The Daily News. THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1917. SUCCESS OF ANTI-SUBMARINE MEASURES.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 March 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1917. SUCCESS OF ANTI-SUBMARINE MEASURES.

In a world-wide boasting contest the Germans would easily take the prize. Wo have become so accustomed to their idatant methods in this direction that they fail to arouse any anxiety, notwithstanding that the means used are the latest developments of frightfulness. The submarine campaign was made as luthless as Hun malice could conceive, It was intended to starve Britain into submission, and so bring about a cessation of hostilities that would enable the lamished people of Germany to be relieved of their sufferings. It was, moreover, the outward and visible sign of Teutonic desperation, and was looked upon aB the trump card that was to turn defeat into triumph. For a few weeks the submarine fiends had plenty of victims over which they could gloat, but they were mostly small vessels, a considerable number of which belonged to neutrals. It naturally took some time to organise and carry out anti-submarine measures, but this has been done witli such surprising efficacy that the campaign may be down as a mere flas!i in the pan. The First Lord of the Admiralty (Sir Edward Carson), who says he is "neither a eoward nor a pessimist,'' recently stated that the Admiralty was still grappling with the problem of maintaining the supremacy of the sea, and he cautioned the public that the position of the nation was one of gravity, as we had to deal with an enemy who had set at nought all the humanities. We could not, he asserted, afford to gamble with our fleet, for if we failed it would mean the end of our Empire.] whereas if the Germans gambled with their fleet it would not meaa even tae i end of the war. There is much good logic in this contention, but it does not touch the point in which the whole world is interested—the measures taken to deal with the menace—and on this subject the First Lord had perforce lo be silent. It is not only the actual submarine attacks that have to be prevented, but there is the equally important task of dealing with submarine minelayers, mines having been laid by this means as far away as the Cape of Good Hope, the Gulf of Aden, and Colombo. Some faint, idea of what the British Admiralty is doing to protect overseas commerce and passengers may be gleaned from the statement that whereas at the outbreak of war there were only/150 patrol boats on duty, there are now three thousand. The fact that half a million tons of shipping had been sunk in February, half of which was British, indicates that the Hun campaign had passed its zenith and was on \the down grade, and on March 8 a London cable stated on the authority oi a naval correspondent that the weekly returns of submarining showed that the situation was improving, and that the arrivals and departures of vessels had substantially increased. The correspondent added: "'While it is undeniable that the menace was serious, the damage has been slight in proportion to the tonnage. The enemy efforts to tc-rrorise our tonnage have been a failure." From various sources we learn the reason for that failure. Airships are playing a prominent part in locating submarines, with the result that few of those located escape the pa'trol boats. The new detectors have proved so successful that it is stated to be only a matter of time for the new devices to I operate with cumulative effect. Lastly, | there is a ceaseless hunting and attaekj ing of submarines (forty combats in eighteen days) that is giving them no rest, the result L.'ing that the Hun crews dislike tlieir occupation so much that some of the submarines have surrendered. The latest shipping return.", are mo?' r™*wring, and should reestablis' confidence of shippers and J the peop' generally. Like most of the

Huns' implements of frightfulness, the submarines have had their day, and have had to succumb to the remedies applied by Britain. It will he remembered that Germany boasted she would cut off the Allies from Salonika, but this boast also has been completely falsified, for we are told that the harbor is full of shipping, which is coming- and going with clocklike regularity. The recent gift of a hundred thousand pounds by the Nizam of Hyderabad toVards the anti-sub-marine campaign is particularly welcome, as indicating the loyalty of the native princes, and their desire to assist in smashing Germany's latest weapon. Italy is also actively participating in anti-submarine measures in various practical ways, and these have been productive of a fair measure of success, aa attested by the large number of sailings and arrivals. The most reliable test, however, is that afforded by the volume of British exports "and imports, and the tale these figures tell should suffice to emphasise the failure of Germany's malicious campaign. Despite submarine frightfulness, British exports in 191G approached to within nineteen millions of | the great "boom" year of 1913, when exports to enemy countries, which are now at zei'o, were worth fifty-four millions, while the imports were over nine hundred and forty-nine millions in value. The British Admiralty has evidently risen to the occasion and drawn upon the best scientific and inventive intelligence of the country. We are kept in ignorance of the number of submarines captured, but we may rest assured that although there will doubtless be further sinkings, yet the measures j taken to deal with submarines are such ■ that already the menace is.gripped, and jwhen all merchant and passenger ships are adequately armed, Germany's last hope will vanish like a dream.