• A naval pendant to the German pamphlet, "The Invasion
of England," has been contributed to the Deutsche Revue for Februsxy, and is summarised by the Berlin correspondent of the Morning Post in Monday's issue. The author, Admiral Livonius, who combines a retrospective admiration for the glories of the British Navy in the Napoleonic era with a sovereign contempt for its value at the present moment, finds prime consolation in the fact that though we may have got plenty of ships, we have neither captains of genius nor well. trained crews. He contrasts the arduous and continuous training of the German Navy with the intermittent and fair- weather manceuvre.s of the British Fleet, derides the drill of our sailors on foreign stations, and complacently awards the superiority in regard to tactical and other training of the crews to his countrymen. He lays stress, rightly enough, on the value of complete crews, and contends that on the day Great Britain has tofall back on her reserve material her naval predominance will be at an end, since of engineers, stokers, and trained artillerists Great Britain possesses no more in proportion to her population than Germany. and France. Added to this general disadvantage is the special drawback that we are without conscription. Finally, Admiral Livonius holds that, in the event of war, the " record-making " auxiliary cruisers of the North German Lloyd and Hamburg American Companies would be of incalculable service in damaging shipping or effecting a landing. The article deserves, and doubtless will receive, attentive study from the authorities, since, apart from its significance to the student of inters national ethics, it contains much helpful criticism.
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