178 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



SOME IMPERIAL QUESTIONS. 



Avril 1, 1913. 



ARE THERE MEN TO MAN THE 

 SHIPS? 



Fred. J. Jane tells in the February 

 London Magazine how victory might 

 be snatched from the British Navy 

 owing to the serious shortage of men. 

 Skilled ratings are very much under 

 strength, and substitutes are not being 

 encouraged. 



"Have we enough men?" is a ques- 

 tion very often asked. From time to 

 time Lord Charles Beresford, or some- 

 one following his lead, very emphatic- 

 ally states that we have not. Then 

 come official explanations of the "we 

 have plenty " order ; on top of which 

 it is presently announced that an in- 

 creased number of men will be entered, 

 after which, again, most people are 

 satisfied and nothing more happens till 

 Lord Charles Beresford repeats his as- 

 sertion, and the whole programme is 

 gone over again. The truth about the 

 matter is easily stated. If we had a 

 shortage several years ago we have that 

 shortage still. The extra men are not 

 real increases at all ; they all go to 

 feed the requirements of an increased 

 number of ships. Ten Dreadnoughts 

 require a larger total -personnel than 

 nine do. A little encouragement — not 

 money, mind you, but merely encour- 

 agement — and we could have 100,000 

 Naval Volunteers where now the navy 

 is at least 20,000 men short, despite all 

 its nucleus crews, ticklers and reserves. 

 I grant that the Volunteers would be in- 

 ferior to our trained seamen ; likely 

 enough, very inferior. Also, they would 

 be " blacklegs " in the eyes of anyone 

 thinking that men prepared to pay for 

 being food for powder would get in the 

 way of people seeking to take financial 

 advantage of England's necessity. I 

 do not enjoy having to write like this. 

 But if I am to tell the real truth, this 

 matter is one that cannot be ignored. 

 The main point is that we have a short- 

 age, that thousands of men are ready to 

 pay to fill it in the hour of need, and 

 that they are consistently snubbed for 

 their pains and patriotism. The vvhole 

 present-day problem of shortage could 

 be solved for less than ^^50,000 a year." 



INDIA AND THE NAVY. 



Britain's command of the seas, says 

 Robert W. Brock, in the Indian Review, 

 is the one factor that could render a 

 Russian occupation of India ineffective. 



A comparison of the statistics will 

 show that, while India's trade ranks 

 second in the Empire only to that of 

 Great Britain, her expenditure on de- 

 fence is now smaller per head than that 

 of any other part of the King's 

 dominions. Thus, while Great Britain 

 contributes £\ 12s. 3d. per head, 

 Canada 6s. 5d., Australia £1, South 

 x\frica, 2s. gd., and New Zealand 5s. 

 gd., India spends only is. 3d. per head. 

 That, of course, is excusable on account 

 of her poverty. Low as her contribu- 

 tion is, and rapidly as her resources are 

 expanding, I believe there is no desire 

 in authoritative quarters to ask her to 

 increase it by a single anna. Those who 

 have studied the subject recognise that 

 for the next half -century, perhaps, the 

 best service India can render to the 

 Empire will be to develop her internal 

 resources, and devote herself to the 

 moral, mental, and material elevation of 

 her people. On the other hand, in viev^ 

 of the competition the Empire has to 

 face, it would not be unfair, I think, to 

 ask India to keep her contribution at 

 its present level. The point at issue is 

 not whether India's outlay on defence 

 is adequate in proportion to her re- 

 sources and responsibilities, but whether 

 the expenditure is rightly distributed ; 

 and if the Nicholson Commission report 

 that, in spite of the entente with Russia, 

 no diminution of our military forces is 

 advisable, then the question of a naval 

 contribution must, I think, be dropped. 

 But if a saving is possible on the army, 

 the money should, I think, be devoted 

 to the service in which expansion is 

 really necessary — the navy. 



BRITISH PREFERENCE IN 

 CANADA. 



In the Quarterly Review Edward 

 Porritt explains the forces that have 

 been working against Preference since 

 it was first adopted, and also the forces 



