The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1918. FIGHTING THE SUBMARINE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 158, 23 March 1918, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 1918. FIGHTING THE SUBMARINE

\ » g ■: The statement on the shipping situation made by the First Lord of the-Admir'alty is. distinctly of a character to warrant a confident outlook. This broad impression will hardly be disturbed by fault-finding criticism like that which is credited to-day to Lord Charles Beresford and; to' several British newspapers. ■I't is, of course, true • that a rest-and-be:tha'nkful attitude in regard to the submarine menace is as far as possible from being justified, and that unsparing efforts are still demanded in order th'at the- underwater craft may be effectively met and ultimately defeated. But, taking reasonable account of the fact that tho enemy's piratical activities have given riso to a titanic contest for supremacy, with enormous resources thrown into tho scale on either side, we have every reason to regard with' pride and gratitude what has already been accomplished by the fighting and industrial organisations devoted- to defeating the submarine;; As an instrument for preying on maritime commerce and attacking sea transport the submarine is still formidable, but it does not seem unreasonably optimistic, in view of the facts supplied bv Sir Eric Geddes and Mr. Lloyd.' George, to hold that its prospects of.becoming;!.decisive factor in the. war have definitely vanished. Too muiih honour .cannot be paid to the enterprising,-gallant, and devoted sailors of the Royal Navy and the mercantile marine, to whom we are chiefly, indebted for the great strides that have already, .been taken towards defeating the high hopes the enemy ■formerly based upon his subOur sailors and thoso who aire seconding their efforts on. land have not_ yet completed their task, but . in its present magnitude their achievement ranks as one of the greatest' of the war and one that makes heavily for enemy defeat and Allied victory. _ For the purposes of a comprehensive survey, the facts now furnished by the First Lord of the Admiralty must be read in conjunction with information which was- already available.. The essential facts are that lofeses of shipping are declining, that submarines are now being destroyed as fast as they are being built,- and- that 'the new ■ construction which neutralises losses is expanding , apace, though not yet -as; rapidly as is desirable in view of the almost unlimited demand 'for ..shipping tonnage to,which the war has given rise. In- all, .'six million tons of shipping were destroyed last year, _ but. not' much less than half of this amount—2,soo,ooo- tons—was destroyed during tho . first four, months of the year. The declino in losses during subsequent months was therefore substantial.- The rapidly increasing rate at which submarines were destroyed as last year ran its course ranks as the most important factor accounting for the'more'satisfactory position now reached as compared with the time when the unrestricted campaign was at its height. In-their aggregate cffect ■these facts distinctly warrant a belief that only an adequate effort in British and Allied shipyards is now needed to convert the partial defeat of the submarine into total defeat. Evidently both Sir Eric Geddes and* his political chief believe that such an effort will not be made "in. vain. They are perfecting the necessary organisation, according to Mr. Lloyd George the supply of steel is quite satisfactory, and although conditions in regard to the supply and attitude of labour are still in some respects unsatisfactory, they seem to be decidedly better than those described _by Sir Edward Carson as obtaining previously , during his term as First Lord. The Government at all events js taking definite action, by appointing Lord Pirrie, an experienced director of shipping enterprise, to control the construction of merchant shipping, and in other ways to strengthen what is weak in the existing organisation and to make good shortcomings. Few men are less given than Sir Eric Geddes to unreasoning optimism, and ho is probably setting a moderate Ostimato upon the probablo effect of the measures now in train in declaring that it is well within the capacity of tho Allied yards, even of the British yards, before verj lonp, with a proper supply of material and man-power, to entirely replace tho world's losses on the present figures.

Some of the _ First Lord's critics have accused him.of failing to impress the nation with the need for a supreme effort, but Siu Eiuc Geddes is a practical man of affairs and not a popular orator. Probably he could have escaped this charge in no other way than by citing figures showing just what additions of shipping tonnage are needed by the Allies in order that

civil and military demands may be fully met. Such figures would probably be sensational, but it is likely that they are withheld oil the ground that they are of material value to the enemy. It is surely hardly necessary, however, that statistics should be cited in order to prove that the Allies stand in urgent need of a very great accession of shipping tonnage. The existing shortage of shipping is making itself acutely felt in all Allied countries, and it is, or should be, very clearly understood also, that the conditions attending the transportation of the American armies will heavily accentuate this shortage and its effects for a considerable time to come. It is computed that sixtons of shipping are needed to maintain an American soldier in France—that is to say, that six million tons (nearly one-fifth of the world's ocean-going tonnage at the outbreak of war) are needed to maintain in France American armies aggregating one million men. What the First Lord has done is to demonstrate that the efforts of the enemy submarines to cut down the tonnage .available to the Allies are already being neutralised and that there is every prospect of improving results as time goes on. But the facts before the public, while in this sense they warrant confidence, also make it perfectly dear that all the shipping that can possibly be produced for a long time to come in Britain, America, and in other countries, must fall short—perhaps seriously short—of completely satisfying" demands. Making judicious use of these facts, there should be no difficulty in convincing the shipyard workers that unsparing efforts on their part aro a vital condition of Allied victory.