El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-11

batteries of twelve 5.9-inch guns The
Westfalen was built at Bremen and
on the way to sea went aground in the
shallow water of the river Weser- The
snip was detained sometime, while the
British smiled and the Germans CRASHED
their teeth. 1t was another proof that
Germany needs new and better sea
ports. The battleships POsen and
RheinIand. just completed, and ready
for commission, are similar to the Mas
sau.
The battleships Helgoland. Ostfries
land and Thuringia were launched last
autumn. These three will be OF 10000
tons each, and they will carry arma-
ments of twelve 12-inch guns, of a new
design by Krupp. possessing an extraor-
| binary range and throwing shells
weighing 981 pounds, as compared with
| the $50 pounds of the British 12-inch
guns. The battleship ErSatz FrithjOf
was laid down in March, 1909, and the
battleships Ersatz HildebTand and En-
autumn. The armOred cruiser Won der
Tam also was launched in March. 1903
1t was the launching of this ship and
the laying down of the ErSatZ Frithjof
which brought 20 the attention of Brit
ain the acceIeration of the German
naval program. These events were not
on the schedule of German naval activ-
:
and when the facts became known it
created the great naval panic in the
house of commons-the beginning Of the
present crisis in Britain.
"No Nance Cruisers Excel.
The cruiser Won der Tam and two
unnamed cruisers, &c" and III" are
according to the admission of the first
lord of Admiralty in the house of COM
mons, faster and more powerful than
- = =
be able to steam 25 knots an hour, and
viii carry ten 11-inch guns. The two
! later, cruisers, both of which were laid
down quietly in December, 1908, are also
nearing completion They viii have
speed of % knots an hour and will
carry twelve Pinch guns This means
that they will be as heavily armored
as the Dreadnought, able to throw a
greater weight of metal in a brOadside,
and that they will be even faster than
the Invincible-
These German cruisers now stand at
the very top of the worlds naval fight
ing machines in both offensive strength
and strategic value. All the German
ships now building and ordered. so far
as is known, viii be completed by 1912,
bringing the German Dreadnought
strength up to thirteen.
Work Progresses Rapidly.
Not least among the alarms which
have agitated Great Britain in the last
twelve months was the unwelcome dis
cOVery that Germany was able not only
10 construct ships Of the Dreadnought
class, but that the work could be car
ried on as rapidly as in England. Until
this time England had held not only
the mastery of the seas by virtue of its
great fleet, but it also had boosted the
mastery of the shipbuilding yards. No
other nation could construct naval yes
sells quickly. Now Germany has dem
OnStrated its ability to build ships Of
the most advanced types as quickly as
they can be turned out in British yards.
The Germans also showed that they
could build ships without telling the
world of what was going on in the ship
yards.
OF course Great Britain is still far
and away the strongest sea power. Its
navy is equal TO those of Germany and
the United States. combined. The time
hOnored British naval principle of
maintaining the fleet at the two-power
standard, as strong as the combined
fleets of the two next strongest pow
ers, has not been violated.
The German and American navieS. to
day, "a tied for second place and Japan
ranks third But, nevertheless, the
British security is threatened. Germa-
ny will pass the United States next
y
its relative strength more rapidly than
any nation has ever done before Great
Britain knows and fears this fact
His Britannia M4jesty's Army.
Of the % principal nations of the
world only three fdepend entirely upon
voluntary enlistment to supply their
armies. These three are the British en-
pire, the Chinese empire and the United
States of America 1t has been one OF
Britain's proudest boasts for two cen
turtles that it always could rely upon
a sufficient number of patriotic volun-
teers to fill its army and that it need
not enforce CONSUMPTION. American
thought has followed in the British
path, and the entire English-speaking !
people has been united in considering |
compulsory military service incompati- |
Bile with free institutions and democrat !
&c government. /;
With respect to the army, more than |
in any other way, the republican Amer /
lea and the monarchial Britain always I
have been more democratic than any !
other nations. MOnarchial Germany, re-
France and patriotic Japan are
most strict among the sixteen nations |
which compel every able-bodied man to |
serve certain time in the army. De- ]
cadent Spain and Portugal, no others
depend entirely upon forced conscrip
lion, in which men drawn by lot are /
10 serve with the cOlOrS.
Compulsory Army Service.
Now comes a strong party in Eng |
and demanding that Great Britain turn
is back on the democratic past and in I
;titute a system Of universal compul- |
ory army service. The Chinese govern
nent Is making plans looking in the
'ame direction The United States is to
'e left as the sole exponent of the vol
lnteer system.
/
'tockS, In this state are considered ex-
lorbitant and unjust and
WheraaS Mann rnnsr,, hcr-.. A. |