New-York tribune., 1909-05-30
NATIONAL INTEREST IN THE NATION

NATIONAL M EhENI ~ he y IL w.
Writing in BLACK and White" on the future
of Great Britain, with particular reference 10
the navy. Mr.. Arnold White makes an i'm
pressive Ella boration and application of the
theme which was introduced by Mr.. kipling III
his mordantIy scornful inquiry about the 'tial-
.nelled fools at the wicketS and muddled
.'oafs at the goals Guns are useless, he re
minds his readers without men behind them
Dreadnoughts are only so much scrap uhLe $
they are efficiently manned A tWo-po"er
standard navy will not avail for the protecuoh
Of the kingdom and the empire unless the peo-
pIe of kingdom and empire. in spirit and dis
ciplne are interested in it and are worthy OF
it in character, stamina and dscernment- You
NAV pay for Il hundred Dreadnoughts,' he
saws but if your traditions are traditions or
defeat if your officers are corrupt, quarrel
some or incorporate if your men are seaSlch'
diseased and ignorant, if your admiral Is oplh-
donated and unskiful. or if your masses regard
defence as needless or unchristian. Dread
thoughts will he defeated by Dreadnoughts.
Two striking illustrations of his meaning are
cited by Mr. White One relates to the man
ming of the navy. Were England attacked in the
month of August he says. her gunnery crews
would he efficient; but were she attacked in
January, few ships crews would show ell
cheney That is because her gun crews are trained
for only six months instead OF all the year
round as in the German navy. The other IL
Iustration has to do with the people of the
United Kingdom in general. One day the
Prime Minister speaking at Glasgow on
the subject Of naval strength and national Sc
.urity On the same day at the same place d
crowd of sixty thousand persons assembled 10
witness a football game. broke into a riot be
cause the contest ended in tie. and con
seouentIv all bets were declared of. and
wounded seventy persons. including several po-
licemen stoned ambulance men who came to
the relief of the injured and in general acted
like savageS. The masses Of the population.
concludes Mr.. White. are not interested III the
navy but their imaginations are intiamed and
their passions are excited when bets on foot
ball game are declared off
To what extent Mr.. Whites somewhat scath-
ing criticism of his own people is just or Is too
severe is not for us to determine But we must
approve and commend the gist of his argument
that national security depends not alone upon
ships and guns but upon the nation itself, ana
that the conditions of national survival are
..fIiaI nietv obedience To elders. friendship and
affection. fruGalty, i"iustry. modesty. fidelity
righteous valor and the public virtues of 10y
atty and patriotism That Is great truth
which every nation. even our own. may well
take to heart To our mind the potential sea
mower of Germany lies not so much in the
mere building Of ships rs in the organization
the activity and the tremendous influence OF
the Navy League which founded eleven
wears ago and which, with its millions OF
members. permeates and dominates every re-
gion and every class Of population of the en-
pire and imbues the whole German people with
interest in and patriotic ardor for the devel-
opInent Of the navy. Perhaps no greater oh
iect lesson on this theme was ever presented
than that in the late Russo-Japancse War. The
nd Tgugn i'm the
particulars dwct on by Mr. White was vast
and no result was ever more strongly marked
The strength and safety of any nation lie not in
the ingenious devices OF inventors nor in the
mechanism of engineers but in the character
the intelligence and the discipline Of the nation
itself and in its attitude toward its own main
tenance.