Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-03-26
TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH rs, 1918.
THROUGH THE MI SITS DIMLY SEEN

While the eyes. of the world are fixed on the struggle
Of giants now in progress in northern France, where the
might Of the greatest military machine ever created on
this planet is loosed against the forces which have thus
far stayed its progress; while gray rivers Of living men
are flowing on and on, being dashed to pieces against
the rocks of stubborn British resistance, or dissipated
into harmlessness as that resistance yields. recedes. but
remains elastic and intact; while anxiety for the immc-
date present for the moment supersedcs in a measure
confidence in the ultimate result: the British navy keeps
the seas Ind guards the gates of liberty. -
Out upon the stormy waters, through raging winds
and tumbling waves, in mist and cold and sleet, away
from the knowledge Of men and the plaudits of the null
titutde. those ships, fit and ready for the fray, keep
their ceaseless vigil. And We Of America, in common
with the world at large. will long have cause for thank
fulness that though like ourselves the British were
negligent of the land defenses which common prudence
would have provided, the traditions of their empire were
at al times maintained in a navy that was, fit for serv-
ice satsans1nstxnrs notice. 4~"! -
That navy drove the German flaEsYrom the seas,
save as it is raised over a submarine which emcrges
cautiously from her surreptitious errand Of death. II
has kept open the lanes of travel for the commerce Of
the worlds democracy. 1t has guarded its home ports
and locked up those of the enemy. 1t has made it pos
sible to transport troops from our own shores to France,
TO carry supplies for them, and to transport the food
that is needed for millions and the equipment needed
forssstheir armies. 1t has locked the ports of Germany
and forced her warships into hiding from which they
dare not en1erse:,. Night and, day, through fair weather
and foul, Its vigilance is unceas!ng, and its work is all
done so quietly that the world never hears Of it.
The ships Of the United states that are in service
across the Atlantic are performing excellent work, but
they are small and there are few of them. The brunt
Of the labor has fallen on the British navy. Without
it not even the first handful of British troops-that
famous first hundred thousand-could never have
first sweeping German onslaught. Without it Paris
would have fallen in that first autumn, and all France
would soon have been occupied by the invader. without
that navy, with France destroyed and Russia helpless,
the United Kingdom would have been starved to death
or into acceptance of whatever terms the Hun chose to
make. Without that navy the pathway of the Germans
across the Atlantic would have been free from obstruc-
ton save that which could have been inehectively pre-.
scented by our own inadequate naval force, and America,
ike Europe, would have been at the mercy Of the Hun.
III Is the British navy that more than any other single
faetef makes it certain that whether In ahi4 great on
slAusht the Germans advance many miles or few.
whether they capture additional towns or are held in
their present places, they still remain shut of from tina,
materials for their very life. 1t is that navy which makes
. plain statement of fact, rather than an idle boast OF
that laconic message Of Lloyd George to Hais that men
and guns are already on their way from England tc
take the places Of those that ne has lost in his remark.
able resistance to the onslaught of the Teutonic horde
The British navy! 1t is performing a glorious mis-
sion, and those who have the privilege to be associated
with 1t are in glorious company.