THE BRITISH NAVY

Southland Times, Issue 17495, 26 April 1915, Page 7

THE BRITISH NAVY

WHAT IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR. In the Fortnightly Review Mr Archibald Hurd draws an amazing pitcure of what the British Navy has done. —A Bottled Fleet. — "The high sea fleet of Germany- has been ‘contained’ in its home ports without respite; not a single German battle squadron has been at sea. Five and ahalf million tons of German shipping and one million tons of Austro-Hun-garian shipping have been driven off the seas or captured. Germany s mercantile marine ranked second only to that of Great Britain: for some years she held ’the blue ribbon of the Allantic ; she was Britain’s most serious rival in every sea, and had practically captured from her the trade on Ihe west coast of Africa and with Brazil and Argentina, ..—Oversea Trade Strangled.— "The oversea, trade of Germany and Austro- Hungary ha-s been strangled, owing mainly to the übiquity ot British sea power. In In 13 the foreign trade of Germany a.uiounfed to £ 1,021.40n.0n0, and of this about 70 per rent, was oceanborne. The foreign trade of AustriaHungary in the same year was valued at £256.502.000: 50 per cent, of this trade was probably ocean-borne. Consequently Germany and her ally have been denied, by the loss of their sea communications, trade of an aggregate annual value of £Se:i.2HO.OOO; half of this gigantic total £131.620.000 would represent the line which the British Fleet, in association with that of France in the Mediterranean had imposed on these two belligerents since war broke out if all sea traffic had beep stopped. Some trade in neutral bottoms has, however, been carried on. and the net loss has probably amounted to about £400.000,000. —Costly Colonial Empire Lost.--"The German colonial empire lias been almost entirely destroyed. On these possessions. representing live times the aic.t of the Fatherland. Germany, down to I Has. had spent £5 6,950,000, and. the outlay in the subsequent six years having been at the rate of approximately £1,500,OOii a year, she must have spent upon her colonies altogether £66.000.000. Almost all the results of this expenditure have been lost to Germany, owing to Huisolation which British sea power imposed when the war opened, and the subsequent overseas expeditions winch ■were undertaken hy Britain and her dominions, and by Japan. A Million Soldiers Held Ep.— "There were about 40.000.000 persons of German. Austrian. or Hungarian nationality or origin resident in foreign countries ■when liio war opened. At the lowest estimate 1,000,000 of those who are of military age would have crossed the seas to fight in Europe, but for the barrier imposed by British men-of-war. In this way the supreme naval Power made no inconsiderable contribution to the strength of the Allied armies. This million -of additional men might have turned the scale decisively in the early period of the war. On the other hand, the British Fleet, while denying to the enemies the use of the seas, has secured to tho British peoples and our Allies uninterrupted ocean communication with the markets of the world, with the result that the inhabitants of the United Kingdom have been able, in the phrase of the moment to carry on ‘business as usual’ —or very much as usual.”