The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1916-12-26
HOUSE OF LORDS
DISCUSSES0|VERS
Insist Stringent Measures Must
Be Taken To Avert Growing
Menace of Submarines
Lord Beresford Declares Govern
ment Must Be Made To
Act At Once

In the house of lords on Wednesday
night, November 10, Lord Beresford,
Lord Sydcnham, and Lord Middleton
made grave speeches concerning the
growing menace of the German sub
marines and demanded more vigor.
GUS offensive policy against the German
feet, says the London Daily Mail.
Neither Lord Crewe nor Lord Lytton,
who replied for the government, at
tempt to minimize the Importance
Of the German naval campaign.
THE debate was opened by Lord Sy-
denham, who inquired when the de-
finite declaration of policy in regard
90 the monstrous proceedings of German
submarines, to which Lord Crewe refer
red on August Is, would be issued.
The submarine campaign, continued
Lord Sydenham, was assuming very,
serious dimensiOns, and, if it continued
with full effect, Germany might emerge.
from the war as the chief carrying
country of the world. He suggesteu.
rcprisals, such as:
Seizure of German property for the
value of ships sunk.
Seizure of corresponding German ton.
mage, and
Lcvying of heavy toll on German
ships in all ports of the Empire for
many years after the war
New methods of dealing with sub
marines must be tried Circumstances,
had arisen to cause widespread anxiety
as TO the policy of the admiralty. The
great principle Of naval strategy had
been that the first duty of the navy
was TO capture or destroy the enemy 81
armed ships. There were some indica.l
tiOns that the pernicious propaganda.
that we should adopt the defensive and
save ships was influencing the minds
Of leaders at the admiralty.
The Policy Of Attack
Lord Bercsfor! followed with a veryH
vigorous speech. at was" he said !.
"a time for plain speaking" TheH
government nowadays did not take ac-
tion unless the force of public opinionI
drove them. That was so with naval
policy. The blockade was not event
properly effective even at the PRESENT.
moment.
The submarine campaign had never
before reached such formidable dimen-
sions. The public should be assured
that the dominating note of naval
strategy was to attack the enemy.
Turning to the submarine attacks
Lord Beresford said British merchant
shipping was in grave danger and the
country's supply of food and raw mate
rails was imperiled. From the begin
ming of the war up to November the,I
number of vessels, other than warshipsd
sunk by German submarines was 7l4l
al al y
trail, of which 100 were NOrwegian.tl
since that date about thirty.fOur morelI
had been sunk. Our sea supremacy wasil
challenged by the submarine.
Lord Beresford outlined some sugges-
tions for reform. The board of adj
miralty must be strengthened New
men were wanted there. To meet theiI
crisis we wanted:
Young men fresh from the sea
Every man who made a mistake mil
strategy or lost Il ship through a mis-
take should be superseded.
The government should arm the mer-lI
camille marine.
A great effort should be made toll
make up our losses and standardize the!
construction Il mt reliant ships.
A new department should be created |
at the Admiralty to deal with sub |
marines and an admiral straight from
the sea should be placed at the head
of it.
A naval man should be put on the
war council.
An indemnity should be exacted from
Germany for the loss of all ships
Illegally, sunk during the war.
The blockade should be frightened by
every means in our power
Lord Crewe: No Reprisals
Lord Crewe made laboured reply 4
to the demand for rePrisals and in
IDENTITIES for the action Of German
Submarines. but the substance of it 1
was that the Government declined to
act.
The arming Of merchant ships, he
said, was being "mOst carefully con
sideTed by the war committee. The
advent of ocean going submarines had
greatly added to the difficulty of de
strOying them. He would not attempt
10 minimize the gravity of the sub
marine menace. The blockade was
"becomiug more and more effective as
months 90 on.
Lord Lyttnn, who has recently sue
cecdGd the Duke Of evonshire as the
representative of the navy in the house
Uf lords, declared emphatically that if
we were dcbarred from attacking the
eDemy's forces il was not from any
reluctance to take such opportunities.
The grand feet had patrolled the
whole of the North Sea on many Occa-
sions without coming into contact with |
the German high seas fleet.
They could not regard the submarine
menace as other than very serious and |
important, and the campaign in the
future must be met by new methods
possibly by new men.