Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-07-29
The British Navy
By Ed L. Keen

NOulleu L TtSS SidIl correspondent
London, July 8 (By maiD--Brtish-
ers don appreciate their navy. This
statement goes as much for Arthur
Balfour as it does for Bill Bowbells.
Both of them are near sighted. Also
they lack imagination.
Just because Admiral Jellicoe in his
initial dispatch regarding the Julland
fightdidn't t pin bouquets on himself
and the Grand Fleet, the first lord of
the admiralty failed to read between
the lines that the British had really
won the greatest naval battle since
Trafalgar.
But it was all there-and he had the
German wireless report as confirmation
After detailing his losses Jelli-
coe modestly observed that "the enc
my returned to port The Germans
had already told the world that on
May 81 "during an enterprise directed
northward" the high seas fleet had
encountered tne enemy, etc, and that
on the following day it returned into
our ports.
Instead of featuring this one essen
tial fact, Balfour dolefully emphasized
the great losses sustained by the Brit
ish. England went to bed that night
lin a blue funk. The psychological
gloom was thick Bill Bowbells and
all his friends were convinced that Jel-
licoe and Beatty had gotten the worst
of it. More important still, the neutral
world had been similarly impressed.
"German Fleet Beats British, - "Ger-
mans Win Great Sea Fignt'' read the
headlines in American newspapers over
dispatches containing both the British
and German admiralty communiques.
A British Victory
Even if the British losses had been
greater than those of the Germans
which they weren't according to the
belated admissions of the German ad.
miralty, news of the loss of certain
ships have been withheld "for mill.
tary reasons''-it still would have
been a British victory, in the opinion
of most naval strategists in these
parts.
Bill Bowbells ism t much of STRAIT
egist, but when he finally gathered
that tne Germans had started out on
an enterprise which they had to
abandon in the face of the foe, and had
returned limping into their ports, he
,opined that perhaps Jeilicoe hadn t
been licked after all. Arthur Balfour,
himself, some days after, the fight, in
a public speech brsugnt out quite
stronolv this fact.
What MAGNIFICENT opportunity for
a real prss agent. Wry, even fairly
competent cub reporter could have
written a more cheerful communique
without adding to or distorting the
facts at hand.
A possible explanation is that Bal
four was so obsessed by previous pub
lie criticisms of the official propeness
to withhold untavorabie news, that he
determined in this case to let the worst
be known at once.
The unfavorable effect upon the pub
lie was immediate. The next day Is
British papers were filled with bitter
navy had already failed properly to
protect the east coast against sporad-
ic raids, and now when it had a real
chance at the enemy it had suffered
disaster! There were loud calls for a
clean sweep of the navy administra-
tion. Bring back "Jacky' Fisherl
He'll do the job right, etc.
Lost Sight of the Result
Balfour and Bowbells-officialdo
press and public-in their contempla-
ton of the really heavy losses sustain
ed by the British fleet not, only com
pletely lost sight of the result of the
fight, what it meant for tae future
security of the island kingdom as well
as of the empire and the allies gen
orally; but they forgot entirely what
the navy has been doing ever since the
war started. Their perspective on
both future and past was out Of focus.
After all, the Jutland battle was
but an incident. 1t was days work
la hard day, that sent thousands of
brave men TO death aad filled homes
throughout England with widows and
orphans-but it was merely part of the
great scheme.
The navy's really hardest work has
been mine sweeping and submarine
hunting. the former comparatively safe
but awfully monotonous, the latter
dangerous and at times thrilling. In
mine sweeping the navy has had the
valuable assistance of the coast fish
ermen. As to submarine hunting the
navy ism I saying muea. The "bag'
1 baen Il heeu announced but any bAle-