HISTORY’S PARALLEL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1735, 27 September 1917, Page 2

HISTORY’S PARALLEL.

TILER I? is an encouraging note in an interesting parallel recently pointed out between the shipping losses of Great Britain during the Napoleonic wars and in the present still more terrific struggle. At that time, as now, Great Britain dominated the world’s mercantile marine. France attempted to starve England by destroying its merchant ships, as Germany is trying to do now. The parallel goes even further. Professor W, R, Scott, of (ho Scottish University of St. Andrews, calls attention to the fact that in 1803, at the beginning of the twelve-year war that ended at Waterloo, the British merchant licet had almost precisely the same number of vessels as at the outset of the present war. To be exact, he finds that the United Kingdom, with its colonies, registered 20,803 vessels in 1803, and 20,938 in 1913. The number of vessels, of course, as Mr Win. S. Bridgman shows in a magazine article, gives no idea of the actual growth of the establishment during one hundred and ten years. The average merchant ship now has nearly ten times the tonnage of the average merchant ship in 1803. Moreover, the steamships of to-day can make several times as many trips in a year as could the sailing vessels of a century ago. The total British tonnage in 1803 was figured at a little over two millions, while that of 19.13 was just under twenty millions. The historical parallel shows that then, as now, the power holding command of the sea must retain that command at a tremendous price. The nation which commands the sea, as Professor Scott: says, risks its ships; sends them abroad to take Chances with the enemy’s privateers and war-vessels; while the nation which gives up the effort to keep its merchant marine in operation is able to hold its ships in port and save them. From 1803 to 1814 the British lost to the French nearly twelve times as many ships as the French lost to the British. During that period 5,314 British ships were taken or destroyed by the French, while only 440 French vessels were captured or destroyed by the British; Forty per cent, of the tonnage carried on the British registry at the beginning of that period had disappeared. Great Britain saved herself then by dint of a tremendous increase in the construction of new ships. During those twelve years she actually builtin new tonnage rather more than half as much as she possessed in 1803, so that the new construction, together with the prizes taken from the enemy, left the tonnage for 1814 slightly stronger than that of 1803. It was Britain’s capacity to build ships faster than French privateers could destroy them that beat Napoleon. And to beat Germany now Britain and her Allies —above all, the United States —must prove that they can accomplish the same thing again. Of the result no one among the Allies can have much doubt.