The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-03-17

fKED yoN TIRPlrL. TIKPIII the Eter-
nal, as he was called, must be n Of
the sensations OF the war In Ger
many. The Emperor's personal In.
tiuence vas once solicited In behalf
Of a young officer whom Wow TIRPIrz
had disciplined. you'll have to got
along with him as we'll us you can"
said the unsympathetic Emperor.
that's what I have to do" The
story illustrates the Importance Of
the Grand Admiral as a factor In the
imperial policy no less than the mas.
terful temper Of the a He 1t was
who created and maintained the mod
ern navy of Germany, not WILLIAM
II. To the man in the street voN
TIRrliL is known chiefly rs the or
ganizer Of Submarine warfare" the
advocate Of "frightfulness" on the sea
The notoriety has given him q bad
name, which doubtless he richly de-
serves.
To those who are familiar with his
remarkable career. the retirement Of
NoS TIRrIrz is the fall Of q mighty
pillar Of the empire. He has been
us great In naval affairs us BisMAlcx
was in diplomacy. When the duel In
dreadnought building with England
began the German people were not
interested IN the navy. II was neces-
ssry for the Admiral to educate them.
which he did with a publicity bureau
the like Of which has never been
known in any other country. But
that was only half the battle. To
cet tho Reichstac 10 adopt y naval
programme that contemplated rivalry
with England was an almost super
human task. and then there was the
voting Of appropriations in lean as
well rs fat years, with the army
clamoring for increase and new
equipment The preamble 10 the ma.
val law Of 1900 declared that Ger
many must have q feet Of such
strength that u a y against the
mightiest naval power would involve
such risks rs To threaten the suprem.
acy of that Power"
This was a direct challenge to Eng.
land, and only II nan Of VoS TIBPrrz's
tremendous audacity and energy
could have carried out the programme.
In one year, 1909, he WAS building III
many rs eight dreaduoughts, and the
competition was no longer q stern
chase on the part Of Germany. To
all proposals that ornaments be lin.
ited he returned II peremptory no.
and he scoffcd III the idea Of q naval
holiday rs weakly sentimental. II
must be remembered that this vigorous
mat had no aristocratic connections.
In the little Town of kistrin, In the
Mark of Brandenburg, more than one
hundred miles from the sea, and he
always had Ia contend against jun
her influences and the court. 1t l.
curious, too. that VoN TIEPIIz was an
ndmirer az the British navy from his
earliest years. and DsAKE and SrL.
son were his heroes. He rose to high
command and great responsibility be-
cause he was the most energetic.
efficient, re,ourcefui, and, 1t may be
udded, magnetic officer 10 the German
navy. Even the Kaiser stood In awe
Of the big, bluff, arbitrary old man
VIII" had all the naval statistics Of
the World by heart and knew the
duty of every officer and man In the
service to the minutest detail.
Having got his ships. efficiency. eff
cheney aud always efficiency. was the
Won Tirpitz gospel. To an ambitious
officer who wanted a ship the Ad.
miral said brusquely: you have
very white hands for u man who
hopes tn command II cruiser" An.
other officer was told that he "wsltzed
'i'lhSis' NHi-h pIoN'i INA lt ilns
no sea legs. 4 well known American
Admiral believes that the German
navy Is more thorough and workman.
like than the British. Certainly vow
TIRPirz has labOred to make 1t so,
and his disappointment when he rea.
lied that he could not give the Brit
ish feet battle In the North Sea was
t%ragical.
Submarine warfare" was the pol.
icy of desperation. and for II splendid
type of sailor like VoN TIRPIIz II
seemed like degenerucy. OF late there
have been rumors that the Kaiser
desired tn abandon the d%iscreditable
programme, which, moreover, was
ending In failure. As the originator
and defender OF IL there was nothing
for the Grand Admiral u do hut re-
tire, The alternative Of snbmar ine
warfare 10 II naval offensive In the
North Sea, and that Is work for n
man In the prime Of nfe.
Ia Not . New Rouse Leader Needed
There was printed on this page.
after evidence developed that the NH.
jorlry In the House was not working
Ao,,ennin,,ix a 4. aNaotivo1,, vI.sn