Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-19
"\NIIAT can't understand" +,

| thing"
THE newspapers have not had much
to say about naval activities" l ad.
mitted.
/ we read about battles on the west
| crn front and on the eastern front and
/ i'm Italy and In Asiatic Turkey" the
doctor continued. but about all we
hear of activities on the sea is con.
tanned in the weekly report of the
sinking Of merchant ships by subma-
rines."
do you really think the navies have
not been doing anything I asked.
Il suppose they have done some
thing" he said, but not half so much
as they ought to have done IF you
will pardon the expression. l should
like to see them adopt the policy OF
the American admiral and say Damn
the torpedocs,' or submarines, and go
ahead and take IIeligoland and bottle
up tho North Sea mouth Of the Kicl
Canal"
q confess TO having entertained n
similar longing, doctor" I remarked.
Tho hesitation may be due to the un-
willingness of tho Allied Powers to
take the great risks of defeat in.
volved. But we muse not make tho
mistake of thinking that the navies
have done nothing. l have had the
privilege of reading an advance copy
of a book on Naval Power in the
War written by Lieutenant Com.
mandcr Gin of tho American navy,
which gives an admirable summary of
what has been done. The book will
not be published until Saturday of
next week. | have already discov.
erod that Doctor McFabre's impres.
sions about the activities Of the navy
can be corrected only by reading a
book Of this kind. As a matter of fact
the navies have not been inactive The
Entente Allies control tho seas OF the
world save the Baltic and u small
area IN the North Sea.
How about the Black Sea-" asked
owen.
"1f it had not been for the failure Of
the land forces in the Dardanelles
campaign they would have controlled
that sea also. There were German
warships ut large when the war began,
but they were destroyed in tho battle
of the Falkland Islands or forced t
seek internment, and tho commerce
destroyer Emden, which did great
damage for few months, was finally
sunk. The German navy is forced TO
hug close TO the shores Of the North
Sea and the Baltic. The Austrian
ships do not dare come out Of the
Adriatic and what navy Turkey has re-
mains in the Sea Of Marmora. The At
the commerce of the enemies Of the
Central Empires. Troops, munitions
and provisions are carried across the
Atlantic menaced on:y by the sub.
marines. Lieutenant Commander Gill
says that If the captains of the mer-
chant ships exercised due precautions
the toll of the submarines would be
reduced till It was inconsiderable. The
captains, however, have escaped so
many times that they are careless and
assume sort Of fatalistic attitude. !
The submarine war on commerce was
by Germany because the |
enemy navies had control OF the sea |
and had blockaded Germany and Aus /
trIa so completely that they could OBJ /
tain nothing from tho outside world. /
The submarines had failed in naval .
battles against armored ships. They |
were the only weapon that Germany |
the effect of tho British blockade. AS
Commander Gill says, it
was impossible to make war on mer.
chant shipping with the submarines
without violating the rules OF civil.
zed warfare. OF course. he reminds
us that It was this deliberate disregard
Of the rules Of civilized warfare by
Germany that brought America into
he war. The preteXt of military ne
2essity urged by the Germans was so
transparent that it did not suffice"
what would like to know is why
he Entente navies have been con.
ent with destroying the few German
caught away rom home
ports and with blockading Germany"
said Doctor McFabre. "Why do not
hey assume the offenslve?"
"They have made one or two ex-
)eriments," said /. THE battle in
blight early I'm the war
vas virtually a German victory. The
Oogger Bank fight was a drawn battle
md the Jutland conflict was a German
for the British lost more ships
md many more men than the Ger.
mans. In another sense, however,
.hese. North Sea fights may be re.
sarded as Allied victories, for they
nave proved to the Germans that they
cannot successfully challenge the sea-
power Of Great Britain. They have
rugged their own shores closely and
ire likely to continue TO do So"
"Wh9t about the navy at the Dar
ianelles?" asked owen.