The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-12-29
BRITAINS JoBBED NAVY.
SHIPS DEEMED FORMIDABLE PRO-
NOUNCED IN PARLIAMENT
ROTTEN TUBS.
The Venezuelan War PrObIem-EnE-
land May Not Have Naval Strength
Enough TO Spare From Her Cor
rupted Armament

rupted Armament.
] II IS simply amazing 10 note the COM
nents and statements now current on
the subject Of the British navy. That
+ this Venezuelan business has given a
I tremendous Importance 10 England's ma
I val armament goes without saying. But
/ the superiority claimed for our cousins
/ across the sea. amuses even themselves.
I For il has been known during the past five
/ years and fercely disputed about that
{ Jobbery and corruption are rife through
/ out the admiralty, and that the huge
/ armed craft now the boast Of Britain are
! in one or two well-known cases. terribly
I only 10 the eye To what extent incOm-
/ petence and greed have sapped the vitals
/ Of the seafaring strength Of our kindred,
/ time alone can tell. But that serious con-
! Germ exists on the subject is a well-known
/ fact in London
] The trouble dates back to the admiral
l ty scandals Of I'VE years ago. 1t was al
/ legged at that time. and Mr.. Chamberlain
was one Of the loudest denunciatOrs that
I the navy seemed to exist for the sole pur-
I pose Of yielding profit 70 certain favored
. firms Of ship builders and various com
/ panies formed for the sole purpose Of
making money out Of munitions Of war
On this subjeCt, Sir Michael Culme-Sey>
mOur. BIT, X. c. B., the bravest vice ad-
miral in the British service and the man
who was cOmmander-in-chief Of the Med
iterranean station a few months ago has
uttered many warnings He was exam
ined by a parliamentary commission last
: year, and pronounced the naval supply
service utterly rotten. 1t even appeared
that the projectiles supplied for the ia
nous and unlucky CamperdoWn were
WTetchedly deficient in strength and
stinted in -caliber. The after barbette
on the CamperdCwn was temporarily dis
abled because the contractors IN their
greed had substituted an alloy for the
specified metal. 1t is upon these huge
cannon that the navy absolutely relies
for the effective operation OF naval cam
paigns and already three on three dlffer-
ent men-of-war have had to be entirely
oVerhauled and repaired.
Perhaps the most typical OF these cases
of incompetency and corruption Is that OF
II. ". s. Magnificent That boat was
long in course of construction in Chatham
dockyard and gave the admiralty no end
Of trouble The first row grew out OF the
discovery of substitutiOns in her armor
plates. The great London firms which
upon their influence TO hush up the mat
ter, and the truth has never fully come
out But if the judgment Of the Earl OF
ClanWilliam be good for anything the snip
Will have not one-half the effectiveness in
action claimed for her. She is side
heavy" and largely the product Of cheap
ton during a strike.
In fact, half the trouble occasioned dur
ing the construction Of England's naval
armament is caused by strikes. SO greedy
are the British contractors that they force
down wages 10 a minimum and seem TO
have no concern for the safety or their
country As a result, skilled labor has
drifted away from the mighty dockyards
to foreign countries. The Clyde and Glas-
gov are to-day the scenes Of fierce strikes
and all attempts to settle them have been
fruitless. The British cabinet even lately
brought pressure to bear upon the iron
masters, owing to the fact that numerous
vessels are nearing completion, and that
it is highly important that they be ahoat
with as little delay as possible. But II
was all to no purpose, and the men are
There is one vessel, launched Jan. 81
last upon which the whole naval estab-
lishment looks with pride. 1t is her maj
esty's steamship Majestic" She took the
water at Portsmouth, and in less than a
week there was trouble. AS usual the
contractors had been at their old trick
of substitution. Two of the great guns
turned out to be absolutely unmanageable.
The makers declare that the difficulty
was due entirely to the Incompetence OF
the officers, but the latter angrily denied
this Finally an investigation was or
dered, and the result is still awaited with
interest.
along the line. The trouble appears to
grow out of the existence Of a ring which
has managed to crowd out all COMPETE
y
hot heads even go the length of charging
that members of the admiralty board are
secret members of the firms who do most
of the naval business. BE tins as II may,
there have been many and fierce conten-
lions on the subject. Mr.. Labouchere as
late as the last session of parliament in
troduced a bill for the complete investi-
cation of the entire naval supply branch
of the public service. The matter was
hushed up as usual.
Another source of trouble in the British
navy is the favoritism alleged to be prac-
ticed in promotion. The miserable in
competence of a young commander who
stranded her majestys steamship
Howe" off the coast of Spain is still re-
membered. Oddly enough all attempts
to court martial this youth proved abor-
tive, and he was given another big ship.
The Howe crawled miserably home and
has been on the sick list ever since. No Sc
rious naval officer has much confidence
It must be admitted. however, that Brit
ain boasts some vessels that are really
models of their class The most conspic-
uous OF these is the recently fioated
''Dreadnaught." 1t is understood that
certain novel contrivances have been in
troduced into her equipment that may
open the eyes of the naval experts OF the
world should she engage in action. Much
curiosity has been expressed by Amer
lean naval officers on this subject, but so
far 1t has remained ungratlfied ANY
secrets which may exist on the subject
of her armament are well kept indeed
Our own sea dogs profess to have little
concern regarding the "Dreadnaught"
She has attracted no particular attention,
but we may see her in American waters
any day. 1t is understood that she may
be ordered to Venezuela.
It seems to be overlooked that the much
talked of additions to the British navy
during recent years are largely expert
mental. That is they are constructed for
the sole purpose of testing new theories in
naval armament and very often these are
found impracticable. Great Britain makes
il a rule that her navy shall equal the
combined strength of the two powers next
in naval rank to herself. This obliges her
TO be perpetually building. The result is
that huge vested interests have grown up
around the naval industries. The expen-
ditures must justify themselves by a con-
slant resort to new models and recent in
ventions. Hence the extraordinary expert
mental activity of the British naval estab-
lishment. This activity leads to general
impression that an immense amount of
formidable work is being accomplished,
when as a matter of fact, most of this
labor is found to have been superfiuous.
Another characteristic of the British
navy is its air of mystery. The outside
world is supposed to know nothing about
what is going on. The impression is sedu-
lously conveyed that the secrets are sim
ply terrible. and that England could blow
up the whole earth by simply touching
a button But no evidence has yet been adj
vanced that these horrible things really
~ a u,ord .bo pr;tfsb ,av, C. n ..o-.