BRITISH NAVAL SUPREMACY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 29 January 1909, Page 1

BRITISH NAVAL SUPREMACY.

; . The question of maintaining British Ma power is still beiflg keenly discussed in the .United Kingdom, but there are signs that the, almost "panicky" feeling so mnch. -in evidence a few months ago is subsiding. A weighty !? I?;? 1 * the sxAjaei h- contributed to -. \y. -■€_• uttv Century and After," • • ?• x^ r .^'nm.-'Wiite, -late Director ot • Naval Construction. Written, as l -t ??__ -!_* a : tr u- l t worthy, expert, itshould do much to reawiire the doubles. Sir William,, is apparently safetied that the tvva-Power standard is .4*'.ng;we}l rtaiftUirWd, aiid can be kept, np- WiOi6iit'>onjv-^ilJiie-.prograi__me of : ; -His own.,, .opinions are ,_np|, jgiveri; ex- Wthcdra, bjit with a long *iray of facte to support and illustrate /tern. -. •■ . -. ■J'>ft* T a.y?*t4t\A analysis of the world's fleets-in-being and • .- fleets.-in-building, i"? sums ; ,up as; follows present our position -hi .one of .assured supremacy at .serf, p&vided our completed ships arei.rtainteiflerf ; in" efficient condition ;' whilei the. programme of shipbuilding iiow in . hsrid 'provides for its continued 1 miintahanes over the nert three yea ia, *V.en- if- there is no check lin the efcecUtionof the German programme...' 7We. ;have full information as. to 'the. intentions .of foreign naval authorities in the immediate future, so far as numbers of ships and rate of ex. , penditure. art concerned;- and with* our ' superior, shipbuilding resources can over- : match foriigh performance in time and ': tosty" Thera is,;of course, always tho risk that unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances-; -may cause -the entry of hew &hip 3 -fnto 6Sryice to be delayed. That risk depends upon the relation between the nations programme and the. nation's war-shipbuilding resources. Sir William White shows that it is far greater for Germany than for Great Britain. ■ The German programme makes", excessively large demands upon the industrial resources of the country. "Already," he points out, "orders for large ships have beeu placed with firms having little or no experience with work of that- class, no doubt because more experienced firms have, or will have, their hands kept full." Germany is -also feeling ths same' pinch in securing armour, gun mountings, and auxiliary machinery. In Great Britain, on the other hand, thn great construction programmes of tha' past' twenty years have developed the- resource's for building,. arming, aad;; equipping war-ships -to ,e'uch a. point that RU 'probable rsiquireihents .can -easily be; met. Germany caiwiot^ in any - care, quicken construe;_ioh "Without increasing the annual expenditure; already appropriated for tha inavj", -and^ its-. iinktictf. his long been from', chronic. d^Bcit;. Thp prcEitaiS -wfcic-i the Chancellor ;c__3-.to- faca-i? .tbat.-cf, Pairing rev^nua jcven : . apptsxin_f.teiy .. balance " espendiJure. , All these' «>nKideratio_i_. make it plain 1 that by simply holding its own in construction on ', a two-Power ■ basis, Great ißritain can .break down German comipetition. -TSir Willian White is convinced, therefore, that Vno case can ;be.rjnade oui for -entering immediately juppii, or rapjdly "executing; a large and costiy -further jrtqgramme. of new conjstijiction.'VV His -point is that Great jßritain should7 r always .safeguard its bup.^emacy^ but -never, -_io to speak, stir ,vp -t : ;foreign7 oompetitisn by excessive ■construction beyond the necessary limit of' safety. , ' .'fit cannot be doubted," ,he declares,; ".that ;tU» action taken by ;Germany '-ha«i been; greatly influenced, 'if not ab^luujjy.hroiiijited, by action taken by ihe, Jritfeh'-.iAdnHralty since j1904. If tne.'traditioiiai British policy had beea'fotlo.Wed, viz., to wait until .foreign navies, have committed themiselves to new Aphiarimmes. and then to Uke steps'^ inafci :or surpass their efforts, making sure that our ships aro completed at. least' as soon as their rivals; it is DtoKible that very large expenditure -in- both • countries would have been, saved. The pace was forced by us in 1905-7, and now the bill has to be paid."

; Mr \V«jf«r F. Gale, F.8.A.5., a welljknown.Australian .astronomer, writes «.% "Sidney Daily. Telegraph," under .date January .4: "Tie announcement in tyour-.jcables. ot.the discovery of a major planet circulating round the sun beyond the orbit ol Neptnrie'is of great importance to the scientific world. Harvard Observatory is the premier institution in (the matter of astronomical photographic investigation, and the "news is doubtless .authentic. .The. discovery of Neptune jas the result of computations based on |the irregularities in the motion of Urajnua is well known, - and occupies a first place in the' annals- of intellectual achievement. The belief in a yet more distant planet Has been strongly held for the last 30 years. Professor Forbes, of Edinburgh,, pointed out in 1880 that the aphelia of certain groups of comets jfail near the orbits' of certain planets. jWe now know that the great planets freiquently capture comets and divert them iin towards the sun, securing them for a .time as members of our system. About 50 thus move in their present paths owning to tho action of Jupiter. Two groups ihave their aphelia at distances equal approximately to 100 and 300 times the ; distance of t|i» eSJtb,; f roiii; the sun. Processor Forbes, 'maintained in 1880 that 'unseen planets circulated at these remote distances, and even computed the supposed plaoe of ttie nearer one. Photographic search wasrfnade for it by Dr 'Isaac Roberts, and' otters, but without success. Professbr.Todd, the well-known American astronomer,' also believed that a trane-lfflptunian planet, might be discovered. j'-Jcf* ipujided <his; belief, on the outstaid^S<^riS^,m-3i^^J-'on ci ■Dranu^j^j^tghsi^fci-'^leneis^f NepIt wilt-I^oft^e'^^*^4itereßmo see whether'either of "th«e -hazards-are near the truth and to witness, perhaps, another triumph of the human mind."