New-York tribune., 1903-03-14
THE FRENCH NAVY.
Difficulties srith Which II. Camille
Pelletan Is Contending.
Paris. February q.

FORMER, VINO. with the advent Of the Comics
Cabinet. assumed control Of the Ministry CT
Marine. is q rugged. hustling orator and jour
na1ist whose democracy verges socialism.
The new minister at once set about to overhaul
the various departments under his control He
cut and slicei away at red tape and routine.
The veteran functionaries OF the Ministry In the
Rue Royale were up In arms against their chief.
who. however. soon put them through their
facinEs- He visited all the ports and ar
senals under his jurisdiction, including tie
stations at Bizerta and in Corsica He up
set the traditional hierarchy between line and
staff BY assigning Iineal rank and actual COM
mand to engineers. At Cherbourg he hobnobbed
with engineers. constructors and warrant
officers, while not a single line officer was
present He got into Towboat and was
upset. He talked with bluejackets SIS well as
with admirals. He cross questioned engineers.
machinists, oilers and hremen, and smoked
cigarettes with stokers. Kilometres of red
tape at the Ministry OF Marine got inextricably
entangled by the ups and downs and eccentric
gyrstions Of the radical chief. THE navy is
going to the dogs"' exclaimed the conservative
admirals Of the old school.
Thank God! a change has come at last"
said the youngsters OF the new school, and the
shouts from the Radicals and Socialist Deputies
as the tndefatigable minister entered the cham
ber were: 'Vive Pelletan and our young navy!"
Moderate men feared that naval progress would
BE- paralyzed by the drastic reforms which NJ.
Pelletan took In hand, ''aI at once" The Prime
Minister, NJ. Combes got nervous, and the mem
bers Of the Cabinet felt very shaky about OBJ
tanning majority when the Naval Budget came
for discussion. But, much to the surprise
OF every one, the rugged, hirsute ex-journalist
and pamphleteer. unexpectedly transformed into
a Minister Of the Marine, had thoroughly
mastered his subject that his speech in the
Chamber dealt successfully with each technical
sUbject clearly and skilfully that he silanced
his adversaries. and secured for the government
q superb vote of confidence. The practical out
come of NJ. Pelletan's victory in the Chamber
is that the present naval programme esta ablished
for the period 1900 to 1906 will be continued
on its main lines. so that by the end Of 1905 the
French feet will consist Of 2S battleships IA
coast defence battleships. "a armored cruisers.
50 protected cruisers, 70 destroyers, 30 ocean
going torpedo boats and 60 submarines. Bizerta,
Diego-Suarez. Dakar and Saigon will be
strengthened by elaborate defences and will be
made first class naval repair and coaling sta
tions. and France will thus maintain her position
as the second naval power of the world.
NJ Pelletan's reform project has now been
greatly simplfed. His immediate efforts
directed toward establishing individual respon-
sibility IL the department of naval construction,
for many years directed by the eminent engi-
neer, NJ. Emile Bertin- NJ. Pelletan is an ad-
nlirer Of American methods, and. having made
q careful study Of the systems for controlling
naval construction in the United States. Great
Britain, Germany and Italy, has to the
conclusion that there are far too many boards
and commissions in France which distribute
Individual responsibility, which In the construc-
ton and boiler departments has practically
ceased to exist. NJ. Peiletan in his remarkable
speech in the Chamber OF Deputies declared
TO be found in the naval construction depart
nent, not owing to the French engineers. who
he said were 1.-The best in the world but be-
cause of faults inherent in the system itself.
The minister sharply criticised the present or
ganzation. He said: "Ons engineer draws up
the plans, another engineer is ordered to execute
them and to modify them. collective and
anonymous authority in the shape Of boards
or commissions surrounds and paralyzes those
who should decide everything but who
sponsibIe for nothing This is intolerable when
we aIl admit that modern naval construction
imperiously requires unity and concentration"
At this point of his speech conservative depu-
ty Count d'Osnoy. interrupted the minister with
the question: Why, do you to say
that you would dare to suppress the Committees
Of Construction and the Superior Councils OF
Special Works. Whereupon NJ. Camille Pel1e-
tan shook his long. gray locks. put his wiry arms
skimbo, and, gIancing at his interrupter with
beaming SMILE retorted: My dear colleague,
II the Chamber will only decide to abolish the
Committees of Construction, together with the
Superior Councils Of Special Works. shall
then merely begin to be in a situation long ago
decided to be absolutely necessary in England,
in the United States and in Germany" The
Chamber authorized the minister to suppress
the committees and commissions. and thereby
free the department Of naval construction from
the LAGOON coils OF red tape to which the
radical reformer objected.
M Camille Pelletan is going still further. He
has discovered that the conditions of the latest
ships. launched but not yet ready for
mission, are highly unsatisfactory. The long
delay IN regard TO the protected cruisers Jeanne
dare Desaix, Kleber. La GIore LIE conde. LIE
SulIy and La Marseillaise IL characterized by
the minister as most unfortunate and disas-
trous" Some months ago the battleship Henri
ouatre, designed, modified and remodiied, by
commission after commission, sunk few days
after she was launched. and this supposed tor
pedo proof. double plated armored ship when
tested by an ordinary torpedo exploded under
her keel, sunk again. Two cruisers were nearly
broken IN two by simply putting the helm hard
TO sta-board when they were going at full speed.
Other cruisers had their hulIs SO badly modelled
that the engines nearly shook them to pieces
TO attain the specifications speed. The French
tubular boilers are considered the best in the
world but in some Of the new batteships the
tubes proved to be too small, and yet indi-
viduaI responsibility could be fixed All this
NJ PeIletan ascribes ''to the shifting, dovetail-
ing functions OF nonsensical boards and COM
missions" The radical minister is just now
reported to be having serious tussle with NJ.
Emile Berth. chief Of the naval construction
AlzN.