New Britain herald., 1919-12-10


 destroyer tender and submarine tender It is a rather ambitious pro- gram for the year, but one that is war ranted.
 The United States with it's grow ing maritime trade with it's recently established merchant marine, which it hopes to keep up to the top-notch h of efficiency, and it's enlarged scope of activities in all directions must consider deeply the need of ade- quate navy, which, through it's very strength, will be sufficient to safeguard our interests at any point in the globe. War need not be feared be- cause of the weight of armament more than we need to fear rlotinS in a town which is we'll outfitted with police. International jealousles may arise. but a modicum of dlplomacH will avert strife. One of the first points to which we must LOOK TOT jealousy is Great Britain whose navy is now supreme. A mighty fleet, the pride of the British heart. enclfcles the small islands of the seat of gov ernment and takes care of the safety of the comme cree which is the life of the Englishman. Great Britain is so situated that should she be with out the strength of her navy, starVa- tion in time of war would be her in evitable lot. Commerce is her only saviour, the importa tion of foodstuffs. of which she cannot grow enough. and the exportation of manufa ctured goods is her economic existence. Had the German navy, during the war; succeeded in cutting off shipping for a radius of two hundred miles about a two to one chance that England would have been starved into sub m mission. It mattered not afterward, whether the Germans were ever able to return to their home ports or whether they were sunk on the high seas. Providing they could have stayed out long enough to sink the great mass of tonnage which was constant ly supplying Great Britain with food their battle would have been won.
 We are by no means as dependent upon outside sources as Great Britain is, We could live cut off from the world though we might suffer. By a long policy of attrition the navy on the outside, which could beat ours might force our surrender eventually, even though it were impossible to approach our shores with ships or troops. It is fitting then that We should have a navy that would auto- matically preclude any possibility of this and which would be large enough to make any foreigner hesitate before attempting to cope with our ships and our guns. If we wish to enter upon an era of competitive shipbuildins with the British we have, indeed, a long ways to go. Our navy is far inferior in armament than is theirs, and it will take years to catch up, even providing that the British build not Another ship.
 However, there is no particular rea- Britain, she is the dimmest possibility on the political horizon just al present and there is every reason to believe that she will remain so. Our interests are greatly in common, a fact admit ted upon both sides of the water. Not 1 withstanding, we should have a navy 1 understood over there, possibly il | would be. but we have watched hel ! navy grow to it present size with nc protest or jealousy, she must do the same for us. The fact that the 1 Lea que of Nations pact has not been ratified on this side of the pond. and that we are hurryng our building i program might cause dissension. Pro- 1 viding that there are adequate pro- 1 visions for naval disarmame and the Britons live up to it as well as We we might do we'll to accept the pact Our navy, however, should be as i strong as that of Great Britain de l spite the fact that we are not as de ] pendent upon it for our very exist ! ence, whether there is a League ol not. The only thing that the Lea que 1 might accomplish in this connection is restriction of the program.
 HEATING BY OIL.