Evening star., 1921-12-31
LORD LEE DZSCLOSE,S
CAUSES FOR DLS7RUST
Official Statements Issued BY Conference
NaualArms Committee Following Tenth
And Eleventh Sessions Yesterday:

naval general staff. a series of ar
ticles now Incorporated, l believe, in
SyntheSe de Ia guerre SouS-marine,
by Capitaine de Fregate Castex. who
at that time was chief of one of the
important bureaux of the French ma
val staf. who is now chief of staff OF
the admiral of the I'd Division in the
Mediterranean. and who has just been
designated as principal lecturer to the
senior officers courses for the next
year.
Points Out Omcer's Views.
Therefore. l am not quoting some
retired naval officer writing from his
club: We all suffer from such gem
tlemen who PROFOUND extraordinary
theories. / am speaking now of re-
sponsible officer of the French naval
stan in high position. who wrote In
particular an article on Piracy. in
which. after some preliminary obser-
vations destined to throw ridicule on
those who criticised the German
methods in the late war and to treat
them with great contempt. he pro-
ceeds to say this:
I'm the first place, before
throwing stones at the Germans.
we should have recalled that this
war Of the torpedo was, like so
many other novelties of our planet,
the application of an idea. which
French
Then he quotes in support Of his
view the doctrine which had been laid
down some years ago by Admiral
Aube, who was a very distinguished
and celebrated French minister of
marine. who had used the following
words when speaking of the use OF
the torpedo from torpedo boat
Capt Castex goes on to point out
that they are equally applicable 10
the submarine today):
"'Will the torpedo boat tell the cap
tain Of the liner that it is there. that 1t
is lying in wait for him, but it can SINK
him and in consequence take him pris-
oner? In one word. will it seize it's prize
by platonic methods? On the contrary
at an approprite distance. and unseen,
the torpedo boat will follow the liner
the dead of night, quietly. silently. it
will send to the abyss the liner, cargo.
passengers and crew; then with mind
not only serene. but fully satisfied with
the results achieved. the captain of the
torpedo boat will continue his cruise
Appropriated Another'x Idea.
He continues:
""The Germans, as is their wont,
have only appropriated in this case the
invention of others. The young French
school no doubt only had in mind the
torpedo boat as such, but. if the effect
of the torpedo is independent of the
tube which launches it. it will be agreed
that the German submarine war had
its germ in the observations quoted
above. But approaching the question
from a higher standpoint then that of
mere inquiry as to who conceived this
new form of warfare. 1t must be recog-
nized that the Germans were absolutely
justified in resorting to it,
He says, indeed. that to neglect to
do so would have been to commit a great
blunder. Further:
1T is thus that resolute belligerents
have acted throughout the course of
history when people have been engaged
in desperate conflict
Further:
ITO sum up. one can see nothing
in the attitude of the Germans which.
militarily speaking, is not absolutely
correct. The failure to give notice
before torpedoing has raised a storm
of protest. but it is not so mad
missible as at first sight appears.
Laying Down of Doctrine.
There are many other passages
of similar description, and inter-
spersed among them is the laying
down of a doctrine with regard to
the value of submarines, to which we
heartily subscribe and to which we
have shown our adherence in the
debates which have preceded this:
1.-The submarine is mediocre tor
pedo boat; that is to say. it has only
very limited chances of damaging by
means of torpedo a ship enjoying
like itself. full liberty of movement
on the broad sea, as is proved by
the relative immunity enjoyed by big
warships even in the most dangerous
zones and at times when submarines
were swarming around. With re-
gard to submarines. the English seem
to have an opinion very similar to
that which we entertain.
There is much more of the same
kind, but he concludes his article
with these words:
".Thanks to the submarine. after
many centuries of effort, thanks to
the ingenuity of man, the instru-
ment, the system, the martingale is
at hand which will overthrow for
good and all the naval power of the
British empire
Suggests French Dfsavowal.
II have quoted this because. as I
say, they are the utterances of a
responsible member of the French
naval staff. who at the time of writ
ing was in a high position and was
the actual head of a bureau. These
things are known to our naval staff,
of course: indeed, they were published
to the world, under the authority OF
the French naval staff. Now this Of
ficer. who is appointed principal lee
turer to the senior officers course,
will, no doubt, unless a change of
policy takes place. be pouring what
we regard as this infamy and this
poison into the ears of the serving
officers of the French navy. That is
the justification for what l can only
describe as the apprehensions and
even the bitterness that we must feel
in the thought that under any con-
ceivable circumstances our present
allies, our late comrades in arms in
the greatest war the world has ever
known, should contemplate the pos
sibility of warfare of that kind. 1t
seems to me- now that we have ex-
pressed those apprehensions, the way
is open for the French delegation and
the French government, as l ferVent-
ly trust they will, to disavow and
repudiate these things. 1 suggest re-
spectfully that there is only one way
in which that can be effectively done,
and that is by the adoption Of these
resolutions which have been moved
by Mr. Root, and particularly No. 2.
with the amendment suggested by Mr..
Balfour attached to it. The French
have told US here again and again
that they only require submarines for
purposes of defense. particularly for
the defense of their colonial possess
sions, their home ports and their lines
of communication.
Will Remove Suspicion.
1--WE have had differences of opinion
as to the utility of submarines for
these purposes. but now, it seems to
me, here is an opportunity of prov
ing to the world that they mean
what they say in regard to this. that
they are not prepared under any cir
cumstances to consider the use Of
submarines in the manner in which
the Germans used them in the war,
which a member of their general
staff has claimed as their own and as
to nd