NAVAL CONSTRUCTION

Otago Witness, Issue 2955, 2 November 1910, Page 30

NAVAL CONSTRUCTION

THE ARMAMENT WAR. GERMANY'S STRENGTH. CAPTAIN MAHAN'S VIEWS. THE ONLY~SALVATION. BRITAIN'S READINESS. LONd"ON ; October 27. Addressing 6000 people in St. Andrew's Hall, Glasgow, Mr Bonar Law, M.P., said; We are engaged with Germany in a war of armaments, and victory will rest with the Powejr possessing tbja greatest resources. Germany's re-. sources in Germany are equal to Great' Britain's, and she is building her navy, by means of loans. I have been reluctantly driven to the view that we must do likewise. Mr Law added that Mr Lloyd George and Mr Winston Churchill, judging by, their utterances, had been probably, driven more reluctantly to the same view. The First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr M'Kenna) has -authorised the statement that lie knows nothing about the naval loan which the Government is alleged to contemplate. The Daily Telegraph confirms the statement of the naval correspondent of the Daily News that, in consequence of Great Britain commencing to arm her vessels with 13£in guns, while Germany, has just commenced to arm hers with 12in guns, Germany has not begun the four Dreadnoughts which her naval programme proposed should be laid down this year. It is probable that the delay, in German construction will be 'l2 months'. Mr Asquith's statement in- the House of Commons on the strength of the 1 two nations, in capital ships must accordingly be recast as follows: — At fch© end of 1911 Great Britain will have 16 and Germany 11 Dreadnoughts. In April, 1912, Great Britain will have 20 and Germany 13; in April, 1913, Great Britain 25, Germany 13. The paper adds that by April, 1914, Germany will probably have complete 21 Dreadnoughts, and/ Great Britain will then have 25, in addition to those of next year's programme. Speaking at Edinburgh, 'Mr Haldane (Secretary for War) said the command of the sea is the root and foundation of our military policy. If I thought we were not keeping that command, I would not consent to hold office one day longer. Writing in the Navy League Annual for 1910-11, Mr A. H. Burgoyne, M.P., the well-known naval critic, estimates that Great Britain in March, 1913, will have 27 Dreadnoughts, Germany 17, Germany and America 25, Germany, Italy, and Austria 21. LONDON, October 31.

Captain Mahan, in an article in the Daily Mail, says that an examination, of the international situation shows that the balance of the Triple Alliance witmatches the triple entente on land, but a real off-set to the military power of the Triple Alliance is the financial resources of France and the British navy. Granted & continuation of the present laws of capture, the wonder is that intelligent Britishers advocate immunity, from the incidence of war for seabornecommerce under the delusive definition of private property. Britain's command of the seas is the sole • deterrent to war. Owing to the adoption of Dreadnoughts Germany has entered on a struggle for preponderance, when anti-Dreadnoughts shall be confessed to be obsolete, with very little start against her, and the only salvation from war is Britain's readiness for war. BERLIN, October 28. The Tageblatt interpret-? Admiral von Koester's speech to the Eisenach branch of the Navy League as foreshadowing what the Estimates will provide for and an amendment annex to the navy law whereby two cruisers will be submitted in place of one annually. The maximum number of ships will remain unaltered, btut the group of six cruisers will be completed thiiee years earlier than arranged. Germany will thus annually begin three capital ships instead of two from 1912 to 1914 inclusive. BERLIN. October 31. The Admiralty has furnished the Daily Mail's correspondent with an official communication which states filial the 13£in guns on the new British ships are received in Germany with equanimity, in view of the universal confidence in Germany's gun material. Wide sections of the population in Germany regret the new step along the path first trodden by England with the introduction of Dreadnoughts, since the higher cost of construction is unavoidable. The Admiralty states that it lias 20 vessels of the 1910 Budget ordered, as usual, and they will be completed in accordance with the naval law. VIENNA, October 30. The Neu Freie Prcs.se states that, even if the building of three German Dreadnoughts is postponed, Germany in 1913 will nevertheless possess 18 Dreadnoughts, and not, as stated, 13, conv pared with Great Britain's J!5.