The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1918-11-15
BY SIR ERIC GED0Es.

| FirHt Lord Of the British Admiralty,
In speaking of the United StaieS
naval forces, | do so with the great
advantage OF having seen most of them
personally in the course Of the last Is
months, and | can assure the public
that the morale and efficiency are alb
| SOlutely on the top line. Not only
! Is the keenness, technical skill and
organization of the personnel truly re-
markaoe, but, further. the material
! Of all ships and their equipment are
of the highest efficiency and latest de-
sign. What applies 10 your fighting
ships applies also 10 your depot and
pnrent ships. and | think ! may say.
without giving olTemse TO the great
! navii services of the two countries.
tha: the intermngljHg and co-operat-
| i've working is giving opportunities.
which both services are taking, of
picking out examples of the best for
adoption in and by The other service.
am, of course, unable to disclose
any details of the numbers of your YES
sells operating abroad, but with the
permission of your navy department
may say that they comprise some OF
the largest capital ships as well as
| cruisers deStrOyerS. submarines, chas-
ers, and many types of aircraft.
Taking these various classes in turn,
I would like first of all To show you
that your battleships are working with
our own grand fleet with the most
perfect coordination and efficiency,
ana l had the very great pleasure of
witnessing their arrival when they
first joined up with our OWN grand
fleet and was able to make signal
of welcome 10 them on that Occa-
sion.
Convoy 5a!ks Germany.
As regards your cruisers, they are
working with us in the White sea,
North sea, Atlantic and Mediterranean,
and / have seen them and admired
their efficiency in all these places. 1t
is to them, as well as to the gallant
little destroyers, working with the cor
responding forces of all the allies. that
the success of the convoy system is
due It is the convoy system which
baked Germany when she adopted
avowedly the inhuman and ruthless
method of submarine warfare, consid-
cred inconCeivable and contrary TO all
noble traditions Of the sea before the
war but which we now accept as one
of the outward signs of the devil
t.L hne IN h,, ,,vnpoiSa1 hnfnrn Cor
many is fit to take her place as an
honorable member of the League of
| Nations, in whatever form that oft
discussed organization may finally
shape itself.
Germany reckoncd TO end the war
last year by cutting the sea commu-
nicatiOns of the alliance and by the
reduction in tonnage; tho disSatisfac-
ton of the German nation with the
result Of their criminal effort is due
in very great measure TO the convoy
system, but it is due also to the al
lied efforts to tray and hunt the sub
marine on passage and to harass it on
station, and those two functions in sub
marine warfare must not be confused.
Efficient Naval Protection.
The ocean convoy is primarily de-
fense organization, and secondarily
only an offensive organization. Its
complement in this new form of naval
warfare is the hunting hOtilla and the
mine field. These two measures must
be carefully balanced and the rela-
tive urgency of the demands of one or
the other must receive, and does re-
reive, the most urgent consideration
and ceaSeleSS care and adjustment of
the great naval officers who are
charged with that responsibility. At
the present moment the United States
and Great Britain have become the
main bases of supply for the armies
in Europe, and in order to insure
these lines of communication being
safeguarded and kept open, every eff
cient naval protection is required. The
large proportion of merchant ship
ping which brings these supplies must
necessarily be American and British.
and consequently the AnglO-American
zone of naval OperatiOns-whlch may
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