BRITISH NAVAL SUPERIORITY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1096, 7 April 1911, Page 5

BRITISH NAVAL SUPERIORITY.

j—: » A FATAL POLICY." MORE SHIPS NEEDED ON PACIFIC STATION. TWO ADMIRALS' VIEWS. By Telccraph-Press Association-Copyright (lice. April G, 9.20 p.m.) London, April G. Mr. Archibald K. Colqulioun, the wellknown writer and traveller, read an interesting paper before (he United Service Institution on "Soa Power in the Pacific." General Sir Edward Chapman, during (he subsequent discussion, said that India, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa were endangered by Great Britain's failure to adopt a suitable defence scheme in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Admiral Lord Charles Beresford declared (hat the Pacific station should be reinforced immediately. The future was gloomy because Great Britain was Hot grappling with problems -which might put the Empire in jeopardy. Admiral Sir Edmund Frcmantle said (he nation must look to the Pacific for future naval development. It was. a fatal policy to withdraw British ships from distant stations.

WEAKENING OF NORTH SEA FLEET. A CHANCE FOR GERMANY. By Telegraph-Press Associalion-Oopyriirlit Berlin, April 5. The well-known provincial journal "Neueste Nachriehten" says: ."The completion of the Panama Canal, the transference of the chief naval power of the United States to tho Pacific, and the enlargement of the Japanese fleet will force England to station a larger part of her Navy in Australian waters. This will weaken her North Sea fleet, permitting the possibility of Germany disposing of England's superiority in Home waters. Hence, Germany must speed up naval construction."

UNITED STATES AND JAPAN. THE FUTILITY OF YFAR. New York, April 5. Baron d'Estonrnelles de Constant, one of the French representatives on The Hague International Peace Tribunal, is visiting San Francisco., In a speech advocating the cause of international peace, he ridiculed the possibility of a life and death strugglo between Japan and the United States for the leadership of the Pacific. Not only would such a. struggle be a crime; it would bo folly. It would be resultless, too, except that it would cause revolution and ruin in Japan, and would antagonise Europe if Japan were victorious. Tho United States, if she won, would be unable to niako her leadership effective.

"BLUE FUNK" OR "BLIND ASYLUM." LORD CUBZON'S PREFERENCE. London, April 5. Lord Curzon, in his speech on Lord Roberts's motion in the House of Lords, said he believed that compulsory training was unavoidable. Lord Haldano had spoken of "blue funk." Ho (Lord Curzon) would rather bo in a "blue funk" in Lord Roberts's company-than-in'a , "blind asylum" with Lord Haldauc. Arbitration treaties would , stand a better chance with adequate forces behind them. Other speeches disclosed that there was striking unanimity that compulsory training was essential for home defence; . CONCENTRATION IN HOME WATERS PERILS OF THE FUTURE.' "Tho security of the British Empire, taken as a whole with many parts," wrote Admiral Mahan in a recent article, "demands first the security of tho British Islands as the corner stone of tho fabric; and, second, the security of each of tho outlying parts. This means substantially British control, in power if not in presence, of the communications between the central kingdom and the Dominions. This relation is essentially the same as that of a, military base of operations to tho front of the operations themselves. "In the present condition of Europe," he continued, "the creation of the German Fleet, with its existing and proposed development, has necessitated the concentration in British waters of more than four-fifths of the disposable British battle force. Tlipeo facts constitute Germany the immediate antagonist of Great Britain. I do not fay for a moment that this manifests Germany's purpose; I simply state the military and international fact without inference as to motives. The geographical situation of the two States reproduce- precisely that of England and Holland in the early days of Cromwell. It was not till tho nations had fought and tho Dutch were reduced, less by battle than by trade destruction, Mint (he relief of pressure■ in the North Sea enabled English action abroad. This result was attained more satisfactorily forty years later by (ho alliance of the two Slates under the impulse of a great common danger; but whether that alliance would have been feasible without the antecedent settlement by trial of strength is disputable. In the course of the earlier war the Mediterranean was abandoned by the English Navy in order to concentrate in home waters, and this concentration, coupled with the commanding position of the British Islands with reference to Dutch trade routes, determined then the issue.

A Weakened Link. "The British Navy to-da.v has in great degree'abandoned the Mediterranean for ■a. similar concentration. Over four-fifths of the battleship force is in the 'Home' and 'Atlantic' division". The Mediterranean has fallen from eleven battleships in 1S9!) to six in 1910, and those six are of distinctly inferior power. What is the contemporary significance of this , fact reproductive of a situation near three centuries ago? Constitutive, too, of a situation nov; novel; for during more than two centuries British preponderance in the .Mediterranean has been a notable international factor. The significance, a> rend bv r\n outsider, is that in the opinion of the Government, under present conditions of preparation, the security of the British Islands requires tho weakening, almost tn abandonment, of the most delicate, yet very essentinl. linkin the system of communications of the Empire. "It is entirely true (hot for tho moment the naval concentration at home, coupled with the tremendous positional advantage of Gtvat Britain over German trade routes, constitutes a ereat measure of security; and, further, Hint the British waters. oMupird as they now are, do effectually interpose between Germany and tly- British Dominions. The menacing feature in tho future is-dm nnparcnl indisposition i>nd slackness of (he new voters of (lie la*t half-century, over against the resolute spirit and tremendous faulty for organising strength evident in Germany."