The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-18

Certain foreign governments have gone
much further ahead in this direction than
have We One European power tFrance)
has already a melinite shell in service Oh
its waTships. We may expect then in the
next naval war an attack from these pro-
jectles not only from shore but from ship
board batteries. Now we have in the Eng
fish Navy battleships OF the Majestic type
which with the exception of the parts
covered with heavy weight armor would
be targets at viii for an attack of these
pr9jecties. For the batJiCships the entire
main deck space, fore and aft. with the
exception Ct the eight easements. would
be a shambes in fifteen minutes As for
the cruisers of the Powerful type they
would serve as mere sport and pastime for
an energetic enemy. Their only defence
would be in the fire of their own guns-or
in fight"
TIE French battleships. according 10 Gen
eTsl de Ia ROGUE are net only better sea
boats than the English and hence have
more stable gun platforms but they are
better protected throughout their entire
length and have decidedly superior artil-
lery. With a fleet of such bait eships to
clear the way for transports the French
general is confident that the invasion OF
England would be a much simpler thing
than the English themselves suppose. So
fixed is General de la ROGUE in his opin-
ion that the mission Of the French Navy
in the war with England is to make way
for the landing of a French army en- Eng
lsh soil, particularly in England, Ireland,
and Egypt, that he can see no other use for
it. He says:
If, contrary to my views. this aggress-
i've action upon the territory of the British
Empire were decided to be impossible,
then / would be OF opinion that our navy,
maintained at such great expense, is a
luxury which we had better abandon de-
voting the money it costs to works Of IA
tional utility and to our army.
vulnerable Points Many.
THE area Of the English possessions is
great; the vulnerable points for various
reasons are numerous. Thirty or forty
thousand men, real troops, resolutely land
ed in England itself, would not be easily
dislodged by the rich and majestic regi-
ments Of Great Britain"
After thus outlining the part the French
Navy will play in the war with England,
General de la ROGUE proceeds to exp und
his programme for this years develop
ments of the country's sea power with the
view of making it most effective for tee
part ii is TO pay. He is, be-
fore and above all thing, for battlesh .ps.
He reproaches the sensible naval men of
France for not speaking out more unre-
seryedly against the rage for cruisers, gun
boats, ard torpedo boats.
They joke among themselves" says the
General, about maritime dust and ill
protected. ill-built parliamentary cruis-
ers, which are incapable of firing a shot
the moment the sea becomes a little rough
They relate in private conversation that on
the return voyage from Kiel the much
Wanted Dupuy de LONE rolled so that
She could not have landed a single shot on
her cousort, the battleship Hocne. whose
deck on the other hand was so steady
that she could have riddIcd the Dupuy de
LONE with guns fired from platforms al
most as stable as those under the rifles Of
4 land battery. They say these things
among themselves, but they do not say
hem publicly and authOritatiyely as they
,hoult do.
Ii Is time for them to affirm regardless Of
consequences that the ship for naval com
,at is the armorcldd battleship-the battle
hip with everything above its water line,
IS well as its large calibre artillery, pro-
ected even from the enemy's hardest
flows. Such a ship should have great sta
,ility Of platform combined with the great
st mobility in evolution. so as to multiply
he rapid action OF its heavy artillery at
he decisive moment of the combat"
Gen. de la ROGUE is not in favor Of ex-
ggerated fore and-aft armament, but
would put much Of the weight that nov
oes into these guns into heavier broad |
ides. The French ships of the Suffren !
'harlemagne, Gaulois, and st. Louis type |
re overloaded with guns the thinks, |
which is an errCr to be guarded against.
His naval programme for the year, in |
eneral terms is to set every arsenal and |
hipbuildiGg plant to work turning out bat
Ieships of from II 600 to u 600 tons. at the |
ate Of five every two years. As these !
essels would rarely. if ever. leave the /
'Tench and English coasts wide radius Of /
elton and speed are secondary considera- |
ions
To supplement the bsttleship he would |
ave a proportionate force of partially pro- |
acted, lightly armed cruisers to serve as |
couts and sea cavalry. And, above all, |
e would have great haste made in the |
obstruction Of transports to be used. after
be French feet has broken the British /
avail line Of defence. in conveying the half |
lillion or so Of French soldiers to the vul-
cradle points on the shores OF the British |
sles.-New York Sun.