The sun., 1916-10-29

o~
Inc speaker. two years ago, rooted so
vehemently four afternoons Q week at
the Polo Grounds that he verged upon
apoplexy. but l fancy he never let out
q yell from a grand stand so loud as the
one with which he greeted the successful
shot last Sunday night.
1t would be too much to expect Ger
mans to give up killing people and
smashing houses because of the effect
OF their raids In heightening the cheer
fulness and general morale Of the Brit
ish public, for no German can UNDER
stand how "frightfulness' can have such
a result. But II m a. we'll be asked why
the raids are persisted In now that the
british have demonstrated their ability
TO frequently bring Zeppellns to earth /:
Tor the Ridiculous German bulletins on
corning the damage done here by their
air fleets cannot deceive those in author
ity In Berlin. The German espionage
service is too good for that.
There II probably no one In America
who does not know by this time that the
German reports are entire f~abrications.
proving that the German commanders
frequently do not know within fifty
miles Of where they are I will. however.
add my testimony to that OF many
teen months I have visited probably
thirty localities named in the German
bulletins as having been bombed, and
have only twice seen any damage at all.
and then far less than the German ac-
counts claimed.
The real German motive In continuing
the raids. In the opinion Of British mill
tary men. Is rather the hope OF i'm.
moblllzlng for defensive purposes great
numbers Of men and guns In England.
which otherwise would be employed at
the front. This view has in fact been
put Onward semi-ofncially by Berlin in
answer to strong protests mad in
Vienna and Budapest against the Zeppe-
lin campaign. II has been said In those
cities by leading newspapers. and In the
Hungarian Parliament. that to unneces-
sarily e~xasperate England. the most
powerful Entente Power n the n
least hard hit by the war. Ia a mistake.
since the raids serve no important mill
tary purpose.
Keeps Men From Front.
To this German officials have replied.
through the Berlin correspondents OF
the Austro-Hungarian newspapers. that
more than 1900 anti-aircraN guns. co.
900 men. many Of them trained gunners
and "A great quantity Of a~eroplanes are
kept In England to guard against Yep
pelins. or the 10000 men on anti-air-
craft service IL. Oo0 are said to be skilled
gunners.
"A Zeppelin costs less than a million
dollars and carries less than thirty
men," the Germans said In effect. "and
II is better to lose one now and then
thar to permit this great mass Of trained
human material and cannon to 60 to
France and kill thousands Of our SOL
diers.'
So much was given out to reassure
Germany's ally the German command
doubtless is influenced also by the IN
spir.t.ng effect its fabulous bulletins
about the damage lone In England have
on the mass of the German people.
u may be gathered from what has
been written that the prevailing mood In
England as regards Zeppelin raids Is one
Of citation. This feeling IL not shared by
one Of 1.-The leading a~eronautical experts
in the country. Lord Montagu of Beau
l!er. who only escaped the post OF Air
Minister because OF his stringent criti-
cisms Of the Government. and who acted
as a gadfiy to the departmental beads OF
the air services during the entire war.
1T Is premature to talk of our having
achieved the mastery Of the air. said
Lord Montagu In discussing the latest
raid. "or OF our being able TO make air
raids impossible or even inadvisahle
from the German point OF view" he
ADDED. AFTER all. what has our home
air service actually accomplished? We
have had about forty Zeppelin raids on
this country. and at a low estimate
some $50 airships were engaged IN them
from first to last. Yet we have brought
down only four. or at most five. or our
soil.
No Air Supremacy.
Without wishing to belittle In any
way the fine achievements OF the in
dividual airmen who were responsible
for the destruction Of those Zeppelins.
and while fully recognizing and appre-
ciating the splendid and daring spirit
which animates the Royal Flying Corps.
| must repeat that I do not think there
is very much to boast about so far.
though we are improving.
I'VE have now established a superb
GRITTY in the air at the front. and one
cannot pay too high a tribute 10 the skill
M gallantry Of our airmen there but
It is ludricrous' to talk of having at
tanned air supremacy anywhere else,
either over the sea or over our own soil.
w are far from being immune from
the risk OF raids by hostile aeroplanes
by day and airships by night. n it
seems to me the enemy raids of the
future will naturally be directed to those
pats Of the United Kingdom which are
at present more or less u%ndefended by
guns-to many industrial centres all
over England and Scotland.
"F%orewarned is forearmed, but 30 far
the provisions made for the protection
OF these important centres are made
quato AS regards this question, II 10
best that we should not live In a FOOLS
paradise. am glad to say that con-
siderable Improvements have been and
are being made In our air services, espe-
cially in the Royal Flying Corps, but
the point 10 be emphasized and con-
stantly borne In mind 10 that much
greater Improvements and developments
are still inperatively necessary.
While priority should of course be
given to the needs of tho army at the
front. the constant invasion Of our "
country must be treated a. a matter Of
serious Importance. The task OF provid-
Ing adequate aircraft n ~ant-aircraft
armament for this country, and at the
same time keeping the front supplied,
ought not to prove impossible.
THE Germans, We must remember,
are not marking time In regard to their
air service. They are devoting a vast
amount Of skill. energy and money to II.
New aeroplanes Of an improved design
are being constructed. The new Zeppe-
Inns also prove the energy being put into
air matters by Germany. am de-
lighted that We At last have rot two
real Zeppelins. They will help us very
much In DIT work Of airship con-
struction."
rp IN IMAM