Waterbury Democrat., 1902-08-16
THENAvALPA ARADE
London Writers Criticize Men
and Vessels Harshly.
FLAGS, PAINT AND GLIDING

Naval Critic Cloves Says That is All
Some of the Vessels Amount to-
King Edward Viewed the Fleet at
Spithead, Which Completes the Cor
onation Program-New York Con-
gresham Talks on Prosperity in the
United States.
London, Aug 16.-The great naval
parade off Spithead is filing columns
OF the London papers with indictments
of the admiralty as well as panegyrlcs
of the magnificent pageant William
Laird Cloves, the naval critic and MS
torical writer, who is unquestionaDly
an authority on comparative naval sta
tistics and who cannot be classed as
an alarmist, writes that while there
are a dozen very efficient battleships
off Spithead and a few cruisers, all
comparing fayorably with those of the
best foreign construction, the bulk OF
the great fleet is merely an "exhibi-
ton of flags, paint and gliding, and the
majority might we'll be built of card
board, as they are mere dummies, too
feeble to fight and too slow to run
away"
The admiralty is also coming in for
scathing criticism on account of the
overcrowding Of transports Return
ing colonial troops from Cape Town,
the steamers Britannia and Drayton
Grange, going to Australia, were de-
vastated with measles, pneumonia and
pleurisy. The stories of filthy quar-
ters and inadequate medicine and food
rival anything charged in connection
with the "fever ships" which arrived
at Camp Wyckoff, Montauk Point,
Long Island, after the war with Spain.
Official statements from the admiralty
all deny overcrowding. but the fact re-
mains that after indignant protests
from Australia the transport Aurania,
then on the eve of sailing for Cape
Town. before proceeding disembarked
205 officers and men. thus admitting
that the ship was overcrowded to this
extent
Even more serious from national
point of view than the transport, re-
Tnopnt and commissary scandals, is the
problem Of caring for the hordes of
discharged soldiers now clamoring for
employment. There is no question
that the various relief organizations
accomplished a vast amount of good
throughout the war and they are still
doing so. They disbursed literally
millions of pounds sterling in aid of
widows. orphans and invalids, but now
the warehouses; OF the United Kingdom
are filed with tine-expired men, and
In all the big towns masses of volun-
teers and reservists are vainly seeking
fresh situations in place of those the
employers promised to hold open till
after the war. but did not do So
Strangely enough, while the cities are
glutted with men out of work, the
farmers in all sections of the country
are reported to be lamenting the dearth
Of field hands.
Portsmouth. Eng, Aug licking Ed
ward completed the program of the
coronation festivities to-day by review
ling the fleet for the first time since his
accession. From a spectacular point
of view the assemblage of a hundred
and odd warships in the roadstead off
fSpithead was magnificent show, but
to those looking beneath the brilliant
veneer of paint and polish it was evi-
dent that the fighting strength Of the
fleet was by no means formidable.
The lines of ships were thickly dot
ted with ineHectives. Among these
fmay be meAzioned the third-class
cruiser Calliope, of Apia fame, while
Others included such relics as the bat
tIeships Devastation, Dreadnaught and
Camperdown
London. Aug 16.-A lengthy inter
view with former Congressman Jeffer-
son M. Levy of New York is published
fto-day. In it he dwells upon prosperity
idn the United States, which he consid
eds is assured for years by the enor-
mcus crops now under cultivation.
He says the uncertainty expressed
by some financial writer's regarding the
lpermanence of general prosperity, the
financial situation and the increasing
value of securities is entirely uncalled
for, and that European fnanciers pay
400 much attention to the New York
sweekly bank returns, which do not
fairly represent bank reserves.
The shipping combine headed by J.
Pierpont Morgan he considers will
prove beneficial alike to the commerce
of Breat Britain and the United States.
$50 fears of an adverse effect upon
British trade and interests are unneces