62 



The Review of Reviews. 



A PARAMOUNT NAVY OUR 

 IM^RMANENT NEED. 



In the Fintiiighlly for July Mr. Archibald Hurd 

 writes on Imperial ])olicy and foreign relations. He 

 opposes alike the projeetcd alliances with France and 

 a return to the old policy of isolation. 



CONTRAST BETWEEN GERMAN AND BRITISH EMPIRES. 



Mr. Hurd points out the dilTerence between the 

 British and the German Empires. He says : — 



At present llie Ministers who meet in Downing Street are 

 responsible for the foreign policy of the whole Einpire. Their 

 decisions affect not only the status and welfare of the British 

 Isles, but the status and future of one-quarter of the land surface 

 of the world, with a population which is roughly estimated at 

 420,000,000, and a revenue of over ^'400,000,000. It may be 

 said that seven-eighths of this vast population consists of native 

 races ; but black, white, and yellow are all subjects of the 

 British Crown, all affected, directly or indirectly, by the 

 decisions reached in Downing .Street, all defended by the same 

 Navy and by the same Army, and represented by the same 

 diplomacy. In varying degree they are, moreover, all tax- 

 payers. 



The German Empire consists of a number of States linked 

 together by certain strategic lines of railway and guarded by an 

 inmiense ar;ny, with a few unimportant dependencies overseas 

 administered and controlled from Wilhelmstrasse ; it is based 

 on force. The British Empire, on the other hand, is based on 

 freedom ; it is linked together by the Seven Seas — it is essen- 

 tially a maritime Empire resting first and last on the seas. The 

 lines of communication must be kept open at all costs. We 

 must devote to our sea frontiers no less attention than Germany, 

 France, and Russia devote to their land frontiers. 



OF FLEETS. 



Act and Mr. Churchill's 

 end of the contemplated 

 will be in battleships : — 



GERMAN. 

 Fully Commissioncil. 

 25 battleships based on home 

 ports. 



COMPARISON 



The new German Navy 

 projects show what, at the 

 period, our mutual position 



BRITISH. 

 Fully Covnuhsioncd 

 25 battleships based on home 

 ports. 

 8 ships based on Gibraltar. 



Xuclfus Cnnus. 

 16 battleships based on home 

 ports. 



Reduced Nucleus Crews. 

 8 battleships based on home 

 ports. 



Material Reserve. 

 8 battleships based on home 

 ports. 



65 Battleships. 41 Battleships. 



NELSON ON EVACUATION OK THE MEDITERRANEAN. 



If wc arc to hold the Mediterranean more ships must be 

 built and more men trained ; ami there is yet time for these 

 operations to be carried out, because the German scheme is 

 still on paper only. 



Once before in modern times we have abandoned the 

 Mediterranean, but then under pressure of war, and not during 

 a period of peace. In 1 796 the British Fleet evacuated the 

 Mediterranean as a temporary measure during hostilities ; and, 

 even in this time of gr.ave trial of our strength. Nelson ex- 

 pressed his disapproval of this course. Writing to his wife, he 

 said : — " Wc arc preparing to leave the Mediterranean, a 



Nucleus Crews. 

 16 battleships based on home 

 ports. 



Reduced A'ucleus Crruis. 



Material Reserve. 

 Number uncertain. 



measure which I cannot approve . . . Much as I shall rejoice 

 to see England, I lament our present orders in sackcloth and 

 ashes, so dishonourable to the dignity of England." 



German naval expansion is producing its inevitable 

 effect on naval preparations abroad. Russia has set 

 aside over £50,000,000 for further fleet expansion ; 

 France has decided that she must have a navy stronger 

 than that of Italy and Austria combined. But the 

 British Admiralty has determined to withdraw the last 

 of its battleships from Malta to Gibraltar. It is a 

 matter of money. But against the plea that we must 

 increase our army to make it of a size to turn the scale 

 on the Continent, Mr. Hurd points out that if we 

 cannot afford to increase our navy, how can we afford 

 to increase our army ? 



ONLY TWENTY YEARS MORE. 



All the more that our increased army would be 

 separated and helpless unless we retained command of 

 the sea. This is our supreme need : — 



Above all, we require to ensure the keeping of the peace for 

 twenty years. By that time, if the Dominions are encouraged 

 and not discouraged in their work of development, the British 

 Empire, based on maritime supremacy, will wield the greatest 

 naval and military weapon which any Power has ever possessed. 

 We shall have on our side the balance of wealth, the balance of 

 man-power, and the balance of armaments, united by the seas. 

 The Colonies of yesterday *vill be the strong, self-reliant nations 

 of to-morrow, partners with us in all the privileges and respon- 

 sibilities of Empire. 



If we would steer the British ship of State to its desired 

 haven, we must remember that it must have the sea at its com- 

 mand. Europe is shrinking in wealth, in importance, and in 

 man-power in contrast with the Dominions, and the object of 

 our foreign policy must be the strengthening of Imperial policy. 



Our policy in these years of Imperial development must be 

 one of peace if we would achieve our destiny and attract to our 

 side in fullest sympathy and action those Dominions which are 

 being drawn closer to us as coast is brought nearer to coast with 

 every fresh triumph of mechanical science. 



FRIENDSHIP NOT REDUCTION OF FLEETS. 



These being the facts, Mr. Hurd warns us against 

 supposing that friendship with Germany would reduce 

 our naval expenditure : — 



Our naval policy is independent of our foreign policy. If, as a 

 result of the coming of a new German Ambassador to the 

 Court of St, James's, the old relations with the Wilhelmstrasse 

 were again cemented — and it is hoped they may be— there 

 would be no less need to maintain a paramount Fleet. 

 Ambassadors may come and go, friendships between peoples 

 may wax and wane, but the standard of British naval strength is 

 fixed .and immutable, because by the sea the British people live, 

 move, and h.ave their being. The Na7>y Laws have bccu passed 

 by the Reichstac;, atid only by the Reichstag can they l>e repealed. 

 This is a solid fact. It should be no barrier to friendly relations 

 between the two peoples, to a policy of kindly consideration, 

 of give and lake, but it absolutely forbids any retrenchment on 

 the British Fleet. 



A century ago Napoleon, speaking from the wisdom of years, 

 put it on record for our guidance that "The only way to pre- 

 vent the Continental Towers from bridling you is for England 

 to proceed in her proper sphere as an insular Tower, possessing 

 the command of the sea. . . . Vour marine is the real force of 

 your country, and one which, while you preserve it, will always 

 render you powerful." 



The map of Europe has undergone many changes, but it still 

 remains a fact that a Heet of 13rilish line-of-battleships is the 

 best negotiator in Europe. 



