THE BLOCKADE OF GERMANY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 292, 13 July 1917, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE BLOCKADE OF GERMANY.

WHAT IT MEANS. ' An interesting announcement was made to the House ef Commons recently by Sir Edward Carson, "First Lord of the Admiralty, as to what the navy was doing in relation to the blockade of Germany.

During last year, lie said, we examined on the high seas, or in harbour, 15,158 ships. The number examined since the beginning of the war was 25,874. "That is the work which constitutes the blockade of Germany," he said, an dcomplimented the navy on its success in dealing with this herculean ta.sk. He praised, too, the .work of the naval division in France.

Proceeding to the submarine menace, Sir Edward opened his remarks with the important observation: —" It is not a recent menace. It has been for months and months a growing menace, staring us in the face." He took office, ho fciaid, with a full sense of responsibility aaid anxiety as to this menace, and had never ceased to work at it. People asked him, "Are you optimistic?" or "Are you pessimistic?" "I am neither one nbr the other," ho contnued. "My duty is to tell the House and the country the whole extent of the menace, ft is grave, it is serious, and it has not yet been solved. We have never for a moment ceasied to work at it in the Admiralty, but no single magic remedy exists, or probabiy will exist. But lam confident that in the development of measures which have been and are being devised its seriousness will by degrees be gradually mitigated. (Cheers.) " We have etablished at the Admiralty an anti-submarine department composed of the best and most experienced men we could draw for that purpose from men serving at sea, whose whole time is devoted to working out the problems in connection with this menace, I have had their reports brought before the Board, and the Board takes full responsibility. Shortly after Sir John Jellicoe came to the Admiralty •we issued an invitation to every member of the fleet to send in any suggestions that occurred to them for dtealing with these difficult questions.

"We have in addition an Invention and Research Department, presided over by Lord Fisher, and associated with him are the greatest scientists the country pasSesses. He is there to tel lthem the wants of the Admiraty, and they are there to work out methods by which those wants can be met. There axe men like Professor Thompson, Sir Charles Parsons, and many other? associated with them. I am sorry my right hon. friend opposite (Mr. Lambert) described a body of that kind the other night as 'a chemist's shop.' These are some of the greatest men we have, and they are giving us of their best, and I cannot for a moment admit that a distinguished public servant like Lord Fisher is not also giving to the Admiralty ungrudgingly tho whole of his abilities in trying to solve this question, which affects our very existence."