MR. A. J. BALFOUR ON THE TIDE OF VICTORY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 16775, 16 October 1916, Page 6

MR. A. J. BALFOUR ON THE TIDE OF VICTORY.

On the completion of the second year of war, August 4, Mr. A. J. Balfour, First Lord of the Admiralty, issued an important statement, in the course of which he

says:—

"The second anniversary of the British declaration of war provides a fitting opportunity for a brief survey of the present naval situation. The consequences, material and moral, of the Jutland battle cannot be easily overlooked; an Allied diplomatist assured me that he considered it the turning point of th© war. "The tide, which had long ceased to help our enemies, began from that moment to flow strongly in our favour. This much, at least, is rue, that every week which has passed since the German fleet was driven, damaged, into port has seen new successes for the Allies in one part or other of the field «>f operations. It would be an error,, however, to suppose that the naval vi> tory changed the situation ;what ,t did was to confirm it.

" Before the Jutland battle, as after, the German fleet was imprisoned. Tin; battle was an attempt to break the bars and burst the confining gates. It failed, and with its failure the Higli Seas Fleet sank again into impotence. The Germans' claim Jutland as a victory, but in esse_ce they admit the contrary, since the object of a navil battle is to obtain command of the sea,; and. it is certain that Germany has not obtained the command, while Great Britain has not lost it. Tests rf tihs assertion are easy to apply. Has the grip of the British blockade relaxed since May 31 ? Has it not, on the contrary, tightened ?

" Tlie Germans themselves will admit the increasing difficulty < f importing raw materials and foodstuffs and of exporting their manufactures; hen^e the violence of their invectives against Great Britain."

MUNITIONS FLOW INCREASES-:

Mr. Balfour argues that ?f they had felt themselves on the way to maritime equality the Germans would not have so loudly advertise., the Deutsehland incident, the whole interest of which, in German eyes, was to pro vn their ability to elude the barrier raised by the British fleet between them and the outer world. As further proof vt the "impotence" of the German fleet, Mr. Balfour points to ihe eyer-increas-ing flow of men and munitions from England pouring across the Channel to France.

"It has reached Colossal proportions," he continues. "Its effects on the war may well be decisive. Yet never has it been more secure from attack by enemy batleships or cruisers than it has been since the German 'victory' of Jutland."

The First Lord refers to German ex. hortations to look at the map and see the extent of German successes, and adds: " That depends on what maps you take. Even the map of Europe shows an ever-shrinking battle line. But look at the maip of the world.. A'! ol Germany's colonies, are .gone except East Africa,, which even as I write seems slipping from her grasp. Has the battle of Jutland opened the small est prospect of Germany regaining these colonies or given a moment's respite to the hard-pressed colonists ;n Germans East Africa."

FAILURE OF SUBMARINES

Mr. Balfour advises those requiring further proofs of the value the Germans attach to their "victorious fleet" to study the German policy of submarine warfare, and says : —v "The advantage of submarine attacks on commerce is that they cannot be controlled by superior fleet power in the same way as attacks by cruisers; a disadvantage is that they cannot be carried on a large scale consistently with the laws of war or th.c requirements of humanity. They make, therefore, a double appeal to German militarism—an appeal to its prudence and an appeal to its brutality.

"The Germans knew that their 'victorious' fleet was useless. It could he kept safe in harbour while the submarine warfare went on merrily outside. They knew that submarines cannot be brought to action by battleships or battle cruisers. They thought, therefore, that to these new commerce destroyers our merchant ships must fall an easy prey, unprotected by our ships of war and unable to protect themselves. "Th.ey were wrong in both respects, and doubtless it is their wrath at th<? skill and energy with which British merchant captains and British crews have defended the lives and property under their charge that has driven the German Admiralty into its latest and stupidest act of calculated ferocity— the judicial murder of Captain Fryatt."

The First Lord contends that the case is not worth arguing, that it is sueless to do the German military authorities the injustice of supposing they were animated by solictude for the principles of international law, and accidentally blundered.

CALLS GERMANS BLUNDERERS

"The illegality of their folly," he continues "was of a different kind. It flowed from a different source. They knew that Captain Fryatt was doing his duty, and they resolved at all costs 11 discourage imitation.

"What blunderers they are! They know how to manipulate machines, but of managing men they know less than nothing. They are always wrong, becasue they always suppose that if they behave like brutes they can cow their enemies into behaving like cowards. Small is their knowledge of our merchant seamen. I doubt whether one can be found who has not resolved to defend himself to the last against piratical attack. But if there is such a one. depend upon it, ho will be cured by the last exhibition of German civilisation. And what must neutrals think of all this?

"The freedom of the sea means to Germany that the German Navy is to behave at sea as the German Army behaves on land. It means that neither enemy civilians nor neutrals may possess rights against militant Germany; that those who do not resist will bs drowned, and thas£ who do will be shot.

"Already 244 neutral merchantmen have been sunk in defiance of law and humanity, an,d the number daily grows. Mankind, with the experience of two years of war'behind it, has made up its mind about Carman culture. It is not, I think, without material for forming a judgment about German freedom."