A good deal of excitement has been caused by a
speech attributed to Admiral Plunkett, - Commandant of the New York Navy Yard. He was reported as saying that war was not only inevitable but was near at hand. In answer to the turmoil created by this report of his speech, he quietly said that the shorthand record of the speech would prove exactly what he did say and that he awaited its publication. The shorthand record shows that in a passage which propounded the old argument that unpreparedness leads to war—this in connexion with Britain—he said `;..It is competition, gentlemen. It is economic in its origin, and as long as we proceed along the lines which we are travelling to-day war is absolutely inevitable." It seems that when Admiral Plunkett was asked by his audience " war with whom ? " he answered " Britain." These words are not included, however, in the shorthand record. On its most favourable interpretation the speech seems to have been, highly irresponsible for an official.
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