El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1921-01-01

form IN your opinion would rnar war
take9 He replied
Unpleasant Prospect.
You may take it as an axiom that
the two great fleets. the battleships
of each power, would remain IN their
own waters and not attack each other.
The war would in the main be one
OF commerce destruction. since the
British Isles and your country would
both be immune against serious at
tacl1s. We would send out cruisers all
over the world and stifle your com
merce. You have not the small fast
cruisers thar we have. but as against
this We are moro dependent on sea
communications and our trade routes
are more vulnerable. You would at
tack them with converted merchant
men and submarines, and the results
few German commerce raiders OBJ
tanned against our trade before they
were run down in 1914 shows how uu-
pleasant you could make things.
Against Germany we had the adj
vantage that with the exception OF
the few ships that got out or were
out at the beginning the whole Ger
man naval force was in bottle ana
we held the neck Your great NUMB Der
Of ports on the Atlantic and the Pa
clfic would make IL easy for you 20
send out ships whenever you liked
that could so anywhere We would
catch and destroy many OF them but
outside Of European waters you could
bring our commerce to a standsllli-
You could not win the war against US
by these methods, unless the CONT
nent turned against US too, but since
you are sef-supporting we could moi
defeat YOU. and the thing might drag
on interminably. That is one OF the
reasons why it must never be allowed
10 happen
Big ship Supporters.
believes In more big ships and n
Maintaining a superiority in dread
noughts over any other powers =
headed BY lord Sydenham. The CHIEFS
Of the admiralty. whose views carry
most weight in these respects 90 not
permit their opinions 70 become Puo-
lie but from current gossip / believe
admiral Beatty is the real head ana
front OF the -battleship faction
Jeuicoe. as is natural in any case
where the two men are involved Is
said to take the other side.
Lord Sydenham does not accept the
view that naval wars are not 20 De
won by fleet actions. BIS school
contends that the striking force OF
the British navy must be able 70 go
out at any time and seek and de-
feat the concentrated sea power OF
any other country.
The controversy IS complicated by
the advocates OF submerslble battle
ships and flying creadnougnts- These
Two phrases may be a little eLag-
gerated at the moment, but there are
submarine and air experts who seri-
ously contend that within a few years
great Earships with heavy guns VIII
be able 70 sail the sea submerged
and aircraft viii exist capable of
sinking any ship on the surface. Sub
marines were constructed here at the
end OF the war which carried each
a 12-inch gun for the purpose OF
bOmbarding the Belgian coast, and
this fact is cited by the anti-battle-
ship sailors OF course If these men
are right IL IS recognized that TO
build superdreadnoughts IS merely
wasting money, but whether they are
right is one OF the questions that the
committee Of imperial defence must
settle
Bottomley's Ideaz.
Horatio Bottomly. IL P. Is not
known for his friendship 70 the
United States John BUN, which he
edits, has the largest circulation Of
any organ OF opinion among the gen
eral public 81 is read weekly by mil
lions Of EnEiishmen who make Il
their Bible, and for this reason what
ever Bott0mleT says is taken seriously