" who are slaughtering good Germans, and who are persisting in turning Germany's heaven on victory into a hell of defeat for no better reason than fiat thev do not know when the sublime passes to the horribie, or when the "glad great hour merges into the hour of torture, It seems that Germany is having too much of a good thing, and that when\old Fritz steps again from his throne, turned from gold to lead., his word of command will not be 'present arms," but "hands-up." GREAT BATTLE-CRUISERS. The Americans are in the throes of a controversy regarding the rival merits of the battleship and battle-cruiser. The Bill before the Senate proposes a three vears' programme which includes 10 battleships and six battle-cruisers. Since Ibis announcement Admiral Peary is reported to have advocated eight battle-cruisers capable of steaming 35 knots and carrvm" ' 16m guns. No such ships have ever been launched, but then the Americans must hare the best ever." At present the United States has not a single battlecruiser, but it seems to be agreed that if SW\°°m f£ art £° hTIiU ™ ch 8hi Ps thev ™W them faster, bigger and betterpinned than any other nation. Here is an t,T nCeW^? , r steten >ent on the subject.— The Moltke Md the Sevdlitz the strongest and fastest of the German SoM C h aen, '^ 29 - knot 6W PS-°ae of 52,000 h.p. a ?-\ the her of 63,000 h.p. The Tiger which is the most powerful of tne British battle-cruisers, is a 28-knot ship of 87.000 h.p. The American bat tie cruisers are to have 180,000 h.p. Thev are r™ 81 l t 7? o * 6 St€r than the fastest German battle-cruiser and seven knots rrnSr t he - faStest British ba "le cruiser, with heavier guns and a greater volume of gun-fire than either their GerW^ 3 ?* 1 * "r? !s -" . This «"">*» quite big and businesslike, but the question arises whether these wonderful battle wTeuT 3 are g ° ing to bS b " iJt and if *> TURNING SOMERSAULTS. At the moment the Americans ar e marvehously excited over the question whether their warships are to be battleships or about it but it is just possible that the whole thing may fizzle out, and be for gotten before either battleships c - battle cruise*.are built. Mr. Roosevelt mently nt hah 71 I " men rathtr -onndrt actW 'Til U " ra ° f ta!kin - ***** of acting. Ihere is no use," he said •• i„ raying that we will fit our eh, to defend ourselves, little but not much Such a position is equivalent to announcing that if necessary, we shall hit but that we si a i only hit soft. We first hysterically announced that we would not prepare because we were afraid that preparation might make us lose our 'vantage-grou nd as a peace-loving people. Then we became frightened and announced loudly that we ought to prepare; that the work! was on fire; that our own national structure was in danger of catching flame; and that we must immediately make readv. Then ve turned another somersault and abandoned all talk of preparedness; and we never did anything more than talk." And when the American is talking there is no harm in him indulging in big talk, which perhaps accounts for the exceptional size and speed and armament of the American battle-cruisers. They are dream, ships. A WAR OP ARTILLERY. In this war in which big guns plav such an important part, it is" satisfactory to hear that the British, in their Western offensive, are moving their artillery rapidly, so that position after position can be captured before the enemy can. settle down. The enormous supplies of j * ammunition now available has put our in- ! fantry in high spirits. This is all they ; want to win. In every personal equip- '< ment they are better men than the Ger- ! mans. Their superiority has been shown in retreat with the weight of gin-.-, and ammunition against them. N'--.* that they have guns they have shown they can move them, and s.luo that they can' move the G=imans from the defences upon which great labour has been expended in the past 18 months. The next three months are likely to test the Germans as the British, the French and the Russians have been tested. We shall sco how the much advertised superman" comes out of the trial.

A MYSTERY CANDIDATE. Politicians have something to learn from the American Presidential campaign. The silent candidate won the Republican nomination. Nobody knew what .Jr. Hughes thought on .'my political topic. Everybody knew what Mr. Roosevelt thought. Mr. Hoot was equally outspoken. But both were overwhelmed by the amazing popularity of the silent and mysterious Mr. Hughes. It is something of a rarity in politics for the silent man to win, but the Americans are nothing if not original. When the campaign opened the mystery about Mr. Hughes and his views was admitted to be something of a drawback. Gradually it was suggested that views and opinions really did not matter. Finally it, was agreed that in a Presidential campaign silence was a positive virtue. This is how the New York Times put it. " Hughes has an inestimable advantage in the fact that he cannot talk. He is so situated that it would be an impropriety to ask him to talk. He cannot be accused of shirking or cowardice, as would be the case if he "were anywhere in the world except on the Bench' He has the same advantage that Alton B. Parker had in 1904. and which was the one thing that nominated that figure of disaster. For him are men of all opinions, all of them confident that he is of their!". Many pro-Americans who are afraid of Roosevelt and don't like Root turn to Hughes; so do many pro-Germans who are not contented with two-spots. Radicals are for him as a radical, conservatives are for him as a conservative. The weakness of this situation is that as soon as he is nominated and gets off the Bench he will have to talk, and the moment he talks, whichever set of opinions may turn out to be his, he will necessarily alienate onehalf of thoss who nominated him." There appears to ho a touch of sarcasm in the closing sentence, but in spite of it the Republicans were evidently convinced that silence was an " inestimable advantage." So far as we know Mr. Hughes has not yet risked alienating any section of those -who nominated him, and judging from the mood of his supporters it would not be surprising if he finds good and sufficientreasons for keeping silent to the end. The Gen"eraj>.