German Menace Stirs England Anew.

New York Times 100 years ago today, July 23, 1912:
Churchill, in Asking Naval Appropriation, Says Supremacy Must Be Maintained.
MORE WARSHIPS THAN EVER
British Strength In Mediterranean to be Augmented — Personnel to be Increased and Pay Raised.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
    LONDON, Tuesday, July 23.— The Right Hon. Winston Spencer Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, in introducing the supplementary naval appropriation bill in the House of Commons yesterday, described in the plainest manner the peril which confronts the British Empire as a result of the feverish activity of Germany in increasing her fleet, and he admitted that Great Britain, as a result of this activity, must accelerate her own programme. This speech contained nothing directly offensive to Germany, but at the same time it was without the usual evasions and reservations, and there is no doubt that it will create a profound impression.
    In the last two or three weeks there have been certain disquieting indications. Insurances against war, or, at any rate, a good many inquiries as to rates for such insurance, have been reported from Lloyd's, and the continued fall in consols has been so steady and so pronounced as to lead to the belief that there has been something, in addition to various unfavorable market influences, to account for it.
    Mr. Churchill in his speech did not quite please all his Liberal friends, but he also disappointed some of his would-be Conservative supporters, who hoped that he would demand more than he decided on. For some time the Liberals had been protesting against what they called the unnecessary increase of naval expenditure in deference to the agitation over the Mediterranean situation, while the Unionists had been urging Mr. Churchill to disregard expense and to call for as many new ships as they considered requisite for safeguarding this avenue of British commerce. Even up to yesterday the battle between the two parties had been raging hotly, almost, it might be said, over Mr. Churchill's body.
    "When the supplementary naval estimates were published a few days ago, it became evident that the Unionists' hopes of a largely increased shipbuilding programme would be disappointed, and, following their usual custom of making Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd-George responsible for everything, the Conservative papers started the report that the Chancellor had interfered with the plans of the First Lord of the Admiralty and had threatened to resign unless Mr. Churchill abated his demands.
    Mr. Churchill was besought, exhorted, commanded to pay no attention to Mr. Lloyd-George, "Codlin's your friend, not Short," cried the Unionists in chorus, "We decline to believe," wrote J. L. Garvin in yesterday's Pall Mall Gazette, "that Mr. Churchill will commit the incredible, fatal error of judgment involved at this turning point of his career in surrendering upon the Mediterranean question to the Suicide Club of anti-naval fanatics. Mr, Churchill has courage. Has he courage enough? Has he the courage to assert his view at all costs and to resign upon the issue of a strong navy if the Cabinet rejects his view and is false to its supreme duty? The wrong answer would doom the First Lord, in our profound conviction, to a very second-rate career. The right answer would make his future worthy of Marlborough's descendant and Lord Randolph's son."
    Mr. Churchill did not seem to have any fear about his future when he rose to address the House of Commons. He wore his characteristic air of confidence, and evidently he was not worried by his alleged difficulties with Mr, Lloyd-George, who, by the way, frequently nodded his head in support of the statements made by Mr. Churchill in the course of his speech.

Mr. Churchill's Speech.
    LONDON, July 22.— The speech of the Right Hon. Winston Spencer Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, in introducing the supplementary naval appropriation of $5,000,000 in the House of Commons this afternoon, fully indorsed, as it was, by the Prime Minister, will cause graver concern to the country than any warnings which have gone before.
    Without the least offensiveness, the First Lord sketched the "unprecedented" rise of the German fleet, which he described as "extremely formidable." In order to bring home its size to his hearers. Mr. Churchill likened it to the great fleet which all saw at Spithead a short time ago. His text was "Build! Build untiringly!" through successive years, as the only means of meeting the menace in the North Sea.
    And as if that were not enough, Mr. Churchill told the House that if the information received by the Admiralty that a Mediterranean power — meaning Austria — were contemplating another considerable naval programme proved to be true, "it will constitute a naval factor requiring our prompt attention, not included in any forecast I have given of future naval construction."
    Ex-Premier Balfour was prompt in his support of the Government's programme.
    Those who have listened to the speech of the First Lord," he said, "must now be convinced that there is no use talking about dropping our shipbuilding. The cost of the navy must increase so long as insane competition in shipbuilding goes on elsewhere; and, though modern peace is as expensive as ancient war, it is much cheaper than modern war."
    A notable feature of the debate was Premier Asquith's call to the dominions to join in the defense of "our common heritage" and his remarks foreshadowing an early summoning of the statesmen of the self-governing colonies to participate in determining the policy of the empire.
    Mr. Churchill, in introducing the supplementary naval appropriation of $5,000,000, said that the direct cause of the increase in expenditure on the navy was to be found in the new German navy law, the main feature of which was the increase in the striking force of ships of all classes. The effect of the new German navy law would be that nearly four-fifths of the entire German navy would be maintained in full permanent commission and instantly ready for war. The First Lord continued:
    "Such preparation is remarkable, and as far as I am aware finds no example in the previous practice of modern naval powers."
    Mr. Churchill then announced the British shipbuilding programme for the next five yeais. saying that five battleships were to be constructed next year and four in each of the following years.

Strength of the German Fleet.
    Under the new German law, Mr. Churchill said, the ultimate strength of the German fleet would be 41 battleships, 20 large armored cruisers, 40 small cruisers, and smaller craft in proportion. "That will be an extremely formidable fleet,"  said Mr. Churchill "and the only way to meet it is by cool, steady, and methodical preparation prolonged over successive years.
    "There is no use in flinging money about on the impulse of the moment," the First Lord continued. "The strain which Great Britain will have to bear will be long and slow, and no relief can gained by impulsive or erratic action. We should learn from our German neighbors the way of the policy which marches unswervingly to its goal.
    "This supplementary estimate to meet the extra German expenditure is only a small installment, and the shipbuilding programme in the next five years will be raised to five vessels next year and four boats each year thereafter instead of three in 1913, four in 1914, three in 1915, four in 1916, and three in 1917, the number I had hoped we might stand at."
    Mr. Churchill went on to point out that the increased fighting power of the German fleet involved the reorganization of the British forces in order that a necessary margin of safety might be maintained. He then announced that he intended to raise the number of battleships in full commission from 28 to 33 by 1914. From 1914 onward, he added, Great Britain would have five battleship squadrons, composed of 41 ships, and of the five squadrons four would be in full commission. Thus Great Britain would have 33 battleships, against Germany's 29. This might not be considered a very satisfactory proportion, Mr. Churchill said, but, having in view the character of the different vessels, the Admiralty was of the opinion that 33 battleships would be adequate for the needs of 1914-15.
    Mr. Churchill promised large additions in the personnel every year, as well as extra submarines, and acceleration in the construction of light cruisers.
    Regarding the Mediterranean, the First Lord said that any attempt to confine British naval supremacy to any particular waters would be not only false strategy, but bad politics. The four battleships at Gibraltar would be increased to eight vessels. Six old battleships would be withdrawn from Malta and would be replaced by four battle cruisers of the Invincible type. The armored cruiser squadron there was to be strengthened by the addition of a submarine flotilla. The station at Malta also was to be increased in size, Mr. Churchill said, and a new torpedo boat station was to be established at Alexandria, Egypt.
    The First Lord said he had heard that one of the Mediterranean powers contemplated another considerable naval programme, so it was not unlikely that the British Mediterranean squadron would have to be further reinforced in 1916.
    Mr. Churchill stated that he had been authorized by the Canadian Premier, the Right Hon. R. L. Borden, to say that it was desired that any step which Canada might take should be in order directly to strengthen the naval forces of the empire.

Pay in Navy to be Increased.
    Mr. Churchill said he recognized the necessity for an increase in the pay of the navy, and he promised to present a definite scheme, with this object in view, in the Autumn.
    Regarding the Royal Commission under the Chairmanship of Admiral Lord Fisher to inquire into the question of the use of liquid fuel in the navy, the First Lord said it would be a prolonged investigation, implying no sudden extensive change in the realm of naval construction.
    While acknowledging that the advent of a station for Austrian Dreadnoughts in the Mediterranean was most important, Mr. Churchill demurred to the assumption that the two powers "whose past history was not altogether free from differences were likely to combine in attacking Great Britain," and thought it unnecessary to maintain local superiority over their combined fleets. The British Invincibles destined to replace the old battleships would, he said, go to Malta next Winter.
    Ex-Premier Balfour followed. He remarked that if the Government had been wise earlier it might have been possible to avoid extra and inevitable expenditures. Although the country might groan under these expenditures, however, it would have the consolation of knowing that Great Britain was building for peace and security, and not for ambition. The prospect before Europe was not agreeable, but if Great Britain did its duty peace would be maintained.
Premier Asquith declared that the increased expenditure was "necessary to maintain the security of our shores, of our dominions, and of our commerce, and to insure the peace of the world." He added: "We are most reluctant competitors in this naval rivalry, which was not provoked by us."
    The Premier laid emphasis on the fact that the vital interests of Great Britain would be guarded in the Mediterranean and that a much stronger force than at present would be placed there, which would be amply sufficient to safeguard British interests. The House, he said, might rest assured that next year's naval estimates would not fall short in providing everything necessary fully to safeguard British interests everywhere.
    Mr. Asquith then, on behalf of the British Government, gratefully thanked Premier Borden, who was in the gallery of the House, and his colleagues for the spirit in which they had entered into the deliberations of the Government. He said he felt sure that any announcement they might make would be received in the British Isles with the utmost gratitude, and he was certain that it would be adequate to the dignity and patriotic spirit of Canada and would be greeted as an acknowledgement that they were true companions. The burdens of responsibility were being shared by the mother country and the Dominions, and they could not, in either peace or war, isolate themselves one from another. With the Dominions' growing participation in the active burden of empire, it was Great Britain's duty to make such response as it could to their obviously reasonable demand that they should be entitled to be heard in the determination of the imperial policy.
    James Ramsay Macdonald (Laborite) said that neither Germany nor England could long stand such a strain on their finances, and he declared that the British Laborites would join the Laborites of Germany in opposing the constant increase in naval appropriations.
    Admiral Lord Charles Beresford criticised the increase in the naval programme as insufficient. He prophesied that the country would go on adding more ships each year, but not enough — just sufficient to induce Germany to follow suit until war came.