The Daily News. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1917. THE SUBMARINE MENACE.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1917. THE SUBMARINE MENACE.

Sir Eric Geddes, the First Lord of the Admiralty, like most men of capacity and ability, is careful and cautious in his public statements. Hence his recent references to the submarine menace are significant. A few weeks ago he declared that submarine warfare was becoming a test of determination, grit, and ingenuity between the two contending forces, and yesterday he warned the British public that the favorable returns as to shipping losses were not to be taken as an indication that the submarine menace ha.: ">een defeated. The House of Commons and the country, he continued, should neither be uplifted nor depressed by one good or bad month's sinkings, but the steady downward curve since April was showing that we were mastering the menace. Laist week's sinkings were less than in any other of the 38 weeks since the campaign of ruthless submarining began. Only one vessel of over 1600 tons and five under 1600 tons were sunk, compared with the next previous best record of twelve boats sunk, eight being over 1600 tons. It is not the sudden drop that counts so much; it is the consistently "steady downward curve," proving, as it does, that the anti-submarine mesaures are daily becoming more effective. During the first 30 months of the war, Britain was able to replace all but five per cent, of her ships. No special effort was made to accelerate shipbuilding, it being felt that the submarine campaign could be effectively checked without it. No one anticipated that the Germans would go to the length of challenging the rest of the world by indulging in indiscriminate sinkings of all vessels, neutral and enemy alike. But so confident were they of reducing Britain, the mainstay of the Allies, by this means that they took the inhuman course which immediately brought the United States and other American States into the war. From February to November our losses were 2,500,000 tons, or 14 per cent, of our total shipping. Mr. Lloyd-George estimates that our output of new shipping for 1917 will be 2,880,000 tons, of which one-fourth will become available in the remaining two months of the year. Next year our yards are expected to turn out 4,000,000 tons, whilst America proposes to build no less than 7,600,000 tons, or 1,500,000 tons more than was suggested by the British Shipping Controller as necessary. France and Japan have also embarked on big shipbuilding programmes, whilst there is considerable activity in the neutral yards. It is safe to say that, all told, 12,600,000 tons of new shipping will be available next year. The Germans set out with the intention of sinking 10,000,000 tons, which they vainly believed would fatally affect the Allies' military efforts. Admiral Scheer said some months ago that "a child can reckon that with the present rate of sinkings the day must come when England must see that she must give in." But the Hun Admiral was counting without the anti-submarine measures, which must be responsible for a considerable decrease in the number of the submarines Sir Erie Geddei has stated

| that the net reduction in tonnage during the last four months had been 30 per cent, less than was estimated early in July. Every month sees a diminution in the sinkings, which is a hopeful indication of the efficacy of our preventive measures. The days are short iu northern waters just now, which must seriously hamper the operations of the enemy; but, apart from this, we have good reason to believe that our navy is finding a successful antidote to the submarine, and that German predictions as to finishing the war by this atrocious campaign will be falsified, just as have been their prognostications regarding their military operations. Britain is overcoming the greatest peril she lias had to face, and can look to the future with the greatest hope and confidence.