New-York tribune., 1915-03-27
What the Navies Have Done.

many quarters an amazing ilapli''' W F
prehend the part that sea power mas
plaved in the present war. Only IL"
davs ago a sober critic was scoIding 'he
German and British navies for declining
fair and manly combat" and without IN
dicating exactly how they were 10 oe
brought to their senses he called bravery
ON all good neutrals "to insist that Wheh
they pretend to be at war with each other
thew shall fight each other
The silent pressure of sea power Is IN
short but little understood, though its re-
suits are already so obvious IN Europe
In Germany, indeed, it must be sufficiently
clear TO all who recall the prophecy con-
tanned in the famous memorandum accom-
panying the navy act of 1900: AN un-
successful naval war of the duration OF
even only a year would destroy Germany
sea trade. and would thereby bring about
the most disastrous conditions, first in her
ecopomic and then. as an inevitable con-
sequence of that. in her social life And
nopular realization of what has actually
come to pass in eight months may account
i'm large measure for the extraordinary
hatred and bitterness manifested by all
classes toward Germanys 'only enemy.
For the German people had been brought
nm 70 place unbounded faith in their
navy: they were taught that the English
and French were effete and decadent
races. that British naval supremacy was
largely delusional, or as one good patriot
mt if. "a relic from the past surviving
into the present" 1t was for Germany,
therefore. to smash the superstition OF
British empire. and the German navy was
ready for the task-"a good shove and the
iIl-iointed mosaic falls in ruins So the
people were told by their teachers.
Considering the enormous sums spent
on the German navy, its utter impotence
must have been a terrible disappointment
to the public which in the last twenty
wears had contributed so enthusiastically
TO the creation Of it. But if to the more
discerning OF those who have felt them
the consequences are by now apparent,
there is still a feeling in many places that
the fleets of the Allies have not fulfilled
their proper function. What they have
done is clearly set forth by Mr. Archibald
Hurd in "The Fortnightly Review in 4
paper which will prove enlghtening to
those who complain Of lack of enterprise
i'm the conduct Of the war. He begins by
showing how. in the first place, the war
has been localized by the masking of the
German high sea fleet, thus enormously
diminishing the iuconvenences Of war not
only TO the British people but to neutral
countries as well; how the naval forces
have prevented the invasion Of the British
Isles; how they have aided in defeating
the attempt to rush down the coast to
Calais. He proceeds to point out how
G.5O0 600 tons Of German and Austro-
Hungarian shipping have been captured
or driven off the seas. causing an immense
loss Of income and enormous charges for
the maintenance Of interned vessels; how
the ovcrsea trade of the two countries has
been throttled. with a net loss amounting
probably to $1,000, ,000, 600; how the Ger
man colonial empire has been almost
totally wiped out, and how at the lowest
estimate million men of military age in
foreign lands were prevented from return
ing to Europe to fight for their father
lands.
This summary represents only the in
Jury inflicted directly upon the enemy
by the British fleet, supported by the
6 IN, NJ hpt
hand, British shipping has been almost as
active since the war began as in time OF
peace, and the losses have been nconsd-
cradle Not a colony or dominion has been
seriously molested, the people of the
United Kingdom have lived without pri-
vation to speak Of, constant stream of
military forces and supplies has been
maintained between England and the Con,
tinent, and, finally, British finances have
been strongly established "by the com
pleteneSs with which the British navy has
from the first supported British prestige
in the eyes of the world, given security
to commercial activities, and by enabling
british and other firms to make good de-
fciencies in the supplies which the Allies
needed. British sea power has contributed
to bring unemployment in the United
Kingdom down TO a lower figure than has
been experienced in this country for many
wears" These are some of the most OBJ.
yious answers to the question, What has
the navy done?"
As TO the future, it IS clear that the
prospect for the Germans a. sea is even less
encouraging than it was at the beginning
of the war The naval losses of Germany
and her allies amount to about per cent;
the losses of Great Britain and her allies
10 less than per cent, and in the mean
time the additions to the British fleet far
exceed the additions to the German fleet