New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-10-30
The Control of the High Seas
t5o Blockade Influenced Nelson's Days and in the Ci0H
Disasters bu Land or Sea Not Mean That Our Control Is Threatened

feet and the virtually undefe1ded Russsu
seacoast somewhat at her mercy. Thus ct
one and the same time the Allies consrol he
high seas and the Mediterranean, while Ger.
many dominates the Baltic, neither side ben.
able to effectively attack the other in 4.
latter'5 waters. This is very singular CO..
ditior of things, but this war has been fl
of strange situations.
The failure TO attack the German nsv!
bases has brought forth muca criticism ~
civilians. bu. I have sufficient confidence n
the naval heads of England backed as he!
now are by our own excellent officers. 10
feel that what has been done - the result {.
very careful consideration of the sltus.os.
Laymen, made impatient by what appears 10
be slowness of action By admiras and sei.
erals, are apt to forget hat in war there b
but one prime object, and that is the destrue.
ton of the enemy's fighting force, whethr
on sea or land Many brilliant action hu
led to nothing because it wa not step !,
that direction; many another that was s5i
a step has led to nothing because not esrrid
to a conclusion. The importance Of Genera
Hag's capture of this or that hill or tox
is measured solely by the gain he makes
toward defeating the German army II he
should take Lille and stop, his success would
be comparatively small. 1t is the Gsrnsa
army he is after, just Is, at sea, Il % tie
German feet the navy is after. | undsus,si
it to be the opinion of our nava. officers az!
of the English. too, for that natter ar
Jellicoe failed. in that he did not avail liz.
self Of the opportunity to destroy the &c
man feet. He got what j. known on ,
other side as an Irish promotion, but the *
remains that such a victory as ne held ian
hands and did not gragp would have u
unreasonable effects. 1t would have abs
lutely settled for the rest of the war Ere
lands unquestioned domination Of the sea-
and very likely have prevented any such b.
velopment of submarine warfare as has siru
come about.
German Sorties Not Significant
have not the slightest doubt tina. A
mirais Sims and Beatty ard many other abe
officers are tr:.g. to solve the problem u
destroying the German feet. When thg
have decided how it can be done il viii h
done. 1t is, however, to be hoped that ~
politician or restless newspaper will have b.
fuence enough to bring abou, a premst1u
move, which might really lead TO snothg
Gallipoli disaster, a disaster t6at lies al ,h
door of smart and none too sincere pols'
clan. In war of the present magnitude, %
occasional slight giving way on shore, orr
equally occasional disaster at sea must
expected. But the sinking of re Antilles 4
of convoy of merchant ships does not re'i
that the control of the seas is lost or rs1
threatened. A sortie by two armored ms
from Charleston was hailed during he Civil
War as breaking of the blockade; bur the
rams went back and were ntver heard o.
again, while the Union feet shut up Chare.'
ton tighter than ever. Mr.. Simonds's interest.
esting articles in The Tribune on the war a
Flanders, comparing it to the last year b
fore Petersburg, are an excellent descrpnoa
OF the situation as applied TO sea as well u
land. The day Germany sends her feet ssi
and defeats the American and English desa
she will be near to victory in this var. 10
less she does that, bar peace with Russia
she is certainly doomed to defeat within
measurable time. The control Of the ~
by ourselves and our allies is slowly ba
surely throttlng Germany, and, as in ~
siege, the greater the pinch the more rspiu
will the danger point be reached. But n
peat 1T is nowhere near that point te-dF
even though the Allies do so control "
high seas that no supplies reach GermH
any longer from across the ocean. We mas
not expect victory without a naval and ~
itary effort on our part compared TO whiehr
else that we have ever done in war
nothing. In the meantime il is quite cerss.
that we shall not relax our hold on the hip
seas.