Grand Forks herald., 1917-02-02
ENGLAND LOOKS
FOR ADHESION
OF WAR AT SEA
BY Arming all Merchant
men She can Fight Sub
marines Four to One.
Admiralty Very Active
Prepare for Test of
Strength with Germany

London, Feb. 2.-Confidence in the
Lloyd George ministry was stimulated
last week by the getting together Of
the allied navies. which in the past
had lacked co-ordination: and there
are signs Of intense. If unadvertised.
activity at the admiralty that At into
the generally accepted theory Of an
impending trial of strength between
Britain and Germany that will test the
comparative resources Of the two
countries on. and particularly under,
the sea. Visibility Of preparations IL
not needed to give warning Of the con-
f1ict that may prove the last phase of
this war. The deadliest sea attack
ever offered by one great country and
by another seem staged for a future
so near that 1t may be only tomor-
row.
Two western nations are resorting
desperately to the oriental method Of
strangulation-Brita by blockade
and Germany by submarine. While
the Asquith government waited Ger
many got ready her undersea feet.
whose numbers are estimated by
some as high as 500, most Of them
submarine cruisers built to operate
far from their base Opposed to this
attack is the traditional blue water
policy Of Britain, which has produced
the greatest feet assembled under one
flag, manned by personnel in which
every sailor and officer Is true to type.
and commanded by combination Of
brains. skill, and dash. Carson, Jel-
licoe and Beatty. with such resources,
ought to prove themselves unbeat-
able.
The unknown quantity is whether
the enemy has stolen a. march on the
old government. which delayed while
every shipyard in Germany worked
ceaselessly. At the present rate the
U-boats are wearing down merchant
tonnage faster than 1t is being re-
placed. Thenew department Of ship
ping. under Sir Joseph Maclay, is ap-
plying itself strenuously to organizing
shipbuilding. All facilities are to be
used for building small cargo boats in
large numbers and turning them out
quickly. Parts are to he standardized,
and widely scattered facilities as
senobled at convenient centers, thus
tearing another leaf from Germany's
book.
The government is not taking the
public into its confidence regarding
the arming Of merchantmen. which
might prove a vital element in the
submarine defense program. Here
England comes up against America,
as Germany does In respect to sinking
at sight. If England can arm forward
and abeam as we'll as aft, she can in
time enable each merchantmen to
meet the attacking submarine on
equal fighting terms. thus giving her
a strength of four to one, counting
her merchant fleet at 1000 and con-
ceding the German maximum Of 1000
Now Germany lis to turn loose her
undersea fleet without bothering about
sea law as interpreted by the United
States, and with the bare purpose of
sinking every ship bound for an Eng
lish port, and so, she might reduce
England by starvation.
The British public Is slow to take
alarm, but it Is in the air that the last
desperate stroke is about to fall. Aside
from the effect on the war and the
consequences to the human stomach,
both of which might be serious, there
Is q dramatic interest in the challenge
to the Briton in his own particular
aqueous element. and it is worthy of
remark that in the third year Of the
war 1t is on sea rather than on land
that Germany is putting forth her Of
fensive.
The government stood its first test
last week. when the Labor party, in
convention at Manchester, proclaim-
ed its adhesion by an overwhelming
vote. Mr.. Asquith was supposed to
have a sort Of proprietorship in this
field; but year ago his government
was Endorsed by q vote Of five to one.