The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-17
CONTROL OF THE SEA.

CONTROL OF THE SEA.
The next contest for national SUI
premacy will be- on the ocean. The ma
ton which controls the sea will dictate
terms of peace with little interference.
The lessons taught by the Spanish-Amer-
lean and the Anglo-Boer wars are not
lost on the nations of continental Eu-
rope
The martial strength Of the nations is
going into their ocean fighting machines.
Germany within the last two years has
arranged to double her navy. and if pres
ent plans do not fail. within five years
the German flag will float over the sec
Ond largest fleet of the world Whence
this desire on the part of Germany for a
powerful navy? 1t may be to protect her
growing foreign trade 1t may De to fur
Their her colonial ambitions There is
some opposition in the Old World to what
was once called the Monroe doctrine. The
American limoges may be called upon to
back up their claims Of exclusive guard
ianship OF the continent with battleship
and cruiser. England has discovered
that on land she isNas weak as a third
rate power. Her strength is in her float
ing batteries, and she Is formidable
only in her power to destroy commerce
and wreck or lay tribute upon the cities
of the coasts.
The naval duel between Spain and the
United States was hardly a fair test of
marine prOwess, but it demonstrated that
war may be fought in an hour with the
result of rendering one of the nations
tors du combat. All succeeding steps
then become a question of mercy.
War. between nations holding contigu-
Gus territory may be carried on to some
extent on the land, but the decisive bat
ties will be fought out on or under the
water. In case of war between England
and Russia, India will be invaded, but
the Russian feet and Russian commerce
will be swept from the face of the seas
In this theoretical problem, however
there is an element of uncertainty, the
submarine torpedo boat. Before the Ger
man fleet is completed it may be found
TO be as useless as a broken toy. With
the advent of the armored war ship. the
old wooden man-of-war around which so
much glory clustered was worse than
useless. With the advent of the sub
marine torpedo boat, the great iron cas-
ties, called battleships. will be naught
but death-traps.
Keeping even pace with her enemy, in
the line of naval activity. France is de-
voting all her energies to the perfection
of a submarine fleet, against which the
navies of the world will be HELPLESS. AL
ready seven of these monsters of the
deep are in commission. and twenty-six
more building. With a speed of eight
knots under water and with the power
Of remaining submerged two hours, fur
nished with apparatus to locate and tor
pedo the enemy. they will completely
reVolutionize naval warfare. For who
would ''go down to the sea in ships
with such foe liable to strike at any
moment A duel between two first-class
hattleships may be fatal to both, but
there is the savage instinct of battle,
the mad desire to kill. the roar and the
tumult of the conflict which brace the
nerves and take away the dread of death.
But to fight a foe invisible is more than
human nature can endure
It is just we'll that the last congress
refused to provide for any more battle
ships or cruisers. We have had our fight
it may be the last one of its kind. The
battle of Santiago may pass into history
as the last enga cement between iron bat
tIeships, as the battle of Mobile bay
marked the end of the old wooden hulks
which furnished deck room for the pop
guns Of the navy of forty years ago.
With the success of the submarine boat
the style of ocean warfare will undergo
a marked change. The battIeship will be
useless. The coast cities will be defend
ed by shore batteries and the harhors by
submarine torpedo boats War on the
water will be confined to swift cruisers
whose operations will be on the high
seas. and directed against the commerce
OF the enemy. Ocean warfare will be
reduced to legalized piracy, and he will
be the best fighter who can keep out of
the way Of an armed enemy Submarine
boats. being incapable of long voyages.
Will have to be carried on board the
cruisers and launched to do their work.
It is possible, that as the science of deal
Ing death advances, we may hear of
death struggles between these monsters
beneath the surface while the respective
fleets wait the issue.
At present it looks as if France held
the key to the naval situation. Although
other nations have made attempts to per-
feet the submarine boat, little has been
accomplished. Our own navy department
With show of fine scorn for anything
emanating from beyond it's curtilage, has
refused to recommend the construction
OF a submarine fleet, although so high an
authority as Admiral Dewey expressed
confidence in the ultimate success OF the