Secretary
Daniels has considered the advisability of direct methods in dealing
with the German Navy. No doubt the temptation has been great, if only
because of the fact that with the British and American and French navies
combined, we have a force which could stand an appreciable amount of
destruction and yet be in a position to cope with the German fleet. Yet,
of course, that is taking chances. And:
"It is all very well to say 'damn the torpedoes,'" said Secretary
Daniels, in discussing this point, "but a navy cannot invite
annihilation by going into mined harbors, and ships can do little or
nothing against coast fortifications equipped with 14-inch guns.
Experience at Gallipoli emphasizes this fact. And yet"--here the
secretary became cryptic--"there is more than one way to kill a cat. No
place is impregnable. Nothing is impossible."
The British showed how damage might be dealt naval bases supposedly
secure under the guns of fortifications, but something more than a sally
will be necessary to smoke out the German fleet, or to root out the
nests of submarines along the coast of Belgium. Again, there is the
theory that eventually the Germans will come out and give battle. There
is a psychological backing for this assumption, for the irksomeness of
being penned up wears and wears until it is not to be borne. At least
this seems to have been the case in blockades in past wars, notably the
dash of Admiral Cervera's squadron from Santiago Harbor.
But when the Germans come it will be no such forlorn hope as that--at
least not according to the German expectation; what they expect,
however, and what they may get are contingencies lying wide apart.
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