The Irish standard., 1909-03-27
JOHN BULL IN A PANIC.

Not since the BOer war was Merry
Ell gland" from John O'Groat's House
to Lands End thrown into such a wild
panic as last week, after the an
nouncement by Premier Asquith that
the German empire was building more
Dreadnoughts than Great Britain. If
there is any one thing that the Eng
lish boast of more than another it is
the supremacy of their navy, "wllose
march is DER the mountain wave,
whose home is on the deep" They
recognize the fact that their army is
much inferior in numbers and efficien-
cy to that of Germany, and that if the
Kaiser ever succeeds in landing his SOL
diers on British soil it would be futile
to oppose them. The Germans would
hive less difficulty in conquering Eng
land and bringing it under subjugation
t. the Kaiser than had the Normans
in the days of good King Harold.
The English are no towards, but
they have no military training and
will not enlist in the army and, be-
sides. there is not enough Of them
t. meet Germany on land. But they
thought they had navy strong
enough to keep out all invaders.
Their own Prime Minister disabused
them of that delusion, and the result
was & panic that spread over the
country like wild fire. They have not
gotten over it yet. THE London cores
rondent of the Chicago Tribune says
of it:
Rude. indeed, has been the awaken
ing. The revelations as to German
progress in shipbuilding which the week
brought forth were veritable bomb
shells. The Right Hon. Reginald Nc
Iicnna first lord of the admiralty, at
tested and the Right Hon. Herbert AS
quith, the premier, admitted the truth
IF the statement that the German
shipbuilding program was advancing
with a speed which had falsified all
previous British calculations. Ger
many, which had been represented as
building slowly, and as far behind the
British in capacity, was completing
capital ships rapidly. BY 1912 Ger"
many might have twenty-five Dread
noughts to Britain's twenty For the
first time in modern history England
is face to face with a naval situation
so new and so dangerous it is difficult
to realize all it's import"
Sir John Fisher, of the admiralty,
is blamed for England's unprepared-
ness in case of invasion. and his ce
tirement is vehemently called for. The
poet-laureate has burst into doggerel
and calls on the youth OF England to
grid up their loins and meet the foe.
Lesser poets pour out their denuncia-
ton on Fishers head and remind HIM
that he had told the English to "sleep
soundly in their beds" They did his
bidding, but now they can sleep sound
~ no longer. They demand the dis
missal of Fisher, and say he can go
to the Lords or to warmer pace.
One British organ pessimistically cries
out:
I'VE know that the sea power is at
stake. We know the empire is in
danger. In fact, we know that all we
have and are as people is imperiled.
We realize that our naval supremacy
may be worth less than two years
purchase unless we rouse ourselves for
ar effort as decisive as any we nave
made in history. When has any pro-
pie in the history of the world stood
at a. more critical point of its .:cr-
tune? Without naval supremacy, alb
solute and undoubted, the emp,1 e
would be crushed like potter's YES
sci shard on shard. We can depend
upon nothing but our ships. We must
have them as of old. We must have
them at any cost The empire is n
peril"
Poor John Bull! I'VE can hardly
5s