GERMANY'S NAVY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 27, 26 October 1907, Page 14

GERMANY'S NAVY.

- THE ACHIEVEMENT, OF A SERIOUS . FKom;. lii tho October number of tlic "Pall Mall Magazine," Mr. L. Cope Cornford conveys an .illuminating'impression of tho,lmperial German Wavy. "In the course of-his article, Air, Cornford says:— '•<; ? ■ ■ "Enumerating the classes of''battleship's! in tho order in wnich they arc built, an'J boginning at- t-hc oldest,', there are. four. Brail-' denbergs, five Kaisers/ five Wittlebachs,!" 'five Braunschweighs, aiid'. three. ; twenty-two ' 111 all,' • .Third' .are two more Deutschlands buildiiigj 1 besides'" two ' vessels ' equivalent to our. King Edwards,- and '.four ' Ersatz, or substitute-battleships,' said to" be • cquiTOient' to our -Dreadnoughts.'.; 'In the • fcrerman'Navy, battleships'are'replaced . they are 25 .years old, and the shi'ps'designcd j to replace" them aro' called" Ersatz. ~;': In ,'the / ' British Navy; • ships are . discarded,' irirespec- ~ . tive"of- age, ; wlien the Government wants :^. to save; money; - and'- they are '• onljr' replaced, as i a -rule," when' the British public wakes from its" -norma! slumbei' to' : a 1 state 'of irritation, and begins to-throw 1 things about-... . -''-''At'present,, Germany has eight armoured cruisers,';'2s protected .'cruisers, "arid over ''a hundred 1 : torpedo'-boats and destroyers;!-; The distinction - between " torpedb-boats . and der str'oyers "is; by no means so. marked' among the. Gerinan- craft as among':tho British I .'' /For practical- purposes,' the German-torpedo. flotil-; . las' may-,bo.counted as destroyers/.", V. "Tliore is no ■ despicable' political prevarication"' about- the• state of; repairs.-' in tlievGerman Na%;' Three'flotillas-rsay a hundred , boats—are kept in constant ' sea-training',, tfro : divisions at,a''time," in'; rotation. • TheS ( e craft * can njaribeuVre.withquV]i!;hts:';wi"thin n i length''of one-another;,'to 'the' sound .of ai . whistle., : ! One -would not: desire' to institute • comparisons; but if the' British destroyers : can do'as well'it is l safe tdf say ; that'they can • do no bettor. 'No one can do better."!' ... V. "They say. the German bluejacket; is over-drill«l,..--'Hc does not look liko' it.' Drjiled'he • , is; and 'as-jsmart as'a, sqjdierj,.!bui,l)o is in fine condition, liaßpy.i,'., ;' ; "They nlsd say 'that thfe-German. Navy is j ■ weakened,by' the.:short-sprvicoi.sys,t-em.', "But, the petty olficors and giiiilaycrs are. long-ser- > vico inch; and the volunteers' (as'distinguished from conscripts) are. also . long-service; men', while the' men'.who liaye completed tlieir. time : pass into the merchant servico. ;, There: are ; some 60,000 naval seamen-; in' the German 'mercantile maritio. .In ours,' there.are nearly ' 50,000 aliens.-, The;tretoendous! significance / ; of this fact is,' r of course, w-holly 'ignored^by • the British who-havejalsb acquiesced • in the'introduction of, short service into' the : British, Navy., Tlic object of this disastrous s innovation'was, of course,to .; save money. ' 'Tho. nien—oxcbpt : a very; few-^do' not pass _ 1 : into'; the' mercantile."' marine." " They.'; - pass " j ; either into the streets—thb.natural bourneof those/who serve England—or into thb; United : .Statcs-;Navy. v: y ■ V;, ( . "I 1 have the horionr of an ncquamtance with 3 ' tho officers .'of four' great navieb ;' and—if;-a >' civilian' may be pcrhiitted-'to 'cxprcss an opin- - ion for what it is!w6rth--I would remark t-hat 1' the German-officers Avork the 'strongest;' as . they,;say, of all. ! " .Indeed, physique/of ?' these people, gentle :or:'simple,- is admirable.. ' i They eat-greatly, driilk lustily, work mightily, ? aiid'remain' psrfectl.rfresh:aiid placid.. ; { ■" "The system of-training,midshipmen;differs , inany respects from our'.o.wii new scheme. But whereas bur : g hastily coiiceived,' hur'riedlv executed; lias''Cast ~aside! tho;;tradiiioiis ,'bf cbnturies,. the. (3erman 1' 'systoni : has'beon carefully'designed''and-'rigidly • : carried - out :"with a clear view- of-, the;, purpose, s to'be'fulfilled;' Thc-Imj)erml\Germau':;Nayy;; " if we' date -.its .'genesis ' -'-Ifrom' the" >Priissiaii ' Navy -of : 1848;- -is' but'-Tit'tlc more 'thaii''half' a ' ' century old.' To-day,' tlic German NavjrX'ei-' J' gue numbers 'some, 800,000 members ;' the cur--s rout yeaf's expenditure; is'-'over eleven; milt lions sterling;, hammers 'are ringing- upon' %Ko ! »■ steel hulls-- of warships; in ' the lmiierial; dbelcf yards l of Kiel, Wilhelmshavenj ahd Dantzig; 0 and' in private- yards- at' 1 Bremen, Hamburg, J Stottiri, and Kiel; there' is ail'active..ba.ttle' : fleet-bf 22 battleships; com'plete' Witlr'a'H , armoured ;cruisers, scouts, aii'd'destroyer"flo^ 1 | tillas; there are some 33,'600 men and 'officers;;' 1 -with a. reserve pf about .111,000;; Siich !!is; *' the work of ii 'serious, people."; ' -- 1 " 2 "In the preamble to the German Navy Act i of 1900, it is written, JGermany'niust have 1 so .strong a licet that, even for the'greatest ' naval Power,; a war witli her-would involve; f ; such-risks'as to imperil its own supremacy'.'' [To this:end, the Act further ordains that; ; Germany shall' be ; to •••compensate for ; num,erical : inferiority 'by ; the individual train-j "J ang of the.crews,-and by tactical training',' as' ;, the'--result-'of fleet' practice,' and; that all effil' cient ships ;shal[ be kept in: commission, bei caitse i,'cconomy as. regards commissioning ships , in -peace-time means' imperilling the - efficiency of;the,fleet-iirt-ime of-war.! :; - ' V; i i "It is instructive te compare these, dowii-' - right , and lucid statements with" the. ■•'policy;- •' of .the present British- naval administration, 1 " which, has transferred a fourth of the sea- : :j going strength .of, the fleet to the reserve,'laid- : up 20 good ships;-cut'doivu the personnol, •I and 'decreased tho building' pr6grariime. ;' It i is-instructive;: bccauso-it 'marks 1 a; contrast.- - Oil'the ono ! hand, is the; steady inflexible 1 movement of a great people towards a definite 1 I object; and on, the other, are the vacillation' t and uncertainty of.purpose of- a.-nation-rotten• J with political intrigue',' at onco. weakly credu-' lous and profoundly apathetic;'' :■ : v " g - "The 'serious pcoplo,' 1 ,-haring vcreat^';' a' r magnificent instrument of :war,' press: inlper- . turoably: forward.'- j-Las't- year, the German 1 ■ supplementary naval programme;' orNovellt;,s provided for the increase in sizo'of armouredc vossels, for <tho building of' six additional" 3 armoured cruisers, and* 48 destroyers, . the; ■ requisite increase; in tha_ number of nion', ; and I [■ officers,"and r -a progressive increase '-in '• the yearly amount to be voted • for new construe-; ! '°' o "6tliei-nations may 'do;tho like"; but there I is not one of them that has Gormnny's ten--' } acity of purpose and calculated-continuity ot 3 policy,"which have already achieved- results . 1 so portentous. I«would point, no moral coh--3 ccrning-international politics; there are too' J. many employed about that dubious 'business. It was duo to tho extreme, courtesy of : the " Empcror of Germany that I was privileged-to: ~ seo -something- of an- admirable achievement in sea-power. I have tried to convoy some - sucECstion' of.-that inspiring spectacle, and c that is all. " 1 "It is the fashion jusli now,m this country, 1 t 0 whinipcr at- the .Very name of war; and- a 5 deal of abstract philanthropy' is -invoked.in I its-reprobation. : , But there is another quality t in theso outcries,-which is apt t-p be ignored:' » and:t'ho'name of it is cowardice.'.', ~ ■ ; i-:-'