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. ! A LOOK ROUND. -3

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A LOOK ROUND. -3 The Power of the Keys. L- LJ [BY SENTINEL."] HE Power of the Keys" is "Telaimed by the Roman Catholic s Church for the Pope. In another, and a temporal sense, we may fairly claim it for the Allied Navies, of which the British supplies by far the greatest and most important part. For the Navies here have locked all the gates of the World upon Germany and her allies. Except in the Baltic and the Black Sea, wherever their armies touch blue water, there is their progress stayed, And, even in the two seas which we have excepted, their power for mischief only extends to the mouth of the straits Which close the entrance and exit—the Belts and Sound in the first case, and the Dardanelles in the second. We Publish this week a map which shows how the Allied navies operate all over the world. Moreover, it is not only that German and Austrian ships cannot get out- Turkey has none worth mentioning- 1 but that vessels of all kinds, carrying goods which are necessary to sustain the enemy countries, cannot get in. The consequence is that the Germans and Austrians, the Turks and Bul- garians are reduced to living, as bears are said to do in winter, by sucking their own paws. The Prime Minister has justly claimed that this work of the Navy has been the one decisive victory of the war. It is won daily, for the most part silently. Only occasionally have battles been fought bv sea which are comparable in importance with those fought almost daily on land. But if that silent victory had not been won since War was declared, the fighting on land Would have been one monotonous round of German victory, and the war would have been over long ago, with us and our Allies down and out." There is no shame in confessing the fact, for we have always been a sea wer, and a sea Power we remain, in spite of the great armies which we and the Dominions have put into the field. As regards our Allies, the first rush of the Germans placed most of the re- ources of France and Belgium in coal alld iron in their hands, and, if the COntrol cl the sea had not been us, the nations who are fighting r^ith us must have been defeated by jack of the means to curry oil, if they had not been crushed for lack of Munitions. As things are, France and Italy have been able to draw food and coal and munitions—the things which Z, are the life-blood of war from the whole world. And, moreover, thanks to the fact that" we control the seas there is now a reasonable chance that Russia will once more rally to the cause of freedom which Lenin and Trotsky so blindly betrayed. Look at the map and see where Archangel and Vladivostok are. That will show the grip of the naval pincers." But, after all, the greatest victory of the Allied navies in the war—merchant- ships we have counted as part of the Navy—is the bringing of the American army to Europe in the teeth of the U- boats. The Germans knew perfectly well that when they ordered their sub- marine captains to sink everything they ,] b v saw, they would bring America into the struggle. But they didn't care. They _ge ~e so certain the submarines would ke it impossible for any number of terican soldiers ever to reach Europe, ;o be maintained here if they arrived, e U-boats have done the worst they ew. They have cost us heavy losses. ut the American troops are over on is side—about a million and a half of he U-boats have done the ,A-orst they m-and they have already given the rma rs a ve, y unpleasant taste of ir quality. So when we rejoice over heavy blows which Foch and Haig e struck at the Hun, do not let us "et the navies which have made this hble. And if there should yet be a of fortune on land, let us equally be Iful that the Hun cannot win so ,as we hold the sea. The Navy v sleeps never goes into winter ^ers. For it the battle, with the ,a Ijints as well as with the enemy, Wen continuous from 1914 till now. wJilall have an utterly false view of We s taking place in the war unless luetfP constantly in mind the In- M of Sea Power.

WAR STORIES.

CLEANING UP THE WOOD. •V ^i—^———

WAR STORIES.