Semi-weekly herald., 1908-12-31
BRITAIN BUILDS NAVY
AT ENORMOUS PRICE
BY william Il. Curtis. Correspondent
OF the Chicago Record Herald.

admiralty Is based upon the theor
that. to maintain It's supremacy upo
the sea, the British fleet must be twic
as strong as that of Germany an
l. equal to that OF Germany and Franc,
/: or any othof two nations combined
{ To carry out this program, wheneyo
Germany lays the keel of battle shil
or q cruiser Great Britain lays tn
, keels of two. and in. doubling the con
struction plans of Germany win be In
volved in an expenditure of $350,000
900 or more for new ships during tn,
next few years and an indefinite sun
In addition to provide the stores, tn,
supplies and the men that this schem,
OF naval expansion will necessarily re
quire. This is what the British ad
miralty calls the ''two-power stand
ard, and it means that the navy must
be maintained of size and strength
that Will enable 1t 10 conquer the nexi
TWO strongest powers In the world com
bined
All this seems stupenduous folly
when the nations involved pretend to
be friends and are In daily communi.
cation by mall and telegraph, and ea.
pecinlly when their sovereigns are ex.
changing visits and embracing each
other in the presence of admiring
throngs. Bet those who favor the two.
power standard insist that II IL the
only way to prevent war; that no enc
my will attack Great Britain 80 long
hs her fleets are invincible. Thoy ar
que that II is much better for all ION
cerned to spend several hundred mil
lions III the purchase of material In
paying the labor of construction. Civ.
Ing employment and food to thousands
of people. than 1t is to involve the
country In bloodshed and strife. Per-
haps there Is something In this, but
we are supposed to be living In an
age of reason and not In an age OF
force, and one would think that the
German kaiser, who is the bugaboo Of
Europe, who is blamed for all the signs
and apprehensions of war, and ia held
responsible for these enormous expen.
ditures upon the ships and armies of
Europe. Night be persuaded by his
genial uncle to abandon his military
pride and agree to program OF peace
for at least term OF years. This
would relieve the tax-ridden subjects
of all the European governments of an
awful burden, because German and
British naval expansion Involves 10
many other nations, including the
| United States. in similar expenditures,
lin view of the fact that Germany
Las laid the keeis or ordered the coz
struction OF ten armor9d ships OF the
largest size and most powerful arma.
ment, the British government has un-
der construction or has ordered TWEEN
tyfour battle ships and cruisers OF the
Dreadnought and Indomitable classes
which all naval experts concede are
the most formidable fighting machines
that human genius has ever designed.
On the 10th of September the eighth
battle ship of this class took to the
water at Portsmouth. 1t was christen-
ed the ST. Vincent. and two more. the
Collingwood at Devonport. and the
Vanguard ut Barrow, almost exactly
duplicates. will be launched during
the next few weeks, making ten bat.
lie ships OF the Dreadnought type al
ready afloat In British waters.
The keel of the Foudroyant was
laid down on the stocks at Portsmouth
as soon as the st. Vincent left them,
and viii he ready for launching In Oc-
tober. 1903. The st. Vincent will be
ready for commission In about year
II was year and day OH the stocks
The ST. Vincent is considerably
ahead of the Dreadnought. and the
Foudroyant will be considerably In
advance of the st. Vincent, having q
greater displacement, a greater speed
more powerful turbine engines and a
heavier armament.
Each Of the three vessels will be
armed with ten 12-lnch guns. but those
now under consideration for the Foud
royant will be five feet longer thar
those which are being mounted upor
the st. Vincent. The Dreadnought hai
st. Vincent will have four twenty-five
Founders and the Foudroyant will hav,
ten neutrality-suspicious. besides Ger
tain newly devised protection agains
) the attacks Of torpedoes.
The British navy has adopted ne,
} type OF gun which Is being mounte
, upon the st. Vincent. Since the adoI
tion OF the breech loading principl
, the admiralty has had built no gun
with a larger bore than twelve inchel
=, That has been considered for all pu
= poses. The original twelve-inch gun
l. weighed forty-six tons and were thirt.
+ seven feet long. whereas the guns {
s the Dreadnought and the other ne
e battle ships weigh fifty-eight ton
e and are forty-six feet long. The CUR
Y oil the Foudroyant will have q bore ,
1876 inches. weigh sixty-six tons an
be forty-eigh. feet long.
Since the war between Russia an
Japan the British admiralty has @
II deavored to conceal Its naval improv
= ments as much as possible. Tho
n whose business Ia to keep themselv'
u informed OF such matters are ava
s. that many important experiment
10 have been going on. and that one
IN the most important is to secure
ar set Of boilers that will burn oil
y some other fuel that will emit a mi
az imum Of smoke. The navies OF 4
world now have smoksless powd'
70 which enables them to hght In q CO