New-York tribune., 1914-10-30
BATTENBERG QUITS
AS FIRST SEA LORD
Continued from page

and honest men will not care TO re-
member its results IN this case.
Lord Fisher, we understand, rs 70
Gll the vacant place, and the cholce
will undoubtedly meet with national
approval. Il puts in the important po-
si.ion Of First Sea Lord the man VINO,
more than any other, IS the creator Of
the British battle feet of to-day ana
Who stands to the navy IN something
or the same relation as Lord Kitchen
er to the army. The public sense OF
that relation will go with him we nope
10 the Admiralty, just as 1t went with
Lord Kitchener TO the War Oihce.'
Commenting on Prince Loulss res
ipnatior. "The Daily News" says:
He is an officer whose talents are
recognized throughout the navy, and
there is a. little reason 10 imagine that
anv failures on his part caused his re
tircment as there is TO imagine that
his distinguished connections were re-
sponsible for his appointment His
withdrawal is very real loss TO the
navy. and we are afraid that the cir
cumstances which are probably re-
sponsible for it are not credltable TO
our press or to our public life.
Certain journals nave been disput-
ing Prince Louis's fitness for the post
Of First Sea Lord on the ground that
he was born in Austria. Prince Louis,
as a sensitive man, as well aS brave
and skilful officer, has thought fit to
offer himself as a sacrifice TO this silly
and cowardly campaign. II must be
presumed that he persisted in doing So,
for on no other hypothesis could the
acceptance BY the government of his
resignation be defended.
"The yellow press, in its exploitation
Of the vulgarest of fears and passions,
has scored its second victory. Both
were gained at the expense OF the ma
tion. The one victory has damaged our
repute among the nations, besides eX-
posing our countrymen abroad to the
danger Of reprisals. The other has lost
US the valuable services Of an officer
whom it will be difficult TO replace"
Prince Louis Alexander of Batten-
berg, now sixty years old, went TO Eng
land at the age of fourteen. bringing
with him little more than his title and
good looks. The latter won the heart Of
Queen Victoria.
He was born in GratZ, Austria, the
son of Prince Alexander of Hesse, who
extracted a morganatic marriage with
Fraulein Hauke, an inmate of the i'm
perial school of maids of honor at St.
Petersburg, and daughter of a distin-
guished Hebrew convert TO the Ortho-
dox Church. The escapade was con-
doned by Emperor Francis Joseph of
Austria, and when Louis was bOrr his
mother was raised 70 the rank of
princess and her sons were entitled
Princes Of Battenberg.
With no estates and little money.
Prince Louis came to England to shift
for himself. He was naturaliZed in
1868 and entered theroyal navy as \
cadet It took him eight years to rise
10 the rank of lieutenant, and when
he was thirty years old he married his
cousin, Princess Victoria, the favorte
granddaughter of Queen Victoria and
daughter of Louis ~. Grand Duke Of
Hesse.
A year later his younger brother
Prince Henry, welded Princess Bea-
trice, the youngest child OF Queen
Victoria. Their daughter. Princess Vic
toria Eugene, was united in marriage
20 King Alfonso Of Spain, in 1906
Prince Louis is therefore uncle of the
Queen of Spain, a brother-in-l law of
the Czarina, and also Of Princess
Henry Of Prussia. His wife is a first
cousin Of Emperor William.
In 1855, year after his marriage.
Prince Louis was made commander in
the navy and became "A captain in 1891
lie served in the Egyptian war and was
a director Of naval intelligence from
1902 to 1904, becoming rear admiral
at the end Of his term.
While commanding the I'd Cruiser
Squadron from 1904 10 1906 he visited
the United States. lie was second in
command in the Mediterranean from
1906 to 1908, commander in chief of the
Atlantic fleet from 1908 to 1910, Second
Sea Lord OF the Admiralty in 1911 and
First Lord the following year.