The Washington times., 1915-04-25

to accomplish this end would be to
use Holland as base; but Holland
has no mind to be used in such
fashion, and her. soil will never be
violated by the allies. To get an
army landed in the region of the
Elbe would require that the German
fleet be drawn out or driven out,
shut out, or destroyed; and there is
continual report Of activities in this
region which suggest that this very
enterprise may now be afoot. 1t is
apparent that the Germans are get
ting splendid service out of their
line of battle feet by keeping it
right where it has been from the be-
ginning of the war, in the safe
waters to the rear of the Helgoland
fortress. 1t is protecting their from
tier more effectually than a million
men could do it without naval sup
port. Indeed, the completed history
of this war, written when all the
facts can be brought together from
all sides, is likely to demonstrate
more effectively than it was ever
done before, that even hopelessly
inferior naval force constitutes a
protective instrumentality of the
first character. The Germans cam
paign would have collapsed utterly,
long before this period, if their fleet
had not been as powerful and as
skillfully handled as it has been.
They could never have protected the
whole exposed frontier of their coun-
try without the fleet; and, using the
fleet strictly for defensive purposes,
they have been able to make a very
inferior armament serve the purpose
of holding off an immensely superior
one.
But in the nature of things this
cannot go on always. Providence
and the fortunes of war have an i'm
mense prediction for the side with
| the heavy battalions. The side with
the big preponderance of the big
gest ships sooner or later "gets ac-
tion," and in the present case there
is little doubt of what action must
mean.
At the beginning of the war the
Germans had fleet approximately
half as strong as the British fleet
The French had one almost-not
quite-equal to the German. That
is, combining French and British
there were three units of naval pow
er on the side Of the allies to on,
on the side of the Germans. w,
have been too much given to calcu
lating the elements of the naval war
fare in terms of German and British
strength. AS matter of fac
France was not very badly out
weighted by Germany, on paper a
least, in naval strength, when tn
war began. She had very consider
ably more submarine strength thai
Germany; at least, the best nava
authorities credited it to her. Their
is no department of the whole war
ring program and preparation o
Germany that has, in truth, so elo
quently testified to her supreme ca
pacity and preparedness for tn
struggle, as the management of he
naval forces. Navally, she was ia
worse outnumbered by her enemie
than they were outnumbered by he
on the land. The German plans ha
been made in advance, the Germa
dispositions have been made sine
in such manner as to conserve ever
possible unit of power that migf
be gained from her navy. German
looks today like a nut that the a
lies cannot crack, save in a yer
: long war of exhaustion, unless the
= can get to and break down the Ge
, man fleet. Can they do it? If S
a the projection of great army
, maybe a million of Kitchener's for,
, into northwest Germany may |
the means of settling the bushes
There are more than hints that IL
!, allies conceive this to be the vel
. way to end it.
g The most popular thing in Me