LAND AND WATER 
19, 1915. 
recondite nor wrong, should certainly make the 
German leadeus pause before looking on the 
breach with America as inevitable. It is that 
sooner or later she will have to treat or sue for 
peace. It will be an ill day for her if she has no 
one in the world to act as go-between. 
On the other hand, an acceptance of Mr. 
.Wilson's claim goes much further than an admis- 
sion of an American right and a willingness to 
pay the financial penalty for an invasion of it. 
The issue raised by America is quite properly 
raised out of the injuries inflicted on American 
ships and American passengers. But it is not a 
demand for compensation, nor merely a demand 
tJiat American ships and American passengers 
shall not be injured in the future. From the 
nature of the case, America has to ask for more. 
Siie has to ask that this whole method of making 
war by submarines on non-belligerent traffic shall 
cease. It is only so that Americans can safely 
exercise their right to travel in the trading ships 
of belligerents. And she asks for it on the ground, 
not that such w^arfare is incompatible with inter- 
national law — although it admittedly is— but 
because it is incompatible with the Ten Com- 
mandments. If Germany, then, surrenders she 
would admit a great deal more than that she 
had proclaimed herself false to the honour she 
had pledged in treaties and international conven- 
tions. She would be proclaiming that she had 
been false to the most elementary of all social 
laws, " Thou shalt commit no murder.'' Can Ger- 
many make such an admission now? As it seems 
almost impossible, it is a reasonable thing to con- 
template the appearance of the United States as 
a belligerent as inevitable, and to inquire into the 
nature and character of the forces which she can 
contribute to help the Allies. 
THE U.S. NAVY. 
What is the fighting value of the American 
Navy? Its only experience of modern war was 
against the Spaniards in the war for Cuba in 
1898. It was, of course, completely successful. 
But, take it for all in all, it was something of a 
Scott to realise that neither lavish ammunition, 
endless opportunity, nor boundless energy were 
sufficient unless right methods were developed. 
As all the world knows, it was on the China 
station and after the Boer War that Sir Percy 
Scott, still in command of the Powerful, worked 
out with his torpedo-lieutenant — the late Captain 
Frederick Ogilvy — the mechanical devices for 
training men to keep their guns steadily laid 
while the ship was rolling. Lieutenant Sims, of 
the American Navy, was on this station at the 
same time. A friendship arose between the two 
men, and a common interest in the gunnery 
problem led to many an exchange of opinion. At 
any rate, it was not long before the progress of 
gun-laying skill in the United States Navy waa 
quite as marked as in our own. When we took 
up long-range battle practice, in the fourth and 
fifth years of this century, it fell to Lieutenant 
Sims to introduce similar methods in America. 
The two navies, therefore, have proceeded pari 
passu, both in gun-laying and fire control, and 
eoccept that the United States have not adopted 
any form of director, I should imagine that in 
gunnery there is very little to choose between 
them. 
AMEraCAN OFFICERS. 
The Naval College at Annapolis, through 
which almost all the officers enter the L^nited 
States Navy, is recruited by a system of Congres- 
sional nomination. Each member of the Lower 
House appoints in turn to the vacancies that 
arise. Certain educational qualifications are 
required, but the elementary teaching in America 
is at once so thorough and .so accessible to all, that 
this rule hardly imposes any restriction at all. 
The majority of Congressmen exercise their rights 
very conscientiously, and nominate their candi- 
dates after an informal, but very effective, 
examination. The lads so chosen come from every 
class of the population, and enter between the 
ages of eighteen and nineteen, and remain four 
years at the college. The education is very 
thorough in all the technical subjects, and every 
encouragement is given to the study of literature 
humiliating success. All the glory of Santiago and history. The type of young man produced is 
was quenched in an ignoble quarrel between the 
admirals. The fleet's gunnery was appallingly 
inefficient. The ratio of hits to rounds fired was 
derisive. But it is doubtful if any other nav}', 
had it been tested at that date, would have come 
out of the ordeal any better. The gunners 
of our own Navy were not put to the proof 
till the 4.7's were sent to defend Ladysmith. 
So that they were not tested at sea. The 
truth of the matter is that the great revival of 
national interest in our Navy, which we owe to 
Mr. Stead's agitation in the middle 'eighties, was 
always limited to material, and never occupied 
itself with methods. Mr. Whitney's navy, which 
fought the Spanish- American War, was really 
just as much a product of the Stead campaign as 
the ships of our Spencer programme or of the 
Naval Defence Act. But Mr. W^hitney not onlv 
hujlt ships, but discovered Captain Mahan, and 
by that discovery produced an influence which 
affected the future of navies far more than any 
lessons that could be culled from the Spanish- 
American War. But it was not an influence on 
technique. There was an effective demand 
lor more ammunition and better facilities 
for practice. But it was left for Sir Percy 
of a high order, accomplished in mechanical and 
scientific attainments, and, by the wise social 
organisation of the college, trained to a level of 
good breeding that astonishes those who think 
the graces of life are a peculiarity of certain 
social classes. It is not an uncommon thing, for 
instance, to find that the midshipman who, quite 
naturally, takes the lead in young society, is the 
son of some thrifty mechanic, of very humble 
station indeed. The truth of the matter is that 
the 2'>rofessional impress is far stronger than the 
family impress. In the early days there is much 
to be gained by being first on 'the register. A keen 
competition is set up, which loses nothing of its 
zest from the fact that the private origins of the 
contestants are so dissimilar. 
The Aveakness of the American Nav\' is that 
once a lad is entered a midshipman, all further 
promotion is by seniority only. In our ovm Navy 
there is accelerated promotion from midshipman 
to lieutenant for those who pass brilliant 
examinations. But from the Lieutenant-com- 
mander's lists to Commander, and from Com- 
mander to Captain, promotion is by selection only. 
After that, seniority becomes the rule. 
In America there are no facilities for 
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