Evening star., 1940-01-25

neI0 FeTlle0 by
u. 5. Difficulties
Maj. Eliot Thinks London
Must Appreciate Change
In Naval Conditions
BY MAI. GEORGE FIELDING
ELIOT.
There are certain basic military
considerations underlying, or at any
rate affecting the current series of
Anglo American difficulties which
1t may be useful to examine at this
time.
The objective Of the British gov
ernment is, of course, quite clear
to tighten In every way the blockade
OF Germany, leaving consequent ir-
ritations to neutrals for subsequent
adjustment or perhaps the oblivion
of forgotten things. Such single
ness of purpose is an admirable mil
itary quality, an essential to success
in any military operation, but this
does not, of course, mean that 1t
need be carried to point where it
begins to defeat its own ends. 1t
would do so if it were to bring about
q state of affairs which would be
worse for Great Britain than such
impairment of the blockade as might
be effected by free passage OF Amer
lean letter mails and minimum OF
interference with American-f1ag
cargoes.
Thus, a sense of proportionate
values might perhaps modify IN
this instance, from the point OF
view of intelligent British self
interest, strict adherence to their
present policy Indeed, in consider
ing the principles of war-of which
one is the principle of the objec-
tive-all authorities from Vegetius
to Foch have repeatedly pointed
out that there is no difficulty in
learning the principles themselves;
the real genius of war lies in their
application to the ever-variant stu
ations of war itself.
There is always tendency to
begin a new war where the last
one left off; to assume that condi-
tions will be the same, or nearly
the same, and to attempt to apply
to the new conflict the methods
of the old.
This tendency has been particu-
larly noticeable in Great Britain,
whose armed forces lean perhaps
more heavily upon tradition than
those of most other countries, and
upon its own experiences to the
exclusion of others. Thus after the
South African War had demon
strated the extreme usefulness, on
the open veldt, of mounted infantry,
the British Army began solemnly
organizing battalions of mounted
infantry for employment in Europe,
while neglecting the far more i'm
portant lessons of the Russo-Japa-
nese War in which Britain had not
participated as to the battlefield
qualities of the machine gun and
barbed wire.
British Navy Made Own Law.
1t is just so that the British Navy
Is behaving today. Traditionally,
Great Britain has been the mistress
of the seas. 1t has been many
years-indeed, centuries-since Brit
ain has been compelled to take into
serious account the sea power of any
neutral nation. The British Navy,
at war, has been able to behave
precisely as it liked toward the COM
merce and shipping Of neutrals, to
make its own laws in accordance
with its own necessities, perhaps
with a realization of the possibility
of some adjustments later on, but
certainly without fear of any i'm
mediate resistance to its conduct.
1t is proceeding at this moment
along these traditional lines, sup
ported by its government-whose
attitude toward American protests
is described in news dispatches as
"adamant."
Certainly such proceedings, such
an attitude have their origins either
in private assurances that our bark
is worse than our bite-as was the
case in the last war, but as seems
highly unlikely to be the case to-
day-or, as the writer believes, in a
total lack of understanding of the
changed conditions under which sea
power is exercised in this year of
grace 1910.
The cold hard fact is that Great
Britain has ceased to be the world
dominant naval power, though she
continues to behave as though she
were. Her fleet today is inferior in
fighting strength to ours, even on
paper, save, of course, in the cruiser
category-and here her responsible
ties and requirements are far wider
than ours, which tends to offset nu-
merical comparisons, AS far as the
efficiency of both commissioned and
enlisted personnel is concerned, few
impartial observers would fail to ad-
NIT our great superiority. Our naval
aviation is without a peer; no other
power possesses anything like it. In
fine, we are the first sea power of the
world, and it has not been the GUS
tom of past wars for the first sea
power to find its mails to neutral
countries held up, it's shipping dis