Page:The Next Naval War - Eardley-Wilmot - 1894.djvu/27



was the general position when on the afternoon of March 1st the two countries were about to test those preparations which by organisation and manœuvres they had striven to bring to perfection. And how had each considered the many points that a condition of war entails? The provision of an armed force, whether for use at sea or on land, is—or should be—a separate function to that of handling it when required. If a high official attempts to administer all the petty details in the creation and maintenance of fleets or armies, he will have no time to study the strategical and tactical problems in their use. This is the duty of a general staff: to say first, what force is required, and then prepare plans of campaign adapted to every eventuality. The administrative portion of the department is charged with the duty of seeing that these demands are complied with. This system has been brought to great perfection in Continental armies, and it necessarily has had considerable influence in imparting like methods to their fleets. It was a wise policy which placed two generals in succession at the head of the German Navy, for they gave it an organisation for war, equal, if not superior, to that of states which have maintained a fleet for centuries. France has for