Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-05-05
THE SCARED BRITONS.
yooson why britain no Longer
The .1HuIes the Waves.''
,,o,ofrne" in San Francisco Argonaut.l

mise II as the majority of people
n5 IA do. there is a verltable war
VIII q" o?otating the English nation at the
scarf time As the cause of it do not
P reoII,'t n the Egyptian scrimmage, which
al IuuU almost absurd to dignity by the
II se1 ,nf war. but to the apprehended
NAM .;I;t;as which may at any moment
hoS. ,I- ant between England and Russia
0o every side one hears the chances of
vi war discussed, and while there is
SI, of brag and bluster given to the
there is a most plentiful lack of either
a ~ oynression or display of that cool,
l uLlt+Iad confidence i'll the army and navy
SCI I'', would be the case were either or
% viz If these national bulwarks known
p0i Ia in 4 satisfactory condition. 1t is all
.,rr we'll for people to eXclaim within the
N',;fortabIe limits of such mutual admir-
.Gr, societies as club smoking-rooms,
a nJ friendly dinner-parties, that "We'll
i ii' ,am again, rs we did in the Crimea !"
I ,J Give vent TO the time-honored aphor-
an, that Zone Englishman is equal to six
Pnssans." This latter precept is, be-
i,ya one dear to the hearts of every ma
.;,n an earth. and in time of war is used
20 ull into delusiVe sense of security
.La opprehensiOns of people who are con-
.,nt to hermit national conceit to take the
,,sca Of national ability. England does
fnt possess a monopoly of the maxim.
D,rbtless the Russian thinks than Zone
Russian is equal to six Englishmen, 3"
inst as Germany relies on its belief that
German unit is the equivalent of any
other nations half dozen.
- l. .
than it is at school with boys Gas | dare
saw most Of us remember), and all the
Individual personal courage of vaporing
heroes at home won't add one man to
fine army abroad or a ship to the navy
However, in the present instance, taking
into consideration the fact that the Rus
sian army on a war footing is about two
million three hundred thousand strong,
and that England's forces, scraping to-
gether everything that she could lay her
hands upon. including regulars, militia,
Indian army, yOemanry, volunteers and
reserves. foot up considerably under
eight hundred thousand all told, there
seems to be a sort of painful necessity
that one Englishmen should equal three
Russians at least, for, were both armies
brought face to face, the Russians would
have three men where England has one.
Ia view OF such a state of things it is
nat nal that there should be a feeling far
gr.rcr fhil mere uneasiness abroad in
tie Land rs to the constitution of Eng
lands asmy-so far as the regulars are
concemed-I have had something to say
heretofore, on its pitiably weak, over
Oticered, and undetermined condition,
so | need not repeat. But when one
thinks of the regular army being in so
wretched a state, one naturally feels in
clined to wonder what the other troops
must be.
Another thing to be thought of, when
the Crimean war is referred to, is this
In that war England had France for an
aiv, and since its termination the Rus
sian army has been recognized. Yet
mother, is the present superiority of
Russia's navy. 1t has often been the
ashion to say, when the weakness of the
nglish army has been adverted to
Never mind, we've got a navy, any
w." Now, the question arises
Have we?" Imean, of course, such a
navy as not only would be fit and COM
petent to cope with Russia, but one to
pntitle us to retain in our national song
the line" Britain Rules,the Waves" If
statistics mean anything, and if what one
reads in the papers has any weight,
clearly we have not. How can we claim
the supremacy of the seas while France
has seventy-two ironclads, against
twenty-eight of ours, and three hundred
and sixty-six vessels, against two humid
red and thirtv-six of ours in commission ?
or how can our fleets contend with
those of Russia, whose navy consists OF
three hundred and eighty-nine steam
vessels, Twenty-Five of which are IRON
clads?
1t is not because England doesn't spend
money enough every year in building
ships that this unfortunate condition OF
things exists. 1t is because the men in
power at the head of the admiralty are
not fit to fill the posts that their politics
give them. The Earl of Northbrook is
the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the
noble earl knows nothing whatever about
aship, or the management and direction
OF naval affairs. Then Sir Thomas
Brassey (the prince of English snobs) is
the Secretary of the Admiralty, and his
knowledge of maritime matters, prior to
his appointment to aid in the conduct OF
those of the nation, was gained by crulS-
Ing about the Mediterranean in the snob-
Dish luxury of a vulgarly begilt yacht
called "The Sunbeam" with his wife, a
lady who as Lady Brassey, with thOus; Is
OF pounds year, aspires to prominent
position in the literary world, but who,
as Miss Allnutt, of London" before her
marriage, no one appears to have ever
heard Of What such a man can possibly
know about the navy, or how it should
be managed, it il difficult to imagine:
The other dav he had ship armor-plated
on both sides only, and let the bow and
stern 20 bare, a feat in modern naval
architecture for which he has been con-
Slderably lampooned by Punch. Yet he
goes about the country making speeches
about the navy, and its marvellous
efficiency, as though he were born and
bred at sea. Not many weeks ago another
Oh his ships, owing to the unseaworthil--
ness Of her build, neatly rolled herself
over IN a gale in the Bay of Biscay.
But perhaps the most satisfactory PROOF
9l the inefficient state of the navy has just
been given in the hiring by the Admiralty
% the Cunard liners "Umbria," "Etru-
na,' and Oregon the Guion liners
Alaska" and "Arizona," and the Ma
uonal liner America fastest SIX
Steamers that cross the Atlantic from New
lork to Liverpool. These steamers are
70 be fitted out as fast cruisers, with
nl'een guns each, and are to be employed
III lhe rapid transport OF troops in the
went OF war with Russia. That the
merchant service should have to be
u[aWn upon at a critical moment is
Gear admission 10y Brassey and his con
ieIes that the mercantile marine has
"eIer ships than the vaunted royal navy
Silu That all the talk he and others of ms