Bisbee daily review., 1917-11-02

" iOlI Il use OhCg
realize that however great the loss
of mercantile tonnage is-and the fig
ures are sill very formidable = we
cannot at this stage of the war pick
any one item to deduce therefrom
that the war, even any phase of tho
war. is going well or badly"
The Kaleidoscope change which
goes On in actual warfare. he added,
s continually occurring in workshops
end shipyards. To the uniformed
observer il must appear some times
that there is no method in the mad
ness of those who control these mat
ers.
But" said he, Il would appeal to
the country for confidence. There is
method in what we do.
Submarine Operations
1.-The general situation regarding
submarine warfare can best be deter
mined by the following figures: Since
the beginning of the war between 40
and SO per cent of the German sub.
marines operating in the North Sea,
the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans
have been sunk. During the last
quarter the enemy has lost as many
submarines as during the whole of
1916.
CAS- regards the sinkings of British
merchant tonnage by submarines, the
German official figures for August are
S0S,000 tons of all nationalities. They
sank little more than one-third of
that amount of British tonnage and
little more than half of all nation
alities.
Some Facts
The Germans claim that our ton
mage is falling so low that there are
not enough ships on the sea to en-
able their submarine commanders to
maintain their bag Let me give you
the facts. In April last, the heaviest
month of British losses by enemy
submarines since the war began, our
trade followed presumably in salts
factory volume for the enemy subma
rine. In September last, the lowest
month of sinkings, our overseas sail
ings of all ships of over 1000 tons
were 20 per cent in number and 60
per cent in tonnage higher than in
April. The enemy must, therefore
find another and better explanation
/ for bis lack of success. | cannot sup
ply it.
1.-THE explanation is that the long
army of the British navy reached
down into the depths, and thus the
harvest reaped is poorer and the mum,
Der of German submarines which do
not return is increasig.
Losses Decrease
Since April, the highest month for
British losses. they have steadily de
creased and latterly to marked de
gree. September was the most salts
factory month; October was only
slightly worse and better by 80 per
cent than any other month since un-
restricted submarine warfare began
The net reduction in tonnage in the
last four months is 80 per cent less
than anticipated in the estimate pre-
pared for the cabinet early in July.
IL Per Cent Loss
1.-The total net reduction since the
beginning of the war from all causes
in British tonnage on the official reg
lister in ships over 1900 tons is under
two and half millions of tons gross
or IA per cent, and that after pc
riod when our great armies and their
magnificent equipment received pri
ority and the great growth of our
navy was simultaneously achieved. to
the detriment of mercantile ship
building. Now that the submarine is
for the present doing less damage
and the resources of the country are
again being devoted to far greater
and an increasing extent to the up
building of the mercantile marine,
Hook for net results still more formida-
BILE"
Summary Of Work.
Summarized, the submarine war
fare amounts to this: Our defensive
measures have during the last seven
months proved so efficacious that in
spite of the increased number of ships
passing through the danger zone there
has been steady reduction in the dam
age done by the enemy submarines. In
/ the meantime we are sinking enemy
submarines TO an increasing extent
Our offensive measures are improving
and will still more improve and multi
ply.
But, on the other hand, the Ger
mans are building submarines faster
! than they have hitherto done and they
have not attained their maximum
strength. 1t appears to me therefore
that in the submarine warfare. as
elsewhere, it is becoming test OF de
termination and ingenuity between the
two controlling forces.
For the present, have come to
the conclusion that submarine warfare
is going well for us. The enemy has
done less damage than he hoped anC
less than we estimated. He has done