Evening star., 1916-01-02

their own. They are the type from
which the British have drawn many OF
their aviators; also the Germans and
the French.
The main thin gis to have up-to-date
machines and resources to build more
rapidly. The wastage of machines IN
actual warfare is enormous. clear be-
lyond the expectation of any OF the
armies. They rarely come back from a
Hong reconnaissance without some in
jury from anti-aircraft fire repairs
must be carried out at the actual 1ront
So organized preparation before tne
war for the repair of planes is es-
sential! :.
Not less important are plenty OF
mother ships. with their machine SHOPS
for the sea planes. Any merchant SIM
can be made into an excellent moIhef
ship if your machinery is ready. FRO
vided you know what merchant SNIP
you are going to use when war is oe-
| clared and exactly what is to De aone
with carpenters and material at na1u
in week the transformation can DE
made. >,
| In this, as in many other things. II is
not case of having an enormous Iorce
ALWAYS in being, but of being prepared
to utilize national resources promptly;
There are $4,000 excellent potential
laviators in the United States, and you
could have a choice of them on call. II
would be case of selection of the nj
! for instruction by the trained force or
regular officers.
The Case of the Submarine.
| So much for the air And now under
the sea.
! Public opinion. in it's military ideas.
has followed the sensational incidents
of the war. One day one branch has
seemed triumphant. the next another
When the Queen Elizabeth fired her
of Gallipoli past the weak little
Turkish batteries, everybody said that
the United States must Immediately
construct guns of still more powerful
could not fire army corps ashore
at the same time to hold what she had
taken. She belonged with the grand
fleet, and not running around by her-
self. firing shells into the landscape OF
Asia Minor and running the risk of be-
ing hit by the submarines. Again,
when submarine got the Aboukir, the
Crecy and the Hogue in the North sea,
everybody said it was time to build
submarines All wars would be settled
by submarines in the future. Battle
ships were obsolete. Meanwhile, the
real experts had not changed their
minds. After the Aboukir lesson the
British took care that their cruisers
were not exposed as such an easy tar
get to the submarines again.
The submarine, like the aeroplane.
has done more than was expected of
1t. 1t is the assassin. the guerrilla of
the seas But in it's present develop.
ment it cannot protect the passage of
a single one of the merchant steamers
that flies it's own flag, or of a single
cruiser or battleship if outgunned by
the enemys.
Cannot Clear the Seas.
1t cannot even drive the other fell
lows merchant ships off the seas as
long as he has superior navy. For
goods and men don't go under the sea
when they travel, but on the surface.
AS long as they do, the important thing
to command is the surface of the sea
and not the region of the star fishes.
The British have double the number
of subma rnes of the Germans. They
have navigated them to the Baltic and
to the Sea of Marmora. In the Baltic
they have made it uncomfortable for
German shipping. and on the Marmora
they have got some Turkish transports.
But, in general. they have lacked tar
gets. There have been no German
ships out anywhere except i'll the Bal
tic. An enemys submarine would not
bother our merchant marine much, be-
cause we practically have none. Sub
marines are not of the slightest use
against a fleet inside harbor. Both
the British and German fleets are safe
in their anchorage from the subma-
rine's attack, thanks to their precau-
ton. submarine poking its nose
round the nets at the harbor'S mouth
will be unlucky if it finds an opening
in the first net. Then it will be caught
between the first and the second, and
will have to come up and surrender
or stay down and drown.
Submarine Great Defense Weapon.
In defense the submarines little hell
brother is the mine. The mine waits
with it's explosive till a ship comes.
But the submarine takes its mine with
it. The two can protect almost any
harbor if you have enough of them.
The longer the coast line we have to
defend the more important both sea
planes and submarines to our navy.
Our army planes, if we have any, will
watch the enemy's army if ONE should
ever land on our shores. But that
army cannot land until our navy has
been bottled up, until it is able to
guard it's transports against our sub
marines and bonn mbardments by bombs
from our seaplaneS.
The British have kept the channel
free for their trasports by making a
barrier from France to England in the
shallow water of the channel which
no submarine could pass. But such a
barrier is difficult in an open road
stead Whenever there is one subma-
rine at large all transports and
merchant shipping are imperiled,
unless fully protected by destroyers
and seaplanes-which We lack. The
effective use of the German subma-
rines at Gallipoli has proven this. But
you must have submarines which can
go to sea; they must have long cruis-
ing ranges. We have one of this kind
building Others were authorized a
but hi dc fnr H.,