THE ESSENTIAL CAPITAL SHIP.

Arising out of the inaccurate accounts of the air attack upon the defenceless Fleet in the Channel, it has been suggested that the two new capital ships, as provided under the Washington Treaty, should not be built, and that the money should be handed over to the Air Ministry. That proposal has been definitely made in the House of Commons, so it must be regarded seriously, absurd though it is. The contention which underlies it is the old one that air power has rendered the capital ship obsolescent, from which it follows that the cruiser, destroyer, and even the merchant ship is also useless and we must starve. That is all nonsense. Those who are disturbed by exaggerated claims as to the ease with which a battleship can be destroyed either by submarines or aircraft, may be reminded that the whole question which is highly technical has been the subject of experiment by the naval authorities almost ever since the armistice was signed. The finding was that the basis and foundation of the fighting fleet is still the capital ship. In that conclusion all the authorities on defence problems in every country in the world are in complete agreement.

The idea that an artificially created agitation can bring about a reversal of policy may be dismissed as chimerical. It goes without saying that the present Board of Admiralty would not consent. The naval problem is not to be considered as our problem of the narrow seas; it is the problem of a world-wide Empire, and anything less than a One-power Fleet is unthinkable. It would mean exposing everything for which we stand to peril.