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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 146, 27 July 1914, Page 6

When the First Lord of the Admiralty some months ago indicated his faitli in Die development of the oildriven battleship, the lineal decendants of those blind patriots who, decades before, had called on Providence to prevent the substitution of steam for sail, and steel for oak, made an hysterical appeal against a Minister who could cherish such abandoned and dangerous ideas. Time is proving Mr Churchill's farsightedness and perspicacity. The Admiralty has determined that England shall not be a day behind the fair when the oil engine comes intfc its own, and in pursuance of that policy it purchased options in Canada, r t ud has completed a big deal with the Anglo-Per-sian Oil Company, securing by this

transaction the controlling interest in the company. The discovery of excellent oil in British Papua has added a fillip to the new maritime development, and a cable message to-day tells of the purchase of a large field in California by a British company, with a capital of v £i2,000,000. • The company is to provide oil for several of the leading British lines of steamers, and intends to build a large fleet of oil-tank steamers for the transport of the oil in bulk. All the evidence points to the Admiralty having got in "on the ground floor," so far as the supply of oil for maritime use is concerned. It would have been an absurd business policy for the Admiralty to have waited for the perfecting of the explosion engine before proceeding to ensure a regular supply of fuel, since much of the world's visible oil is in the hands of "trusts" who would not scruple to take advantage of the new order of things. No doubt, the naval authorities at Home had thoroughly satisfied themselves as to the prospects of the oil-driven engine before recommending the country to commit itself to the expense incurred in securing the control of the Anglo-Persian Company. That deal promises, as one commentator has expressed it, to bring. England as much good fortune as resulted from the purchase of the Suez Canal shares.