Evening star., 1921-02-16
Editorial Digest
Scrapping the Dreadnaught.

0CAdppluS tuc UIedOu6uSnC.
The attack on capital ships by pow
erful minorities in both England and
| America seems to find them as vulner-
able. in the eyes of the press, as the
| aircraft and submarine enthusiasts de-
| clare they are in battle. For the most
| part. American writers support the
views Of Cen Mitchell Of the air service,
| who declares that for the price Of one
| ba ttleship we could make the country
"airtight from attack by land, sea and
air Testimony against the capital
ships in Britain and Admiral Sims
views IN this country seem to be more
sympathetically received than the ex-
pert opinion of the navy board.
There are exceptions among the news
Qowa) Journal (republican) falls in
with the boards opinion that every
new weapon of offense that has threat
ened the supremacy of capital ships has
fense."
Expert naval opinion "has not helped
much" to settle the question either way.
the Baltimore News (democratic) re-
marks, especially since the other powers
cannot agree.
democratic) also regrets that we ''are
not so well prepared as might be wished
. to demonstrate the destructive
power OF the plane and the vulnera-
bility OF the battleship." while the Flor
ida Metropolis (democratic) points out
that ''air strength in itself cannot ever
be the biggest factor in either defense
or offense," and, while this branch of
the military is entitled to encourage
ment," it should not, despite Gen.
expense of the other arms of the serv-
ice." The st. Louis Post-D Dispatch (in-
dependenD considers that the conflicting
evidence on hand prompts caution in
any large outlays at present.
, Granting the arguments of the naval
board that marine inventors have not
been at standstill and methods to meet
the submarine and airship are being in
stalled with some success" the Denver
Rocky Mountain News Gndependent)
should take cognizance Of the fact that
"the worlds brains are converging on
sending the great ship to the scrap
heap"
ent) sees the Testimony on both sides
of the ocean piling up in favor of air
navies" and argues that "if the air
ship is dangerous to the battleship
today, it will be vastly more danger
Gus even one year from now, so swift
is the development taking place." and
concludes that there is nothing wild
in the belief that we are approach
ing a new era in naval warfare"
While supporting this theory in gen
eral, the Lexington Leader (repub-
lican) reminds its readers that 'it
ernments, unable to compete with
the United States in the building of
battleships, now forming the unit
strength of all navieS, are spreading
propaganda calling in question the
value of such ships in order to halt
our building program"
When it comes to a debate in which
one side is all for the airship and the
other all for the battleship. the Dav-
ton News (democratic) thinks that
both sides are right and both are
wrong" 1t continues: THE Navy in
force in the event of some conspicuous
engagement. while the airmen in
themselves cannot be fully protected
against enemy attacks without aerial
guns and complete equipment now
carried on first-class and modern
that the aeroplane and the battleship
should coordinate their effectiveness
in making possible the best possible
protection to the country in the mat
ter of defense"
The New York Globe Independently
branch for the other. Whatever we
do about our battleships, then, we had
better reconsider limiting our Army
air appropriation to SIS, .000," but
meanwhile I'VE should study very
hard over the idea Of getting rid of
the armament idea. for "airplanes will
be, like battleships costly. and they
will smother us with mustard gas or
phosgene." The lessons of the re-
cent war, says the New York Post
independently, show reasons enough
why aerial defenses "can no more
be neglected than sea and land de-
lenses" and "airplanes are cheap in
comparison to battleships."
If the experts are to be relied upon
the Columbia g. c. State demo
cratic) declares that the leading pow
ers are still building navies that
and II in the impossible" next war
our enemy should possess airplanes
and subma rines now contemplated.
Commanding the air and the sea-"
the only safe place "for our jackies
would be on shore leave"
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