Mr. Asquith addressed a large meeting at St. Andrew's Hall,
Glasgow, last Saturday afternoon. The maintenance of our naval supremacy remained to us a matter of life and death, and in view of the two new facts—the enormously increased produc- tive capacity of Germany and the acceleration of the German programme—the Government realised the need of timely, and adequate preparation. "The British Navy is at this moment, and must in the future continue to be, Overwhelm- ingly superior, both in mal6riel and personnel, not only to any single fleet, but to any combination of fleets that can possibly be brought against it." Mr. Asquith justified the action of the Government in adopting a contingent programme on the ground that hurried orders committed us to existing designs. "Nothing develops so quickly as a, naval type, and the very 'Neptune' type which we are laying down now is, by the admission of all naval experts, at least thirty per cent. better than the original ` Dreadnought.' " Mr. Asquith further. amplified this argument by hinting that we might be on the eve of now developments in naval construction which might vitally affect many of the governing conditions of naval policy, and declared that he never came to a conclusion with a clearer or cleaner conscience than in deciding against tIle "eight now" plan.
Previous page
