The Washington herald., 1915-03-28
&@&z1

England even transferred Helgo-
land to Germany as lately as 1890; but
Wilhelm wanted that key to the Elbe
only for biological station! 1t should
he remembered that no longer ago
than 1898 the German navy stood in
one to six in comparison with the
British.
Britarnia's tridential spears know
no brother. not even brother leu
ton. 1t was enough for her to see the
Kaiser reviewing his growing feer.
boasting himself the Admiral of the
Atlantic and preaching to his people
once she drew la Belle France TO her
bosom and made up with that spite
full. age-long foe. In her new terror
she lost her old terror or the bear
to walk like a man down to the warm
waters Of the Dardanelles, and she
trustinsly rushed into his fraternal
Meanwhile the hammers OF her ship
Yards rang furiously in her efforts TO
protect the steadily-narrowinS margin
sixth the size Of the British in 1925.
the German feet soon grew to
fourth: in 1904 1t was a third: and
when the war came 1t was almost halr
as large and strong.
Preparing for War.
Even that preponderance would have
been under the necessity of dispensing
her fleet over all the seas of her
worldwide empire. As far back as
three years ago. in the midst OF seem.
manned. stored. victualled and with
crews in constant training. The Brit
ish admiralty met that menace by
England's alliance with Japan en-
abled her to denude her Asiatic sta
tions. Her good relations with the
!
hardS mass 9sam to
training ships in the North Atlantic.
while she abolished outright her South
Atlantic and Northern PACIFIC squad
rons. Finally. her entente with France
relieved her of all anxiety in the Med
Steadily. therefore. she called home
her fighting ships and drew in her
far-fiung battle line until practically
IL was less than ninety miles long
the length of Germany's North Sea
had taken. she stood before Germany's
shore in overwhelming strength when
the war broke.
The Strategic Problem.
In one important respect the STRAIT
egic problem Is extremely simple for
the British navy. when she had France
for n foe she had three coasts to pa
lantic and the Mediterranean with
Germany confronting her, she has only
two coasts. Thus far she has abandon
ed one OF these. that of the Baltic.
| because the Kiel Canal has the effect
of permitting the German feet to
operate at will either In the Baltic
or the Atlantic. The British. therefore.
have not yet ventured to divide and
attempt to establish their control in
the lesser sea.
While England has pursued broadly
| n defensive campaign Germany has
been ena bled by mines and submarines
| to combine the offensive with the de-
fensive in her operations. Thus for
more than half year of war the
| only a defensive position. But II de-
| tends much since IL maintains Brit
aims control of all the seas save two.
| the Black and the Baltic. Everywhere
| else the German flag is banned.
Under the protection of England's
supremacy on the sea she has brought
to the firing line Indians. Australian,
and Canadians. and Mr. Winston
Churchill told the House Of Commons
| that the British navy has conveyed 10
| all l00o.0 soldiers. Moreover, Paris
herself was saved by sea last Septem-
Der, for il was the troops that poured
over the Channel who stopped the Ger
man drive on the French capital
4 Finally the naval power of the entente
| in the waters that control the Italian
Peninsula suftices absolutely. IL there
were no domestic reasons ror such a
policy. to separate Italy from the
Triple Alliance.
Germany has an important advan-
| tage in the possession of a base on
| the Belgian coast, where she Hanks
her enemy. There would be disad-
vantage to countcrbalance this IL Rus
] STA were strongest in the Baltic. ~