Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-09-01

history since that day: but never was
the fleet OF the dominant sea power
he!d off from it's foe as the British fleet
Is held today. Other second class naval
powers-for so Germany must be rated
have before this kept their fleets out
OF action in the face Of superior ar
madas. blu never until now has such q
cooped up power been able to send out
invisible warships capable Of preying
on commerce and sinking enemy's bat
tleshlps. We speak of the stalemate
IN the Flemish trenches as a new sort
or warfare, but much more momentous
is TINS new sort of sea warfare by
which the ocean itself is turned into u
universal trench beneath which fight
ing vessels more effective than Archi-
medes every dreamed of slip like turtles
and dart away like fish.
suppose Germany had a thousand
submarlnes-as she might have had il
she had known. She could starve Great
Britain and hold the British armies
from n continent.
On the other hand, suppose that
Great Britain had a thousand subma-
rlnes, would her sea power be saved
thereby? Not at all, SO far as al be
seen. The submarine is the negation
or sea power. 1t equaliZes things as
v AdtlOuS. II creates d UNIVERSAL
staiemate at sea. 1t can destroy com
merce, but it cannot safeguard it. 1t
can sink any other warship except an
other submarine-which it cannot see
nor follow. 1t can prevent the trans
port OF troops by water, thu putting
an end to conauests like many of those
Of the past. 1t fills the world with ter
ror, and calls it war" 1t makes peace
at sea the only practical thing. 1t
makes real war by sea fmpossible-lit-
orally so, just as debating is impossible
between a deaf man n a blind one.
patory; they relate to the very near
future. When submarines will be as
plentiful off every defended shore as
mooring buoys are in a yacht harbor.
The future history Of the world will
be far different from what it would
submarine. The mastership of the seas
has passed from every nation. De-
Tense is made perfectly practicable
against overseas expeditions every
where. Japan and Great Britain are
forever safe from invasion, ono their
out they are capable Of being starved
by their enemies. We Of continental
situation are in better cas- than yer
before as against transmarine foes, ac-
tual or potential.
The submarine is for us in itself a
SAAO VIC "
trine which is self executing. Germany
may as we'll abandon forever any hope
of transplanting her flag to other lands
which must be reached by sea, unless
they are in too backward a state to
take advantage of this new invention
and are undefended by a strong power.
The division of the world among the
nations must tar as it is, save as it
is affected by the present war. The
submarine is an effective action to
quiet title" Of all nations to their col
onies. 1t fobs Great Britain OF the
command of the seas, but it confirms
her in what she has gained by it-un-
less her colonies revolt and use the
submarine to defend their shores. It
cuts off North America from any pos
sible war with South America, rs soon
as we and h South American nations
provide ourselves with the new weapon
Of defense. 1t gives is only two pos
sible enemies with whom we can wage
real war-Canada and Mexico. 1t
a it impossible for Canada to re-
ceive aid from h mother country in
such a case, assuming the possession
on our part of the hundreds and hum
dreds of submarines which the situation
will soOn call for. 1t China, In
dia and Russia and the rest of Europe
with Japan on the Eurasian continent
as effectually. so far as war is CON
cerneQ, as before the invention Of the
mariners compass. 1t makes the Aus
~tralasian powers safe from the yellows
and browns. 1t carries out over all the
seas a stalemate as complete as hat
which exists in the trenches in France,
a stalemate in which real nava bat-
ties are impossible, in which destructive
wal on m is raised to the ninth
power. and in which world intercourse
must be based on peace, or SO far
abandoned as to make the very eXis-
tence of the insular commercial peoples
hazardous. What will congress and the
department OF the navy do about an
adequate equipment Of submarines? It
may be taken for granted that other
nations will build them by hundreds,
yes. by thousands.