NEWS OF THE WEEK.
AREUTER telegram from St. Petersburg published on Friday states that at Thursday's sitting of the Duma the Premier declared that the Russian fleet was necessary, not to protect commerce, but to protect the general interests of Russia and to preserve her security and prestige. The Navy Bill was ultimately passed in the form adopted by the Budget Committee which had struck out £7,000,000 for Port exten- sions—a distinct triumph for Russian constitutionalism. The original programme involved the expenditure of £136,000,000 in the five years 1912-1917, and therefore the expenditure will now be £129,000,000. The Daily Mail points out that this sum of £26,000,000 a year will place Russia next to the United Kingdom in order of naval expenditure and before the United States, Germany, and France. At the present moment Russia has four Dreadnoughts completing in the Baltic and three in the Black Sea. Four more large battle cruisers are apparently to be laid down in the near future, which will bring the Russian total of Dreadnoughts to eleven.
