New-York tribune., 1894-01-07
LORDS OF TIE SEA.
ET-ROPE WORRIED ABOUT IT'S NAV 'iT'
PREPARATIONS. OFFENSIVE AND
DrEENsIVE. FOR THE FUTURE.

, ,1 ceorga Hamilton has been thrashihe o''
/ tho suhiect in THE National Review 'he e"''
~ which IS a son Of Admiral MaNse' anu III "
House of Commons. where Mr. GLADSTONE wa" "
mos, driven to bay by him. The frah'o-i'"
/ combination looks on with keen interest 4" W.
agitation that is beginning in fis'"""
/ 49,, ,.oi 1efences It seems probable that the
a,o,,,ist articles on the French Navy when nave
baen aprearing in NJ Clemcnc"auS Papc' nav
heen prompted in order that some OF 'neSe uA'
John Bull may he found mapping py J. 'a''o ""N
Russia As to the panic about frehch 'o'''
fences II has the appearance OF peihs bo' Wy Wy ~
/ iron manufacturers for business purposes,
uho ora making most noise about it are all III
one way or another Interested in the ''aN'"s "
,ror tornedo steamers iron cruisers ana IRON
Mated floating forts. If we believe La 1"st,'e,
the boilers Of the warshps built In the 9'a'e
d,cl,vards are always bursting. and the Marehso'
wbich Admiral Gervais took as his fagsH'P ~
Cronstadt could not have her guns faplu's
ebict.d from one side to another of III" ueO"
without laundering. To believe Sir Sn''
Dilke who resided long at Cap Brnh' 'he h'"u
! land overlooking Toulon, the French Navy - IA
a hieher state Of efficiency than tn" bri'is" w.
cause It's ships were planned by more cap'o'o
engineers and were more carefully onllt'
The Russians are endeavoring to secure 'he
| ortranca Of Greece into the Russo-fT"hch c"ii'-
| hination and the car has named Queeh ois"
the honorary ADMIRAL Of the squadron no" u''u''
| the command Of Admiral Avelon IN 'he H'ui''
, ranean The Greeks are essentially Sedi"'''s
noon,o ard their navy Is splenddly manned
! But il Is doubtful whether tney woulu ''Ne ~
holm forward the plans Of Russia to become a
| Mediterranean power. though the hlhs "i i"
mania who Is an intelligent man, was ioo'
he Russian
| nor,,ho The two great Inducements for the
! ,.roal,s ., nool with France and Russia Wouiu
he a desire t. injure Italy. who is jealous Vi "'
maritime strength and afraid or her NVafF' an"
| "a negotiate under favorable conditions Dig
loan in Paris. 49,
rtoI>. is almost In n state Of bankruptcy. buo
! Russian finances have improved under 'h' pres
ent car and French finances are on p''e
! basis than those Of any other Contin"h'al ''a'e'
The outlook Of England is. therefore, no' peas
ont one At the same time Mr.. Gladstone is not
to blame for seeming not II admit this iac'' ~
head Of the Government Of a powerful nation.
pridng itself on 1t; naval superiority IL "o"'u
III become him to have spoken as Lord George
| Hamilton wanted him TO do. His words nave
! ,,a, ,vaiVhed I'm Pa ris and st. Petersburg. NO
| ,nnortonce il attached to them here certainly
| hecause II IS well understood that, an alarm De-
| ing now raised about the state OF the briUs"
| Navy he must yield to the rising clahlor loF
| moro ships and greater efficiency. MT GLADSTONE
| mn, loss than Lord Salisbury. in the french
.,ou must bow to geographical conditions. and
| ,ol,e heed of the necessities arising from them.
Tho pationt. administrative Industry OF Alex
| onder III in the management OF MS hhahc'a'
.,I naval affairs Is beginning to bear the
fruits which he has been confidently expecting
n. ,,o,. H.. REGARDED as the High Admiral of the
vic
nonu,y High Admiral The Car himself was
! hr.d to the. sea but gave up the nautical career
:, witch h. seemed destined when his eldest
brother. whose prospective throne ana priue he
inherited. died He then went into the army
o,d his brother Alexis stepped into the place
,bot Alexander was To fill In the navy The
nroc,ical and theoretical knowledge OF the TWO
Lro,b.rs is invaluable to the Russian naval serv-
To-, Tho car ~ almost n wOrshipper or Peter
,h. Great and bears in mind that that barbarian
of penius attached more importance To naVai
than tn military affairs. one Of his coadJutors
is the CZarina's youngest brother. VINO IS Il
nractical seaman also. and the grand-soh-ih-laW
of Prince de Joinville the sailor Prince OF king
Louis Phnippe's family, and as well posted up
IN French and English naval matters as
Lord George Hamilton himself The Information
derived from the Waldemar-de JoinNille source
nust have been highly valued by Alexander Ill.
,,ho is extremely cautious when he wants 10
make n move
ono Of the circumstances that gave the great
recent impetus 10 the Russo-French understand
ing or alliance. was the gratuitous cessoh OF
Ueligoland by the Salisbury Government to the
German Emperor The Car did not mind Eng
land keeping the slet. but he greatly minded
+, going into the hands Of Germany which is
from
Portsmouth. Kiel. to the German Ocean. With
England at IIegoland. and that power neutral,
It would have been easy for few Danish or
| Russian vessels To have stopped German fleet
wanting to run through the canal. But it would
be- .under present circumstances. extremely diff
| cult to do so even with French and Danish
naval cooperation. AS through the ship water
way across Schleswig the German navy sta
toned at Kiel always get into the German
Ocean even when the Baltic Is frozen. it be-
comes Of vital necessity to Russia to have a
large portion Of her navy stationed outside of
the Baltic in winter Hence the negotiations
with France. first for the loan OF one or her
ports in the south. and second for her help Ia
obtain as possible. the possession or
some Levantine or other Mediterranean port.
Russia cunningly wants France to help her to
Tangier or Salonca. The excuse for asking for
one or the other Is that Russia might find her
self suddenly attacked and drawn into war be-
fore France could help her. In such case she
could not stay more than twenty-four hours at
a time In French port ana then only To coal
or To get repairs done. France wanting Tangier
for herself. and Greece wanting Salonica, Russia
is urged to take Trpoli as payment Of the war
indemnity that Turkey owes her Or France
can ce,le her Bizerta, with a secret clause ar
ranging to give 1t back. Russia can deepen
the land-locked harbor. which runs 50 far inland
ms To afford thorough protection from any squad
ron that might be wanting to get at the vessels
I'm IT, II Russia settled down at Salonca she
would not be within easy distance OF Touon or
AjacciO.
The list of Russian vessels furnished by the
! Marine Minister to the Budget Committee IL n
lon. one Sh has nine squadrons of three iron
clads and proportional number OF cruisers and
Of torpedoes. Orders are being executed In differ
ent foreign and Russian dockyards which will
considerably Increase her effective force. She
has as many as 2S irst-class vessels in the
Baltic and s In the Black Sea; 3S econd-class
vessels in the Baltic and 10 In the Black Sea
| .ln IN. IL Ih.. Rnl nd In hn