The Pall Mall Gazelle of Tuesday draws attention to the
report lately made by the assistant constructor of the United States Navy, in regard to the naval strength of England, France, and Russia. This very able and perfectly independent authority is of opinion that our recent ship- building programme is not sufficiently extensive to warrant us in believing that we could stand alone against a coalition between France and Russia. He holds that "an inevitable moment is fast approaching," when the strength of France and Russia in alliance will be greater than ours, and when therefore England "cannot longer lay reasonable claim to the control of the sea." "Her enemies," he adds, " being aggressive, the moment will be one of supreme danger." We are not pessimists, and we believe that even after we had scientifically and statistically lost the command of the sea, we could keep it by our extra pluck and resource ; but we must not trust such a thing as the fate of England to our pluck and luck. It is madness for a nation which is fed from the sea, and whose moral, commercial, and political greatness depends absolutely on keeping the command of the sea, to rely even on a reasonable chance. We must be incontestably supreme on the sea by number of ships and tonnage and guns and men, as well as by seamanship. It is useless to hope more from this Government, but the next will not deserve the confidence of the nation if it does not take up the question of manning the Navy in earnest, and give 'as a Naval Reserve of at least 50,000 men.
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