The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1916-03-16
DOUBTS ABOUT NAVY.
OosNioNs DIFFER A. TO the
TYPE OF vEssELs THAT
10 MOST NEEDED
WARS LESSONS UNCERTAIN
ooetie Cruisers Ars Strongly urosa ~
eoNs Naval Exesres and cs~Oress-
sssn-comparstivs Values q 0rss6-
asuehts and Submarines In 0seats.
BY cEoReE CLINTON,

BY GEORGE CLINTON.
Washlngton,-Cn, Of the di@cui-
tes confronting consress In framing
Droparedness .eRislation lies In the diff
eerence Of opinion A. to what tyre
vessels shall be built in order that
u best naval protective service may
- secured for the country
II may be that the ship building pro-
gram will be attacked not because II
IL too ambitious. but because the yes
sells provided for do not meet, as some
senator's, representative and navy men
view IT, the requirements OF the case.
II Is held that the present war has not
produced conclusive proof that one
type of ship must be done away with
and another type substituted. Some
OF the navy men urge. and some con-
gressmen hold the lame view, that the
tile cruiser is an imperative neces-
sity. but while this is SO. they say. II
10 not necessary to supplant other
classes of ships.
The battle cruiser is fast steam
the' hShaih6 IL 10 tu' pNCi VI
the battleship in armament and In Of
felsive strength. and it can outstrip
any battleship afioat.
oreadnauchts Versus Submarines.
In the senate there is a controversy
over the comparative values of dread
naughts and submarines. Most OF the
members of the senate committee on
naval affairs seem to think that big
battleships are more necessary than
e"er. while the belief is that the
chairman of the committee thinks sub
marines have made the lives of bat
tleships precarious and that therefore
chief attention should be paid to the
construction for the American navy
Of plenty Of under-the-sea boats.
All these differences of opinion must
be threshed out and the chances are
that in the final outcome 1t will be
found that the judgment Of the ma
1ority of the naval experts has been
taken. It is a fact. however. that the
naval students Of the present warfare
abroad are at variance in their views
as to Just what kinds Of ships will be
best adapted to meet conditions OF
the future.
A difference Of opinion some years
old has been renewed because Of the
resu' of the first fight between the
Germans in southern waters and the
English ship Good Hope and the
smaller vessels which were with it.
The Germans sank the Good Hope
and either destroyed or drove away
tho smaller ships. American naval
experts say that 1t is now known def.
nitely that the Good Hope was unable
to use its heavier guns effectively
because high sea was running and
the bounding ship made accuracy Of
IRE impossible.
Fighting in Heavy Seas.
Eight years ago an article was writ.
said that under certain conditions OF
weather some of our ships woul be
useless in fight. He singled out one
Of our cruisers and said that II IT
were compelled to engage In battle
while anything more than a moderate
&c.. was running 1t could not use its
big guns. The argument was ,hat the
vessels Of this type were built along
wrong lines. It is hinted today that
In the American navy there ere sew.
eral ships which would meet the fate
Of the Good Hope II they were com,
PEELED to fight while high sea was
running, and. CT course, If their an.
tagonists we're more stable than they
in rough water.
It seems likely that the question OF
stability of certain types Of ships in
all kinds of weather will enter into the
debates in congress.
Conditions In British Army.
Within a day or two in Washington
there have been issued as an article
of information" some facts concerning
the condition of the British forces Of
all kinds at the outbreak OF the pres
ent war. Unquestionably the object OF
this article Is to help the propaganda
for an increased regular force in this
country as opposed to a plan which
would place main dependence upon
bodies Of partially trained men like the
militia and continental army Of re-
serves. The article. however. has
much interest as showing actually the
conditions which existed in the ranks
of the English territorials and the
forces known as the special reserves
at the time OF the outbreak Of the war.
When your correspondent was IN
England some months ago he had an
opportunity to visit the training camps.
He saw enough to know that England.
even when the war had been in prog
ress for more than half a year. was
largely in .he same condition with re-
gard to trained soldiers that the Uni
ted States is today He noted the
sharp differences between the men OF
the British regular army. OF the terri
torials and of the special reserves.
There was also in England force
known as the army reserve. This army
reserve, as the article just given out in
Washington and written by Frederick
l